A previously overlooked type of immune cell allows SARS-CoV-2 to proliferate, scientists have found. The discovery has important implications for preventing severe COVID-19.
The lung-cell type that's most susceptible to infection by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is not the one previously assumed to be most vulnerable. What's more, the virus enters this susceptible cell via an unexpected route. The medical consequences may be significant.
Blish is the co-senior author of the study, along with Mark Krasnow, MD, PhD, the Paul and Mildred Berg Professor of biochemistry and the Executive Director of the Vera Moulton Wall Center for pulmonary vascular disease. Now the scientists could compare pristine versus SARS-CoV-2-infected lungs cells of the same cell type and see how they differed: They wanted to know which cells the virus infected, how easily SARS-CoV-2 replicated in infected cells, and which genes the infected cells cranked up or dialed down compared with their healthy counterparts' activity levels. They were able to do this for each of the dozens of different cell types they'd identified in both healthy and infected lungs.
Interstitial macrophages, the other cell type revealed to be easily and profoundly infected by SARS-CoV-2, patrol the far side of the alveoli, where the rubber of oxygen meets the road of red blood cells.
Yet other substances released by SARS-CoV-2-infected interstitial macrophages stimulate the production of fibrous material in connective tissue, resulting in scarring of the lungs. In a living patient, the replacement of oxygen-permeable cells with scar tissue would further render the lungs incapable of executing oxygen exchange.
That would seem to explain why monoclonal antibodies developed specifically to block SARS-CoV-2/ACE2 interaction failed to mitigate or prevent severe COVID-19 cases.
Lung Cancer Stem Cells Lung Disease HIV And AIDS Immune System Lymphoma Infectious Diseases
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Scientists report the effect of buffer and pH on SARS-CoV-2 N protein phase separationScientists have discovered that buffer and pH levels have a strong impact on the phase separation of SARS-CoV-2 N protein.
Read more »
The pandemic cost 7 million lives, but talks to prevent a repeat stallAn unknown future pathogen could have far more devastating consequences than SARS-CoV-2.
Read more »
The pandemic cost 7 million lives, but talks to prevent a repeat stallAn unknown future pathogen could have far more devastating consequences than SARS-CoV-2.
Read more »
New technology uncovers mechanism affecting generation of new COVID variantsResearchers have developed a new technology called tARC-seq that revealed a genetic mechanism affecting SARS-CoV-2 divergence and enabled the team to calculate SARS-CoV-2's mutation rate.
Read more »
Lancet study finds Covid-19 viral proteins in blood of 25% of people post-CovidResearchers provide an important clue to Long Covid, finding viral proteins in the blood of 25% of people more than a year after infection.
Read more »
New study calls into question prior study results that found tumor transmission slowing in Tasmanian devilsA trio of biologists and veterinarians with CRG Barcelona, the University of Cambridge and The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, respectively, has found evidence contradicting results found by a prior team of researchers who claimed that they had found that tumor transmission in Tasmanian devils was slowing.
Read more »