Scientists explain why COVID-19 targets only some organs and leaves others unprotected

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is intended for people at high risk, such as the elderly, people with underlying illnesses and people with weakened immune systems. In severe cases of COVID-19, the damage can extend to the lungs as well as other organs such as the heart, kidneys, liver, and brain.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) uses the enzyme angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) to infect human cells. It causes COVID-19 and may cause a number of complications, including multiple organ damage, due in part to the abundant expression of ACE2 in all human tissues.

The SAV-CoV-2 virus binds to the ACE2 receptor in human cells, the early stage of COVID-19 infection. Image credit: Kateryna Kon / Shutterstock

However, scientists at the University of Zaragoza and Agencia Aragonesa Paraline Vesticion Foundation in Spain are trying to reveal an explanation as to why organ damage occurs selectively, rather than affecting the whole body. ..

Selective damage

First identified as another respiratory illness similar to the common flu, it currently kills more than 738,000 people and affects more than 20.19 million people worldwide. The latest strain of coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, is called an invisible enemy, and new symptoms continue to appear as the pandemic progresses.

Aside from symptoms, more people are infected with the virus, adding new information to potential complications associated with COVID-19. Some organs in the body are affected by the virus, while others appear to be protected.

Published in journal chaos AIP Publishing’s study explains why many other tissues contain the ACE2 receptor, the gateway to human cells for SARS-CoV-2, while certain organs are affected by viral infections.

“This receptor is ubiquitous in most human organs, and if the virus circulates in the body, it can invade and affect other organs as well, but these potential As expected from the mechanism, the virus affects some organs rather than some,” explained Ernest Estrada of the University of Zaragoza and Agencia Aragonesa Paraline Vestigesion.

Explain why some organs are spared

When a virus enters human cells, pathogen proteins interact with proteins in the body, paving the way for their effects to be established. Coronaviruses only damage some organs, while others are unaffected.

Interaction maps of the major disease activators of SARS-CoV-2 in the lung and how they affect proteins in other organs. Image credit: Ernesto Estrada

Estrada believed that there should be another route for the transmission. To explain, he examined the displacement of proteins that are prevalent in the lungs and how they interact with proteins in other organs.

“Here, we consider the diffusion process of SARS-CoV-2 target proteins through the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network as an alternative route. Significant velocity of viral perturbation transmission through the PPI network. Has discovered a quasi-diffusion regime that enables

“By following the main diffusive pathways throughout the PPI network, it is expressed primarily in organs reported to be affected by COVID-19, including the heart, cerebral cortex, thymus, testis, lymph nodes, and kidneys. It identifies the protein,” he added. ..

Estrada revealed that the two proteins find each other and establish an interaction complex. They need to move in the cells in a diffusive manner. This is likened to a drunk man walking down a crowded street, where the crowd challenges stunted migration, making it difficult to get to its destination.

In addition, intracellular proteins face many challenges that must be overcome in order to interact. Some proteins are also present in the same cell or organ, others are not. Because of the complexity of these mechanisms, Estrada has developed a mathematical model that permits 59 proteins in the lung to function as the major activators affecting other human organs. This causes a series of interactions, starting with this set, stimulating protein changes along the way and ultimately affecting health.

Estrada added, “By targeting some of these proteins with existing drugs to the lungs with existing drugs, we prevent confusion of proteins expressed in organs other than the lungs, avoid multiple organ failure, In many cases, it causes the death of the patient.”

Estrada is also a potential pathway for the transmission of perturbations from proteins in the lungs to proteins expressed in other tissues including the heart, thymus, cerebral cortex, lymph nodes, prostate, testis, liver, duodenum, small intestine, kidney. It was also discovered that it was damaged, especially by COVID-19.

He pointed out that further research is still needed to determine how the affected proteins move between organs.