The expression of the immune action gene?? NLRC5 (red purple) is reduced in SARS-CoV-2 (green) contaminated cells. Credit: Koichi Kobayashi
A discovery by scientists at the Texas A&M College of Medicine might result in brand-new treatments to avoid the virus from multiplying in the body.
The immune system is an intricate network of cells and proteins that is designed to combat off infection and illness, especially those like the coronavirus, or SARS-CoV-2, that can cause many concerns in the body. Many people are still at risk of being infected with the coronavirus, letting it duplicate in the body and further transmitting to other people.
The underlying system of how SARS-CoV-2 leaves from the immune system has actually been improperly comprehended. However, scientists from the Texas A&M University College of Medicine and Hokkaido University have recently found a major system that explains how SARS-CoV-2 can escape from the immune system and duplicate in the body. Their findings were just recently published in the journal Nature Communications.
SARS-CoV-2 leaves from immune responses by cytotoxic T cells by means of impaired MHC-I expression which is triggered by reducing both the quantity and function of NLRC5. Credit: Koichi Kobayashi
” We found that the SARS-CoV-2 virus carries a suppressive gene that acts to prevent a human gene in the immune system that is necessary for damaging infected cells,” stated Dr. Koichi Kobayashi, adjunct teacher at the College of Medicine and lead author of the paper.
Naturally, the cells in a humans body immune system have the ability to control virus infection by destroying contaminated cells so that the virus can not be reproduced. The gene that is important in executing this process, called NLRC5, regulates major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I genes, which are genes that produce a path that is crucial in supplying antiviral immunity. Kobayashi and his colleagues found this in 2012.
” During infection, the amount and activity of NLRC5 gene end up being increased in order to boost our ability of removal of viruses,” Kobayashi said. “We discovered that the reason SARS-CoV-2 can duplicate so quickly is because the infection brings a suppressive gene, called ORF6, that acts to prevent the function of NLRC5, hence hindering the MHC class I path also.”
Dr. Koichi Kobayashi, accessory teacher at the College of Medicine and lead author of the paper. Credit: Texas A&M College of Medicine
Kobayashi, who holds a joint consultation as a teacher at Hokkaido University in Japan, worked together with Paul de Figueiredo, associate professor in the Department of Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology at the College of Medicine, on this paper.
Kobayashi and his groups discovery clarified the mechanism to how SARS-CoV-2 can reproduce in the human body and can potentially result in the development of new therapies to prevent the coronavirus from escaping the body immune system and duplicating in the body.
The introduction of COVID-19 vaccines, such as the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, can lower a persons possibility of contracting the infection, there is currently no permanent treatment that can completely prevent a human from contracting SARS-CoV-2.
” We hope that this new discovery will allow us to develop a brand-new drug that can obstruct this gene so our body immune system will have the ability to combat the coronavirus for great,” de Figueiredo said.
Reference: “SARS-CoV-2 inhibits induction of the MHC class I pathway by targeting the STAT1-IRF1-NLRC5 axis” by Ji-Seung Yoo, Michihito Sasaki, Steven X. Cho, Yusuke Kasuga, Baohui Zhu, Ryota Ouda, Yasuko Orba, Paul de Figueiredo, Hirofumi Sawa and Koichi S. Kobayashi, 15 November 2021, Nature Communications.DOI: 10.1038/ s41467-021-26910-8.
The underlying system of how SARS-CoV-2 escapes from the immune system has been improperly comprehended. Scientists from the Texas A&M University College of Medicine and Hokkaido University have just recently discovered a major mechanism that describes how SARS-CoV-2 can leave from the immune system and reproduce in the human body. Naturally, the cells in a humans immune system are able to control virus infection by ruining contaminated cells so that the infection can not be replicated. The gene that is essential in executing this procedure, called NLRC5, regulates major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I genes, which are genes that produce a pathway that is vital in supplying antiviral resistance.