COVID-19 Breakthrough: Scientists Discover How the SARS-CoV-2 Virus
Evades Our Immune System

The underlying mechanism of how SARS-CoV-2 escapes from the immune
system has been poorly understood. However, researchers from the Texas
A&M University College of Medicine and Hokkaido University have
recently discovered a major mechanism that explains how SARS-CoV-2 can
escape from the immune system and replicate in the human body. Their
findings were recently published in the journal Nature Communications.

"We found that the SARS-CoV-2 virus carries a suppressive gene that
acts to inhibit a human gene in the immune system that is essential
for destroying infected cells," said Dr. Koichi Kobayashi, adjunct
professor at the College of Medicine and lead author of the paper.

Naturally, the cells in a human's immune system are able to control
virus infection by destroying infected cells so that the virus cannot
be replicated. The gene that is essential in executing this process,
called NLRC5, regulates major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I
genes, which are genes that create a pathway that is vital in
providing antiviral immunity. Kobayashi and his colleagues discovered
this in 2012.

"During infection, the amount and activity of NLRC5 gene become
augmented in order to boost our ability of eradication of viruses,"
Kobayashi said. "We discovered that the reason why SARS-CoV-2 can
replicate so easily is because the virus carries a suppressive gene,
called ORF6, that acts to inhibit the function of NLRC5, thus
inhibiting the MHC class I pathway as well."
...
...
"We hope that this new discovery will allow us to develop a new drug
that can block this gene so our immune system will be able to fight
off the coronavirus for good," de Figueiredo said.

https://scitechdaily.com/covid-19-breakthrough-scientists-discover-how-the-sars-cov-2-virus-evades-our-immune-system/

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