The monoclonal antibody combination REGEN-COV protects against SARS-CoV-2 mutational escape in preclinical and human studies.

Monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 are a clinically validated therapeutic option against COVID-19. Because rapidly emerging virus mutants are becoming the next major concern in the fight against the global pandemic, it is imperative that these therapeutic treatments provide coverage against circulating variants and do not contribute to development of treatment-induced emergent resistance. To this end, we investigated the sequence diversity of the spike protein and monitored emergence of virus variants in SARS-COV-2 isolates found in COVID-19 patients treated with the two-antibody combination REGEN-COV, as well as in preclinical in vitro studies using single, dual, or triple antibody combinations, and in hamster in vivo studies using REGEN-COV or single monoclonal antibody treatments. Our study demonstrates that the combination of non-competing antibodies in REGEN-COV provides protection against all current SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern/interest and also protects against emergence of new variants and their potential seeding into the population in a clinical setting

Detection of periodic Sr Ca-1 cycles along gastropod statoliths allows the accurate estimation of age

Gastropods retain less obvious periodic growth marks on calcified structures than individuals in other groups (e.g. bivalves, cephalopods, fish), a fact that has hampered age estimation in this Class. Nevertheless, a model of age estimation for the gastropod Nassarius reticulatus is possible based on the annual growth rings deposited in statoliths during the winter. These spherical aragonitic carbonate structures are located inside the statocysts and contain a characteristic microstructural pattern of concentric rings. However, this pattern can be biased by the formation of nonperiodic disturbance rings (DRs). In Aveiro (NW Portugal), an increased frequency of DRs was reported in statoliths of specimens inhabiting the Ria de Aveiro lagoon (a highly dynamic environment), when compared with specimens collected from the relatively environmentally stable adjacent offshore area. One approach to resolve annual growth in organically precipitated carbonates is to find a chemical signature within the microstructure that faithfully records changes in seasonal environmental parameters. In this contribution, we have analysed the Sr Ca−1 variation along statolith sections by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) as a proxy to resolve seasonal cycles of temperature, allowing the identification of annual growth rings. Combining this information with size–frequency distributions of shell height, we found strong evidence that the rings chemically labelled with 88Sr 48Ca−1 peaks are formed annually during the cold season. Hence, LAICPMS allows not only the detection of visible rings but also the distinction between rings formed at low temperatures (i.e. a periodic seasonal signature) and those of disturbance (not characterised by increased 88Sr 48Ca−1). There is also clear evidence that the 88Sr 48Ca−1 peaks become less conspicuous from the nucleus to the statolith edge, leading to a loss of discriminatory power for the identification of older age rings. Nevertheless, this new method allows the accurate age estimation of N. reticulatus specimens and is liable to be applied in a wide range of gastropods after specific validation

Valorization of a biomass: phytochemicals in oilseed by-products

A huge amount of residue is released every year in agricultural and food industries. If this waste is valorised properly, it would be very beneficial from both economic and environmental aspects. Recently, seeds of oil crops have been getting great interest due to their waste rich in a great variety of lipophilic and hydrophilic phytochemicals. On the other hand, oilseed processing by-products comprise approximately 35 millions of tons seed for oil in European Union. Therefore, this remarkable amount of residue should be considered as a resource from waste to health. The purpose of the present research is to introduce the types of oilseed by-product and their high added value phytochemicals by summarizing the recent studies on the valorization of different wastes of several oilseed crops. This research also supplies an overview of the oilseed sources with their botanical names, production regions and target phytochemical ingredients. Moreover, further remarks with some certain concerns are discussed