A peptide synthesized by researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil protected human lung cells against infection by SARS-CoV-2 in the laboratory and eliminated the inflammation caused by the virus in mice susceptible to COVID-19. Development of the peptide was inspired by the protein ACE2, the human cell's natural receptor for SARS-CoV-2. An article describing the research is published in the journal Antiviral Research .
As noted by the authors, the results point to a possible route to the creation of antiviral blocker drugs that are more effective against the disease, which has killed more than 700,000 Brazilians to date. SARS-CoV-2 invades host cells by binding to the ACE receptor on their surface via its spike protein (S). "The infection process is like a key fitting into a lock," said Geraldo Aleixo Passos, last author of the article and a professor in the Department of Basic and Oral Biology at the Ribeirão Preto Dental School (FORP-USP).
"The 'key' is the viral spike protein and the 'lock' is the cell's ACE2 receptor. The 'teeth' on the key are the spike amino acid residues, which match the pattern of ACE2 amino acids, the 'pins' inside the 'lock.'" The spike amino acids and ACE2 amino acids interact, and this "opens the door" to the viral RNA, which then enters and infects the cell.
The more efficiently they interact, the more virulent the infection will be. This explains why variant B.1.
1.7 of SARS-CoV-2 was so much more contagious, as the same gro.
