28 projects
Status
Domain
Organization Type
A PRECLINICAL EVALUATION: VACCINATION AND EFFICACY AGAINST SARS-CoV-2
SARS-CoV-2, the causative factor of COVID-19, is endangering the world's health, prosperity and political crises are on the horizon. Nations worldwide had to take drastic measures to prevent catastrophes: strict confinement and hygienic measures have been undertaken to minimize the virus spread. Despite the control measures, the pandemic is inevitably damaging the economy due to a shutdown of public and business life, an overload of the healthcare systems, and the high case fatality rate of COVID-19. The global fight against COVID-19 has mobilized, and many provisional treatments are being ...
A dynamic model of the COVID-19 tuned for different countries: a systems-biological tool for the ...
A dynamic model of COVID-19 epidemics recently developed (video: https://youtu.be/lbsqJ1_WvmE, model: https://jjj.bio.vu.nl/models/westerhoff1/simulate/, ref: https://medrxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2020.03.29.20045039v1) will be tuned for different countries to analyze the effect of different measures in the anticipation of next epidemics. Models will be available for online simulations at JWS Online (https://jjj.bio.vu.nl/models/westerhoff1/simulate/), and used for the development of computer tutorials for systems biological studies.
AICovIX - AI based diagnosis of Covid-19 from CT/X-Ray imaging
The gold standard for Covid-19 diagnosis is RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 from the upper airways. This method suffers from decreased accuracy in more severe disease stages affecting the lower airways. False negative PCR tests in severe cases impose a massive risk to the health system, promoting intra-hospital disease spread in the actual pandemic situation. Reports from China indicate false negative PCR from upper airway samples in severe Covid-19 pneumonia in more than 50% of the cases. Therefore, complementary tests for the detection of these dangerous cases are urgently needed. The value of che...
An integrative network-based drug repurposing approach for COVID-19
We aim at analyzing the publicly available transcriptomics data generated by exposing human lung epithelial cells to SARS-CoV particles and measuring the differences in the gene expression. We will use a molecular network analysis approach to identify a set of key genes, that represent key regulators in the SARS-CoV gene expression signature. This signature will be filtered to distinguish pathological from protective responses and used to identify drugs that could potentially reverse pathological features of the disease phenotype based on the anti-correlation of known drug-response gene exp...
COVID-19 and Neurturin
SARS-Cov-2 is a coronavirus is at the origin of the current COVID-19 pandemic, which poses a global and significant threat to public health worldwide. Although several treatment modalities have been evaluated, none has allowed a therapeutic breakthrough until now. New treatment modalities are therefore urgently needed. We have previously described that neurturin, a member of the glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor family, expressed not only as a growth factor in the nervous system but also the immune system, displays clear anti-inflammatory properties in mouse asthma models. Indeed,...
COVID19-induced changes to the plasma proteome
Studies focussing on human coronavirus found so far seven different viruses including SARS, MERS and COVID19. SARS, MERS and COVID19 present with various flu-like symptoms up to respiratory distress. Secondary symptoms include kidney problems, cardiovascular problems and neurological signs, like headache and nausea. In the case of the SARS infection, it has been shown that the virus can invade the central nervous system in patients and laboratory animals. The infection of epithelial cells by a coronavirus will lead to a change of the cellular protein composition in response to the virus' ...
Controling the symptoms
Since the information about the COVID-19 pandemic isn't that much available. The easiest and fastest way to mitigate the virus is by controlling the symptoms.
Cytokines as biomarkers and therapeutic targets in COVID-19 infection
Cytokines play an important role in the pathogenesis of COVID-19 infection. A subgroup of patients develops a cytokine storm syndrome, correlating with a bad clinical outcome. For example, the concentration of the inflammatory cytokine Interleukin-6 (IL-6) has been recognized as a risk factor for mortality and for respiratory failure in Chinese and German patient cohorts, respectively. Tocilizumab, an antibody directed against the IL-6 receptor alpha chain, is used in clinical trials as well as an FDA-approved inhibitor of Jaks, tyrosine kinases which mediate the signal transduction of mult...