Los Angeles: US researchers have created a new antibody that can block the ability of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to spread from cell to cell. The antibody, named FUG-1, targets the furin enzyme, which the virus uses to produce an efficient chain of COVID-19 infection in human cells. In the study, published in a recent issue of the ‘Journal Microbiology Spectrum’, researchers hope that the new antibody can be incorporated into a cocktail of existing antibodies to better fight new and more infectious forms of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. will gain help in.
“We have developed an antibody that blocks the transmission chain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” said senior researcher Joginder Tushir-Singh from the University of California, Davis, who was part of the study team. He said, ‘Anti-Covid vaccines are proving to be excellent life savers by reducing the risk of serious infection and hospitalization of patients. But now we are finding that they may not be as effective in containing the spread of the virus. The researchers claimed that the FUG-1 antibody significantly inhibited the action of the furin enzyme. This enzyme is needed for the SARS-CoV-2 virus to become more infectious.
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The researchers reported that furin is found throughout the human body and is involved in various cell functions. It is capable of truncating the polybasic peptide bonds present in proteins and breaking them into smaller components. According to the researchers, furin can also destroy or activate the virus entering human cells. He explained that microbes that use furin to spread in human cells include HIV, influenza, dengue and the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Researchers said that when the SARS-CoV-2 virus infects a human cell, furin is in an active state and has broken down its spike protein. The spike protein is used by the virus to enter cells and spread infection.
However, the spike protein is in an inactive state when the virus replication is in progress in the infected cell, they said. According to the researchers, the virus needs furin of the infected cell to break the spike protein into two parts – S1 and S2, which activate the spikes present in the viral particles and start spreading the virus rapidly. Researchers said that by inhibiting the action of furin, the transmission chain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus can be interrupted. However, this is a complex process, as furin is present throughout the body and is necessary for many important functions in cells. (agency)