At local lab, ‘let’s go get the virus’
In a secure laboratory in Memphis, researchers are preparing to test samples of the novel coronavirus against drugs that could, potentially, block the virus from being able to enter the human cell.
“If you can block virus entry, then you can theoretically block infection and spread,” said Dr. Colleen Jonsson, director of the regional biocontainment laboratory at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
The regional biocontainment laboratory is one of just 12 such labs in the country. Supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, it allows for testing and evaluation of small molecules, vaccines and diagnostics to protect from infectious diseases and bioterrorism.
Jonsson’s career began in 1993 with the outbreak of hantavirus. In 2002, partly due to 9/11 and the 2001 anthrax attacks, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases began moving forward with the creation of the regional biocontainment laboratories.
The lab in Memphis finished construction around 2010, Jonsson said. It cost about $25 million.
Today, the lab’s three scientists and Jonsson are at work on the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19. They received their sample of the virus about two weeks ago, then had to grow a larger sample.
Over her career, Jonsson has worked on the 2002-2003 outbreak of SARS, the West Nile virus and the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.
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Now, when she hears there is a virus outbreak in her purview, she snaps into the mode of, “Let’s go get the virus,” she said.
With a large enough sample of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 on hand, they will soon start screening small molecules that have been selected using computational simulation by Jeremy Smith, director of the joint University of Tennessee/ Oak Ridge National Laboratory Center for Molecular Biophysics.
Smith has selected about 50 small molecules (drugs) that bind to the virus to start testing. Afterward, they could test more, Jonsson said.
Illustrations of the coronavirus have depicted the virus as an orb covered in little spikes or knobs that jut out. Those spikes are proteins that can attach to human cells, then stimulating the cell to allow the virus to enter. From inside the host cell, the virus can be copied and produce more viruses.
The drugs identified by Smith are intended to bind to the virus and block its entry into the cells.
Jonsson plans to order the small molecules soon. They will take a plastic plate in which they have grown cells, then infect each well with the virus. Then, they will test with the drugs.
Normally, the virus would destroy the cells in two days.
However, if they find a drug that seems to inhibit virus growth and stop cell damage, they will take it through different levels of testing. Each test takes 3-4 days. Every week, they can learn something new, Jonsson says.
If a drug is already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, it could potentially be fast-tracked into being tested and repurposed to treat the coronavirus within months.
If a drug that is not approved by the FDA is promising, it could be years away from testing.
“All along my career I’ve been trying to help out as I can with these various emerging viruses in terms of discovering new drugs or trying to understand how they emerge in the environment,” Jonsson said.
“It’s a lot, but each time we become more prepared and more resilient,” she said. “That’s what we’re trying to do, create resiliency in what we have and what we’re prepared to do, and pass it down to the next generation.”
In 1993, when the outbreak of hantavirus occurred, there were no labs in the country prepared to do this kind of work, Jonsson said.
While it’s expensive to operate and maintain a regional biocontainment laboratory, it means a trained workforce is immediately ready when something like the coronavirus arises.
“It’s an investment for what is going on right now,” Jonsson said. “It’s not a big uphill battle. It’s a tremendous resource for the country for this and whatever comes next.”
Katherine Burgess covers county government, religion and the suburbs. She can be reached at katherine. burgess@commercialappeal.com, 901529-2799 or followed on Twitter @kathsburgess.