SCIENTISTS REVEAL ‘MAJOR’ BREAKTHROUGH IN VIRUS TREATMENT
SCIENTISTS at the University of Bristol have made an “exciting” discovery that could be key to treating coronavirus.
An international team of scientists, led by experts in Bristol, say their findings are a “major breakthrough” in the Covid-19 fight.
They investigated how the virus hijacks cells in the human body, to identify what makes SARS-CoV-2 so infectious and capable of spreading at a rapid rate.
Their findings were published yesterday in Science journal, highlighting a potentially anti-viral treatment after they investigated interactions between the virus and host cell.
In a statement, Bristol experts involved in the study said they had found a “previously unrecognised avenue for anti-viral therapies”.
The virus uses a protein, called the Spike, to attach itself and invade cells.
The study involved research groups in Bristol’s Faculty of Life Sciences, professor Peter Cullen from the School of Biochemistry, Dr Yohei Yamauchi, who is associate professor and virologist from the School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and Dr Boris Simonetti, a senior researcher in the Cullen lab.
They used multiple approaches to discover that SARS-CoV-2 recognises a protein called neuropilin-1 on the surface of human cells to facilitate viral infection.
In a joint statement, the researchers said: “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.
“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.”
Once they had established the Spike protein bound to the neuropilin-1 protein, they were able to show the interaction can enhance the invasion of Covid-19 in human cells grown in cell culture.
The researchers said: “Importantly, by using monoclonal antibodies – lab-created proteins that resemble naturally occurring antibodies – or a selective drug that blocks the interaction, we have been able to reduce SARS-CoV-2’s ability to infect human cells.”
Scientists in Germany and Finland have also found neuropilin-1 facilitates SARS-CoV-2 cell entry and infectivity.
The work at Bristol was facilitated by Dr Andrew Davidson and Dr David Matthews, readers in virology in the School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine.
They also worked with Bristol UNCOVER and collaboratively with Professor Brett Collins of the University of Queensland in Australia, and Professor Tambet Teesalu of the University of Tartu in Estonia.
The number of students at the University of Bristol who have tested for coronavirus is nearing a thousand, according to the latest figures.
A total of 996 students at the university have now tested positive, together with 16 members of staff.