MIT researchers find cells targeted by coronavirus in development for treatment

Scientists have actually identified the particular cells targeted by the coronavirus– an advancement they hope might be practical in the search for a remedy, MIT revealed Wednesday.

The group of researchers utilized an existing data set on the RNA discovered in different kinds of cells to locate those with 2 proteins known to enable the infection to get in human cells, MIT said in a press release.

Soon after the pandemic began, researchers discovered that a viral “spike” protein binds to a certain receptor on human cells called angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, or ACE2.

Another protein, an enzyme called TMPRSS2, aids to trigger the coronavirus spike protein, allowing it to enter the cell.

The combined binding and activation permits the virus to enter into host cells, MIT described. Now, scientists simply required to find the specific cells that express these proteins that make them more susceptible to infection.

” As quickly as we realized that the function of these proteins had actually been biochemically verified, we began looking to see where those genes were in our existing datasets,” Jose Ordovas-Montanes, a senior author of the research study who runs a lab at Boston Children’s Medical facility, said in the statement.

” We were actually in a good position to begin to examine which are the cells that this virus might in fact target.”

The datasets that the scientists used for the research study included hundreds of cell types from the lungs, nasal passages, and intestinal tract– all organs targeted by the virus.

The scientists found that Type II pneumocytes in the lungs, absorptive enterocytes in the intestines, and goblet secretory cells in the nasal passages were possible targets for the infection, the release said.

The Type II pneumocytes keep the lungs open; the absorptive enterocytes are responsible for the absorption of some nutrients; and the goblet secretory cells produce mucous.

” This may not be the full story, however it absolutely paints a much more exact picture than where the field stood in the past,” Ordovas-Montanes stated.

” Now we can state with some level of confidence that these receptors are expressed on these specific cells in these tissues.”

The scientists hope their findings will be practical to scientists dealing with developing treatments, or to those testing existing drugs that could be repurposed for COVID-19

” Our goal is to get details out to the neighborhood and to share data as quickly as is humanly possible, so that we can help accelerate continuous efforts in the clinical and medical communities,” stated Alex K. Shalek, an associate chemistry teacher at MIT.

The research study, published in the journal Cell, was a partnership of scientists from MIT; the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard; and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, along with “colleagues from worldwide.”