Scientists from UC Riverside have made a big discovery that could change how we fight COVID and other viruses like the flu.
They found out how COVID makes more copies of itself in our bodies, and they think they can stop it.
You see, our bodies are like big factories, churning out proteins from our DNA and RNA, the blueprints of life.
These proteins have all kinds of jobs, from helping us grow to talking with other cells.
But sometimes they need a bit of tweaking after they’re made, a kind of “finishing touch,” so they can do their job just right. This tweaking is called “post-translation modifications.”
Now, the COVID virus is smart. It sneaks into our bodies and uses our own “finishing touches” to get what it wants.
One of those tweaks is something called “SUMOylation.” This helps the COVID virus move its important “N protein” to the right place inside our cells.
Once it’s in the right place, this N protein starts making more COVID viruses. These new viruses then go on to invade more cells in our body, making us sick.
But here’s the big news: If the virus can’t get to the right place, it can’t make us sick! Quanqing Zhang, who works at the UC Riverside’s Institute for Integrative Genome Biology, said, “In the wrong location, the virus cannot infect us.”
The scientists used a special trick to see this happening. They made the proteins glow, which helped them see how the virus and our cells are working together.
This is a really good way to see these tiny actions, better than other methods, said Jiayu Liao, the professor who led the study.
Before this, the team had found that the common flu viruses, Influenza A and Influenza B, also depend on SUMOylation. So, both COVID and the flu have the same weak spot. If we can block this process, our immune system can then wipe out the virus, stopping it from making us sick.
Right now, the best medicine we have for COVID is called Paxlovid. But you have to take it very early, within three days of getting sick, for it to work well. A new medicine based on this discovery could help people at any stage of the infection.
The exciting part? This discovery might help us create new medicines that work against many types of viruses, not just COVID or the flu. Liao thinks that in about five years, with enough support, we could have these new medicines ready.
So, what’s next? The scientists are still researching. They think their findings could help fight other viruses like RSV and even Ebola. They are hopeful that this big discovery is a step toward making new medicines to keep us all healthier.
The paper was published in the journal Viruses.
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