Two studies by IRB Barcelona and IBMB-CSIC published in Nature Communications reveal the portal structure of the Epstein-Barr virus and bacteriophage T7. No treatment is currently available for the infection caused by the Epstein-Barr virus, which, in addition to causing mononucleosis, leads to various types of cancer. The studies were done in collaboration with CNB-CSIC and the University of Oxford.

Modesto Orozco’s laboratory (IRB Barcelona) published a study on the source of asymmetry between nucleic acid hybrid (RNA and DNA) in CHEM (Cell Press).

The results are a promising step towards enhancing gene therapies, which are applicable to many diseases.

Activation of the chaperone protein Hsp70 leads to a decrease in the formation of androgen receptor aggregates, which give rise to muscular atrophy in patients with Kennedy´s disease, a rare condition for which no treatment is available.

The results may also be useful in the search for a treatment for castration-resistant prostate cancer, a disease that causes 30,000 death a year in Europe and for which there is no treatment.

The study, published in Nature Communications, was a collaboration with the University of California San Francisco and the University of Michigan.