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News | 2016.01.07
The Institut Pasteur in French Guiana publishes the first complete genome sequence of the Zika virus circulating in the Americas
Having confirmed the first cases of infection in Suriname then in French Guiana, the Institut Pasteur in French Guiana has sequenced the complete genome of the Zika virus, which is responsible for an unprecedented epidemic currently sweeping through the tropical regions of the Americas. Published in The Lancet medical journal today, the analysis of this sequence shows almost complete homology...
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News | 2016.01.31
Listeria: hypervirulent strains with cerebral and placental tropism
Researchers recently published a large-scale study based on almost 7,000 strains of Listeria monocytogenes — the bacterium responsible for human listeriosis, a severe foodborne infection. Through the integrative analysis of epidemiological, clinical and microbiological data, the researchers have revealed the highly diverse pathogenicity of isolates belonging to this bacterial species....
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News | 2016.01.26
Tuberculosis: discovery of a critical stage in the evolution of the bacillus towards pathogenicity
It is the disappearance of a glycolipid from the bacterial cell envelope during evolution that may have considerably increased the virulence of tuberculosis bacilli in humans. Scientists have shown that this disappearance modified the surface properties of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, favoring its aggregation in "cords" and increasing its pathogenicity. These findings, which enable a...
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News | 2016.02.15
The Institut Pasteur joins the Global Virus Network (GVN) Zika Task Force
Global Virus Network (GVN) launches Zika Task Force comprised of leading virus researchers from around the globe. GVN catalyzes international collaborations in an effort to address the urgent need to share information and research to better combat the global Zika outbreak.
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News | 2016.02.15
Calpains, key cellular enzymes for fighting influenza
Why not fight the influenza virus by blocking the cellular machinery it uses for replication? Researchers tested this hypothesis by specifically targeting the calpains, proteases involved in inflammatory mechanisms. Their results, obtained in animals, show that inhibiting these enzymes can not only reduce the symptoms of the disease, but also prevent infection by seasonal or pandemic influenza...
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News | 2016.02.29
Zika: Confirmation of a causal link between the Zika virus and Guillain-Barré Syndrome
Using data collected in French Polynesia, researchers from the Institut Pasteur, the CNAM (Conservatoire national des arts et métiers), the Institut Louis Malardé, the French Polynesia Hospital Centre, and the Public Hospitals of Paris (AP-HP), have shown that infection by the Zika Virus (ZIKV) increases the likelihood of contracting Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), a severe form of limb paralysis...
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News | 2016.03.02
Antibodies capable of eliminating HIV-infected cells
Researchers have recently shown that some effective antibodies recognize cells infected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and trigger their destruction by the immune system. This discovery sheds new light on the mechanism of action of these specific antibodies, which are currently undergoing clinical trials.
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News | 2016.02.22
Discovery of a new biological mechanism for depression
Teams from Paris Descartes University, co-led by Professor Raphaël Gaillard (Sainte Anne Hospital, Institut Pasteur) and Professor Olivier Hermine (Necker Hospital, National Reference Center for Mastocytosis, Institut Imagine) have identified an inflammatory mechanism of depression through the study of a rare disease: mastocytosis.
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News | 2016.03.06
Obesity: an epigenetic track to fight against weight gain and hypercholesterolemia
The number of obesity cases has doubled since 1980: in 2014, over 600 million adults were affected across the world. The causes of this epidemic include unbalanced diet, as well as environmental and genetic factors. French researchers reveal that an epigenetic factor, the BAHD1 protein, participates in the regulatory mechanisms of cholesterol levels and weight gain. These results open new ways...
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News | 2016.03.06
Launch of the AFRIBIOTA research program: a new approach in the fight against child malnutrition
More than 30 Madagascan and international scientists and clinicians met from March 7 to 9, 2016 at the Institut Pasteur in Madagascar for the official launch of the AFRIBIOTA project, an ambitious multidisciplinary research program to improve our understanding of chronic child malnutrition. The long-term aim of this innovative program, which combines fundamental and clinical research –...
