Researchers at MIT and Harvard University, and their colleagues from around the world, have discovered which types of cells the new coronavirus attacks.
Using RNA (ribonucleic acid) from different types of cells, the researchers discovered cells that express proteins that help new coronaviruses infect human cells. These cells are found in the lungs, nasal passages, and intestines.
The researchers hope that their research will help other researchers develop new coronavirus pneumonia specific drugs or test existing drugs.
MIT researcher Alex K. Shalek said, "Our goal is to let the scientific community know as much as possible, share data with them, and help the scientific and medical communities respond to new coronavirus outbreaks more quickly."
"Cell" magazine today published the research results.
Soon after the emergence of the new coronavirus pneumonia, scientists discovered that the new coronavirus binds to a human cell receptor called ACE2; another human protein called TMPRSS2 helps activate the new coronavirus spike protein, So that it can enter human cells.
Researcher Jose Ordovas-Montanes said that after understanding the role of these proteins in the pathogenesis of new coronavirus pneumonia, we began to search for genes expressing them in existing databases. We have unique conditions for investigating which cells the new coronavirus attacks.
Shalek's laboratory has studied tens of thousands of human, non-human primate and murine cells, using single RNA sequencing technology to discover which genes will be expressed. Since last year, researcher Sarah Nyquist has been building a database that stores a large number of similar data sets to facilitate researchers to study the role of different cells in various infectious diseases.
The MIT research team has studied data sets containing hundreds of cells in the lungs, nasal passages, and intestines, because previous research on the new coronavirus pneumonia has proven that these organs can be attacked by viruses.
Shalek said, "Because of understanding the previous research, we can be more targeted when looking for cells attacked by the new coronavirus. Although the original intention of these data sets is not to study the new coronavirus pneumonia, it is very helpful to us . "
The researchers found that goblet cells in the nasal passages can express the RNA of two proteins used by the new coronavirus to infect the host cells; there are RNAs in the lung type 2 alveolar cells that can express these two proteins.
They found that the RNA absorbed by the two proteins expressed by the cells was more than that of other cells in the intestine.
Ordovas-Montanes said, "This study may not fully reveal the types of cells attacked by the new coronavirus, but considerable progress has been made in this regard. Now we can confidently say that these cells in these organs will be subject to the new corona Virus attack. "
An unexpected discovery from their research was that the new coronavirus has evolved to take advantage of the host cell's own immune function and to use certain proteins of the host cell.
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