They discovered that the ACE2 gene, which encodes the receptor SARS-CoV-2 uses to enter human cells, is stimulated by interferon - one of the body’s main defenses when it detects a virus. Mice or non-human primates.” Interferon: Helpful or harmful?īut it was the study’s second finding that most intrigues the scientists. You can start to ask, ‘How do these cells work?’ ‘Is there anything within theseĬells that is critical for the virus’s life cycle?’ With more refinedĬellular models, we can perform better screens to find what existing drugs target that biology, providing a stepping stone to go into “Once you understand which cells are infected, “Many existing respiratory cell lines may not contain theįull mix of cell types, and may miss the types that are relevant,” Ordovas-Montanes Sampling from non-human primates showed a similar pattern of Those cells fall into three types: goblet cells in the nose that secrete mucus lung cells known as type II pneumocytes that help maintain the alveoli (the sacs where oxygen is taken in) and one type of so-called enterocytes that line the small intestine and are involved in nutrient absorption. They found that only a tiny percentage of human respiratory and intestinal cells, often well below 10 percent, make both ACE2 and TMPRSS2. To get the answer, the team turned to single-cell RNA sequencing, which identifies which of roughly 20,000 genes are “on” in individual cells. Which cells in respiratory and intestinal tissue express both ACE2 and TMPRSS2? That led Ordovas-Montanes and Shalek and colleagues to ask a simple question. Recent research had found that SARS-CoV-2 - like the closely related SARS-CoV that caused the SARS pandemic - uses a receptor called ACE2 to gain entry into human cells, aided by an enzyme called TMPRSS2. Ordovas-Montanes (Sam Kazer/Shalek Lab) COVID-19-susceptible cells Wanted to provide the best information possible across our entire spectrum of research The virus has been detected,” says Ordovas-Montanes. Of the nasal cavity, the lungs, and gut, based on reported symptoms and where “We started to look at cells from tissues such as the lining In February, they began diving into these data. They also had gathered data from primates and mice. When news broke about a new coronavirus in China, Ordovas-MontanesĪnd Shalek had already been studying different cell types from throughout the human The peer-reviewed study, published as a preprint, will help focus efforts to understand what SARS-CoV-2 does in the body, why some people are more susceptible, and how best to search for treatments, the researchers say. Findings were published this week by the journal Cell. Unexpectedly, it also shows that one of the body’s main defenses against viral infections may actually help the virus infect those very cells. Shalek, PhD, at MIT, pinpoints the likely cell types the virus infects. What makes SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind COVID-19, such a threat? A new study, led by Jose Ordovas-Montanes, PhD, at Boston Children’s Hospital and Alex K.
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