A Research Team in New York, the US has found that exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein alone was enough to induce Covid-19-like symptoms that include severe inflammation of the lungs.
SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes Covid-19. This virus is covered in tiny spike proteins. These proteins bind with receptors on our cells and it starts a process that allows the virus to release its genetic material into a healthy cell.
There was research done at Old Dominion University, Virginia, US, that developed a genetically modified mouse and injected the mouse with a segment of the spike protein and analyzed their response after 72 hours. One more group of mice received only saline to serve as a control.
It was noticed that genetically modified mice exhibited Covid-19-like symptoms including severe inflammation, an influx of white blood cells into their lungs, and evidence of a cytokine storm which is an immune response in which the body starts to attack its own cells and tissues rather than fight with the virus.
But the mice that only received saline remained normal.
Pavel Solopov, Assistant Professor at the varsity said, “Our findings show that the SARS-CoV2 spike protein causes lung injury even without the presence of intact virus”.
He further said, “This previously unknown mechanism could cause symptoms before substantial viral replication occurs”.
These findings will be at the annual meeting during the virtual Experimental Biology 2021 meeting at the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics between April 27th and April 30th.
