ÌÇÐÄTV

A computational model of a human lung cell has been used to understand how SARS-CoV-2 draws on human host cell metabolism to reproduce by researchers at the University of ÌÇÐÄTV. This study helps understand how the virus uses the host to survive, and enable drug predictions for treating the virus to be made.

· A hallmark of Parkinson's disease is the degeneration of a group of neurons in the brain that release the neurotransmitter dopamine (dopaminergic neurons).  By introducing low concentrations of structurally-defined aggregates of alpha synuclein, a key toxic species in Parkinson’s disease, into single dopaminergic neurons, researchers from the University of ÌÇÐÄTV have shown these protein aggregates open a specific channel in the cell membrane, reducing neuronal excitability. Furthermore they’ve shown that this can be partially prevented by pre-application of the commonly used anti-diabetic drug, glibenclamide.

Fish odour syndrome (trimethylaminuria) is a debilitating disease, in which the liver cannot break down the smelly chemical trimethylamine which is produced by enzymes from bacteria residing in the gut leaving people with a fish like odour. Researchers from the University of ÌÇÐÄTV are paving the way to prevent the syndrome after a breakthrough in studying the enzyme in the gut which produces trimethylamine.

For young people with cystic fibrosis, lung infection with Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA, is common and is treated with antibiotics in the hope that this will prevent a decline in lung function. However there has recently been debate over the role S. aureus plays in CF lung disease. Researchers from the University of ÌÇÐÄTV have used a new model of CF lungs which could be used to make better decisions about future use of antibiotics.

Genetic sensors that can detect the activity from genes, rather than just the genes themselves, have been developed by a team led by University of ÌÇÐÄTV scientists.

The waste from larvae production could be used as a crop fertiliser should commercial insect farms get off the ground in the UK. This is the concept that researchers at the University of ÌÇÐÄTV and Durham University are investigating as part of a major government-funded project to look at the viability of rearing insects for animal feed in the UK.