Human Genome and Stem-Cell Research Center
A team at a FAPESP-supported research center investigated over-90s who were resilient to SARS-CoV-2 and identical twins who had severe COVID-19 with different outcomes, including long COVID. The findings are expected to contribute to the development of vaccines and treatments for this and other viral diseases.
Center for Research on Inflammatory Diseases
Bioinformatics, engineering and other disciplines driven by advances in computing were discussed by participants in an online seminar hosted by the São Paulo State Academy of Sciences to present the fifth chapter of FAPESP 60 Anos: A Ciência no Desenvolvimento Nacional.
Center for Research on Inflammatory Diseases
Researchers at the University of São Paulo tested the anthelmintic niclosamide on mice and human blood cells. In addition to exhibiting antiviral action, the drug deactivated the cellular mechanism that triggers a cytokine storm. A novel formulation is required for the active principle to reach the lungs and treat severe COVID-19 in humans.
Center for Research on Inflammatory Diseases
Brazilian researchers have developed a tool that encodes patient identification data as DNA sequences and integrates databases with millions of records despite misspellings and omissions. The platform is fast and accurate and can be used for epidemiological analysis and public policy formulation.
Obesity and Comorbidities Research Center
Research by groups at the University of São Paulo and the State University of Campinas combined MRI scans of the brains of mild COVID-19 patients, analysis of brain tissue from people who died of the disease and experiments on human nerve cells infected in the laboratory.
Food Research Center
However, scientific research is essential to take innovation to the countryside and raise yields without increasing deforestation, according to the experts who participated in an online seminar organized by FAPESP and the São Paulo State Academy of Sciences.
Obesity and Comorbidities Research Center
Twenty-one patients with metabolic syndrome were given a calorie or protein restriction diet in a randomized clinical trial by Brazilian and Danish researchers. Weight loss, controlled blood pressure and improved blood sugar and lipid levels were observed in all participants.
Center for Research on Inflammatory Diseases
While some patients die with a high viral load and little inflammation, others succumb to inflammatory complications that arise after the virus is eliminated from the organism. According to scientists at the University of São Paulo, lasting inflammasome activation is key in such cases. The findings can be used to develop personalized therapeutic approaches.
Center for Research on Inflammatory Diseases
Brazilian researchers have developed an algorithm to identify the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi in photographs of blood samples taken with a mobile phone camera. The low-cost method is described in the journal PeerJ and can be reproduced.
Center for Cell-Based Therapy
Research that can increase Brazil’s access to CAR T-cell therapy, an increasingly important strategy for treating cancer, is under way at the University of São Paulo’s Center for Cell-Based Therapy (CTC) in Ribeirão Preto, and the Butantan Institute.
Center for Research and Innovation in Biodiversity and Drug Discovery
Advanced drug discovery methods have led to advances in the search for treatments for some neglected tropical diseases, including leishmaniasis and Chagas, but research on schistosomiasis and other diseases caused by worms remains at an early stage, according to an article in Drug Discovery Today by Brazilian researchers.
Human Genome and Stem-Cell Research Center
Universities, research institutions and agencies of the São Paulo State Government will join forces in 15 new centers announced during a ceremony held to celebrate FAPESP’s 60th anniversary. The centers will address problems in areas ranging from human and animal health to the energy transition and climate change.
Center for Research in Mathematical Sciences Applied to Industry
Mathematic simulations showed that well-executed non-pharmacological measures reduce the spread of COVID-19 even in places with low vaccination coverage. According to the authors, however, up to 80% of the population could catch the disease if preventive protocols are abandoned.
Optics and Photonics Research Center
Devices that combine laser irradiation, ultrasound and suction help regenerate tissue and treat muscle, joint, skin, neurological and lung damage. Protocols created via business-university partnerships are being tested and can be applied by treatment centers across Brazil.
Center for Research on Inflammatory Diseases
The discovery is reported by researchers at Harvard University and the University of São Paulo in Nature Neuroscience, and could serve as a basis for the development of treatments for different diseases.
Center for Research and Development of Functional Materials
The material is not an active ingredient but an adjuvant, and was successfully tested on an influenza virus in research conducted by an international team of scientists with Brazilian participation and reported in an article in Nature.
Food Research Center
This was the main finding of a study by scientists affiliated with a FAPESP-supported research center. The effect may be associated with a mechanism whereby the fruit increases expression of an insulin-related microRNA.
Brazilian Research Institute for Neuroscience and Neurotechnology
Scientists at a FAPESP-funded research center reprogrammed skin cells from patients with epilepsy to differentiate into cortical organoids with hallmarks of the malformation known as focal cortical dysplasia.
Center for Research on Redox Processes in Biomedicine
First-ever study to show correlation between inhibition of protein HSP70 and dysfunction of cells in inner lining of blood vessels, one of the factors involved in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.
Center for Research and Development of Functional Materials
Designed for use as food packaging, the material is produced by scientists at São Paulo State University from gelatin, clay and a nanoemulsion of black pepper essential oil.
Center for Cell-Based Therapy
Patients submitted to a procedure that “resets” the immune system were tracked for a year by scientists at a FAPESP-supported research center. Their clinical improvement correlated with renewal of a group of defense cells known as B lymphocytes.
Center for Research on Inflammatory Diseases
In a study conducted by researchers at the University of São Paulo involving experiments on mice, the synthetic substance not only prevented the neuropathic pain typically induced by chemo drugs but was also beneficial against cancer.
Center for Research in Mathematical Sciences Applied to Industry
Using two low-cost techniques, researchers in Brazil differentiate patients with the disease from healthy subjects. Next steps include refining the approach to diagnose the disease in its early stages.
