There are millions of cases of coronavirus and months of research, and experts still have a pretty difficult time pinning down the elements that make Covid-19 so infectious.
Study Finds.org noted that there’s a team in the UK that said that they have been able to make a breakthrough in understanding how the novel coronavirus works.
This specific study was able to uncover the interaction between the human cells and the virus particles, which is making the pandemic spread.
A protein called neuropilin-1
It’s been reported that experts from the University of Bristol reveal SARS-CoV-2, the virus that’s causing the disease recognizes and seeks out a protein called neuropilin-1. This is on the surface of human cells, and it allows the infection process.
It’s also highlighted that experts knew the fact that the virus is first attacking cells that are in the lungs or the intestinal tract.
After that, the virus then uses its “spike” protein to latch on, hijack cells, and eventually force them to replicate more virus particles.
Just knowing how the virus attacks the cells and spreads throughout the body could offer experts the necessary clue to block these interactions between the disease and neuropilin-1.
“In looking at the sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein we were struck by the presence of a small sequence of amino acids that appeared to mimic a protein sequence found in human proteins which interact with neuropilin-1,” the study authors revealed in a media release.
The continued and said: “This led us to propose a simple hypothesis: could the Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 associate with neuropilin-1 to aid viral infection of human cells? Excitingly, in applying a range of structural and biochemical approaches, we have been able to establish that the Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 does indeed bind to neuropilin-1.”
Check out more details about blocking the spread of the coronavirus in the original notes.
New potential treatment revealed
In other news, there’s a brand new study that is currently suggesting that one potential treatment for the virus could be found right across the street, at the local pharmacy – this is the common sleep aid melatonin.
Also, this discovery could lead to a lower death rate among patients with Covid-19. Stay tuned for more news.
