Researchers identify an insidious new way the COVID-19 virus uses to invade cells
Now, in an attempt to add to the pool of approximately viral access technology, the medical school laboratory of Dr. Marceline Côté
collaborators have published a relatively compelling study showing a previously unrecognized gateway for SARS- CoV-2, the virus That's the reason for COVID-19
This route of viral entry involves metalloproteinases, enzymes in the body with a catalytic mechanism that requires a metal, along with zinc atoms, to function
During a sequence of experiments that began in 2020, Dr. Côté's study group determined that SARS-COV-2 can enter cells in a metalloproteinase-dependent manner
The team describes a role for two matrix metalloproteinases, MMP-2 and MMP-9, in spike glycoprotein activation.
What are the ramifications of this type of viral access? The study published in a recent issue of iScience, an open access journal from Cell Press
The team's experiments showed that some editions actually prefer metalloproteinases for activation. As an example, the Delta variant,
a more pathogenic version that emerged in 2021, typically used metalloproteinases for access. Its much less pathogenic successor, Omicron, did not