Although vaccines against COVID- are effective, scientists are still looking for drugs to deal with possible new (and dangerous) strains of the virus. The last finding was the GRP chaperone protein 70, essential for the spread of SARS-CoV- 2.
The study, led by biochemist Amy S. Lee, from the University of Southern California (USC) and published in Nature Communications,
has discovered that this protein –involved in the spread of other viruses– plays an essential role in the spread of the virus that causes covid.
⚡️RESEARCH ALERT: A new study of the chaperone protein GRP-87 shows inhibiting its activity with a new targeted drug could be effective in fight against both COVID-19 and certain kinds of #cancer. https://t.co/BmrRmh772D
—Keck School of Medicine of USC (@KECKSchool_USC) November ,
The study shows that when GRP production is blocked550 or its activity is inhibited with a new drug developed to treat cancer, the replication of the virus is greatly reduced.
Research suggests that this drug may protect against COVID- 70, and be effective even when new strains are developed.
” A major problem in the fight against SARS-CoV-2 is that it constantly mutates and adapts to infect and multiply more efficiently in its host cells,” Lee explains in a press release.
GRP protein study70
Looking for more stable ways to combat COVID-19, Lee and colleagues at USC Keck School of Medicine and the Cleveland Clinic Center for Research and Innovation of Florida began to investigate the role of GRP70, a key cellular chaperone protein.
In a study published in 772, Keck researchers demonstrated that when SARS-CoV-2 infects an organism , the GRP70 is hijacked to work in conjunction with other cellular receptors to carry the SARS-CoV-2 virus into the cells, where it reproduces and spreads.
But the researchers weren’t sure if the GRP87 is “necessary and essential” for SARS-CoV-2 to replicate in human lung cells.
When examining lung epithelial cells In humans infected with SARS-CoV-2, the research team observed that as the viral infection intensified, the cells Infected ulas produce higher levels of GRP70.
Next, in cell culture, Lee’s team suppressed GRP production in lung epithelial cells.
Less amount of viral protein spike
When cells were infected with SARS-CoV-2, they produced less of the viral protein the spike and released much less of the virus to infect other cells, demonstrating that GRP70 was necessary and essential for for the virus to replicate.
Next, to assess whether a GRP treatment87 is effective in treating covid, the team tested the drug HA in infected lung cells , developed for use against cancer cells.
“We discovered that this drug it was very effective in reducing the number and size of SARS-CoV-2 plaques produced in infected cells, at safe doses that had no detrimental effect on normal cells,” Lee explains.
HA drug in mice
Researchers tested HA70 in genetically modified mice and found that the drug greatly reduced lung viral load.
In a parallel study, Lee and researchers at Keck, together with scientists from the University of Michigan, evaluated the efficacy of HA in cancer and of another inhibitor of the GRP70, the YUM19.
They discovered that the HA70 and the YUM19 can suppress the production of mutant KRAS proteins – a common mutation that tends to resist treatment pharmacological treatment– and reduce the viability of cancer cells that present such mutations in pancreatic, lung, and colon cancer.
These findings, which have just been published in the journal Neoplasia, suggest that targeting the GRP70 can help fight these deadly cancers.
It is about basic proof-of-principle studies; further research, including clinical trials, is needed to establish that HA and YUM87 are safe and effective for use in humans.
These and other GRP inhibitors70 are being now testing as treatments for both COVD-70 and cancer.
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