14 projects
Status
Domain
Organization Type
Cell-cell interaction model of COVID19 for potential interventions
The emergence of COVID-19 pandemic implies new challenges for the Health Systems worldwide. The great majority of COVID-19 infections are mild and self-limiting in nature. Nevertheless, a small percentage of the patients require hospitalisation and specialised attention in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). The role of host immune responses in clearance of COVID-19 or the role, if any, of host immune responses in contributing to severe respiratory pathogenesis of COVID-19 infections is not known at this time. There are previously identified specific host immune response chemokine and cytokine sig...
Relation of severity of COVID-19 infection to nutrient status, oxidative stress, inflammation & v...
Background: Severity of COVID-19 infection is related to host-factors including the immune and respiratory system, gut health, and pre-existing cardio-metabolic diseases. Enhanced inflammation and oxidative stress may worsen the prognosis of COVID-19 subjects. An imbalanced diet poor in essential micronutrients, dietary fiber and phytochemicals and containing insufficient proteins and antioxidant properties can aggravate these aspects, worsening the immune system and infection risk, especially in conjunction with enhanced visceral adiposity exacerbating chronic inflammation. Individuals wit...
Peptide / protein /single-cell map of the renin-angiotensin system in Covid-19
Receptors for entry of SARS-CoV-2 into lung pneumocytes belong to the renin-angiotensin system and disease that are associated to a dysregulation of the same system (e.g.: diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases) are thought to be associated with a bad Covid-19 prognosis. At the same time these receptor are also expressed on cells of the immune system and the immune system is involved in diseases associated to RAS dysregulation. Our project wish to use an integrated mass spectrometry / flow cytometry approach to build a map of the RAS at the peptide and protein level together w...
MicroRNA biomarkers of COVID-19 severity
The Cardiovascular Research Unit of LIH proposes to apply its know-how on RNA biomarkers to identify circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) able to predict COVID-19 severity. This project is included in COVID-19 Task force WP02 and aims to fulfill the medical need of identifying patients at high risk of developing complications after infection by SARS-CoV-2 virus. The discovery of novel prognostic biomarkers will help tailoring healthcare to each individual for patient's benefit. Considering the importance of the inflammatory storm on disease severity and patient outcome, we will focus on inflamma...
HUMAN GENETIC VARIANTS AS PREDICTORS OF THE IMMUNE RESPONSE TO COVID-19
One of the main unanswered questions is why some individuals infected with COVID-19 develop severe disease, whilst others do not. Current evidence suggests that genetic variations influence human immune reactions to microbial infections, including both innate and adaptive immune responses. Here, we aim to evaluate the impact of genetic factors on the variability of the innate immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. On top of a large screening of the classical immune response genes (e.g. IFNs, ILs, TLRs, MHCs), we are particularly interested in the IRG1/ACOD1 gene, which we previously di...
Low-cost breath sensors for SARS-CoV-2 for home usage
Based on our research on liquid crystal droplets and shells demonstrating their responsiveness to specific substances in their surrounding, e.g. lipids, I would like to explore the possibility of making low-cost tests for SARS-CoV-2 that people can use in their home. We also make polymer fibers in our labs, and by using the right polymer, we can make a filter that a persons breathers through (mounted in, e.g., a face mask), and then the filter is dissolved in water, which is the natural surrounding for our liquid crystal droplets and spheres. If viruses have been caught in the filter, they ...
