Scientists have decoded the chain of molecular responses of human lung cells to infection with the novel coronavirus, an advance which may aid in the identification of clinically approved medications that can be re-purposed for Covid-1♎9 treatment.
The study, published in the journal Molecular Cell, assessed engineered cells of the human lungs' air sacks using precise mass spectrometry technology that 🍒can characterise the molecules present in samples.
Based on the anal🍷ysis, the scientists from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) in the US, identified proteins and pathways of molecules in lung cells whose levels change upon infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The rese😼archers believe the findings provide insights into disease patholog𝔍y and new therapeutic targets to block Covid-19.
They found that a crucial type of protein modification ca🐻lled "phosphorylation" becomes aberrant in ꦏthese infected lung cells.
According🉐 to the study, phosphorylation of protꦰeins plays a major role in regulating protein function inside the cells of an organism.
It noted that both protein abundance and protein phosphorylation are typicall🔥y highly controlled processes in the case of healthy cells.
However, the scientists discovered that SARS-CoV-2 throws the lung cells into disarray, causing abnormal chaꦕnges in protein amounts and frequency of protein phosphorylation inside these cells.
These abnormal changes, the scientists said, help the virus to multip🀅ly -- eventually ꦏdestroying the cells and resulting in widespread lung injury.
Upon infection, the researchers said the coronavirus rapidly begi꧂ns to exploit the cell's core resources, which are otherwise required for the cell's normal growth and functio🌠n.
"The virus uses these resources to proliferate while evading attack by the body's immune system. In this way new viruses form which subsequently exit thꦕe exhausted and brutally damaged lung cell, leaving them to self-destruct," said Andrew Emili, study 🥀co-author from BUSM.
"These new viruses then infect other cells, where the same cycle is ꧂repeated," Emili explained.
In the study, the scientists examined lun🐠g alveolar cells from one to 24 hours after infection with SARS-CoV-2 to understand what changes occur in these cells immediately -- at one, three and six hours after infection by SARS-CoV-2 -- and what changes occur later -- at 24 hours after infection.
"Our results showed that in co✅mparison to normal/uninfec🅺ted lung cells, SARS-CoV-2 infected lung cells showed dramatic changes in the abundance of thousands of proteins and phosphorylation events," said Darrell Kotton, study co-author and professor of pathology & laboratory medicine at BUSM.
"Moreover, our data also showed that the SA꧂RS-CoV-2 virus induces a significant number of these changes as early as one hour post infection and lays the foundation for a complete hijac💫k of the host lung cells," added Elke Muhlberger, another co-author of the study.
The researchers also identified at least 18 pre-existing clinically approved drugs which were🌌 develo💟ped originally for other medical conditions that could be re-purposed for use towards Covid-19 therapy.
They believe further studies can shed light on the potential of these drugs to block th♏e proliferation of the novel coronavirus in human lun🍒g cells.
