Apr 24, 2020 12:10:00

Research results that new coronavirus identified human somatic cells to be targets at infection

Regarding the new coronavirus causing pandemic around the world, a research result that a joint research team of research institutions around the world including Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University has identified `` cells targeted when infecting humans '' Announced. By identifying the target cells of the new coronavirus, it is expected to be useful for research to combat the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) such as development of antiviral drugs.

SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 is an interferon-stimulated gene in human airway epithelial cells and is detected in specific cell subsets across tissues

https://www.cell.com/pb-assets/products/coronavirus/CELL_CELL-D-20-00767.pdf

Researchers identify cells likely targeted by Covid-19 virus | MIT News
https://news.mit.edu/2020/researchers-cells-targeted-covid-19-0422

Scientists May Have Found The Human Cell Types Most Vulnerable to The New Coronavirus
https://www.sciencealert.com/the-cell-types-most-vulnerable-to-infection-by-coronavirus-may-have-been-identified

Shortly after the outbreak of the new coronavirus, researchers found that a 'spike protein' that protrudes from the surface of the virus binds to a receptor on human cells called

angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) . In addition, it is known that the type II transmembrane serine protease, which is a proteolytic enzyme, activates the spike protein of the new coronavirus and promotes its binding to ACE2.

`` We learned that the roles of these proteins were biochemically confirmed, and we immediately found genes that express these proteins, '' said Jose Ordovas-Montanes, a member of the research team at Boston Children's Hospital . I started looking for where it was in the dataset, 'commented. Researchers around the world have been engaged in efforts to catalog human genes, including the ' Human Cell Atlas Project ', so researchers could target viruses from a rich dataset. It seems that he was able to find high cells.

Ordovas-Montanes said, 'We were in a good position to begin investigating which cells this virus is likely to actually target,' said the Chemistry Physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 'We have an incredible repository of information that allowed us to look at cells that could be targets of infection,' said Alex Shalek. It wasn't specifically designed to study the virus, but I hope it helps to identify potentially relevant ones. '

As a result of analysis by dozens of scientists, the research team plays an important role in maintaining mucus-secreting

goblet cells in the nasal cavity and alveoli that are responsible for gas exchange between outside air and blood in the lung II It has been identified that type-2 alveolar epithelial cells , intestinal epithelial cells involved in nutrient absorption in the intestine , carry genes that express both ACE2 and type II transmembrane serine proteases.

At the time of writing the article, it is unclear whether ACE2 and type II transmembrane serine protease should be on the same cell, or whether type II transmembrane serine protease suspended in the body also promotes infection with new coronavirus. is. Nonetheless, finding cells that are likely targets of infection will be of great help to future research, including the development of antiviral drugs to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Ordovas-Montanes said, 'This finding may not be all about infection with the new coronavirus, but it can draw much more accurate pictures than before,' the research results show that the new coronavirus I think it will be a big step in research.

In the course of this research, the research team also discovered that a protein called interferon secreted by cells when a foreign body such as a virus enters the body activates the gene that produces ACE2. The finding that 'interferon, a mechanism for fighting viruses, helps the new coronavirus to infect' suggests that the new coronavirus has evolved to utilize the host cell's defense system. 'This is not the only example. There are examples of coronaviruses and other viruses that actually target genes that interferon stimulates as a way to enter cells,' Ordovas-Montanes points out.

'We publish information there because so many people are conducting rapid clinical trials against the COVID-19 pandemic, we may be relevant to them.' I'm trying to make people aware of the information I don't know. '' Incredible amounts of information are gathered from researchers in so many disciplines trying to contribute to the fight against COVID-19 in the way they can. It's amazing that laboratories around the world are working together on this challenge. '