CORONA Australian researchers find protein in lung that blocks COVID infection

[Intestinal Fortitude]

Australian researchers make "crazy interesting" discovery on blocking COVID infection

Researchers find protein in lungs that sticks to COVID virus like Velcro and forms a natural protective barrier against infection.

www.axios.com

Australian researchers find protein in lung that blocks COVID infection​

• Rebecca Falconer

Radiologists in Cremona, Italy, observe CT scans of COVID-19 patients' lungs. Photo: Nicola Marfisi/AGF/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Australian scientists announced Friday they've discovered a protein in the lung that sticks to the COVID-19 virus like Velcro and forms a natural protective barrier in a person's body to block infection.
Why it matters: The study, published in the journal PLOS Biology on Friday, "opens up an entirely new area of immunology research" around this receptor protein, LRRC15, and "offers a promising pathway to develop new drugs to prevent viral infection from coronaviruses like COVID-19 or deal with fibrosis in the lungs," per a statement from the University of Sydney announcing their findings.
Left: A healthy control lung. Right: Immunofluorescent staining showing the newly discovered SARS-CoV-2 spike-receptor LRRC15 in green in post-mortem lung tissue of a person who died of COVID-19. Photo: Loo and Waller et al via the University of Sydney

• It could also help explain why some people who contract COVID experience serious illness, while others never get sick.
• The study builds on earlier research into the LRRC15 receptor. The new research shows that this naturally occurring protein can bind to the spike of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, and protect neighboring cells from infection, per an emailed statement from study lead author Greg Neely.

What they did: Neely, a professor of functional genomics at the University of Sydney, and his team screened human cells for genes and investigated the lungs of COVID patients using CRISPR technology.
What they found: The researchers discovered that LRRC15 binds to the virus.

• Lipin Loo, a postdoctoral researcher who worked on the study with Neely, and Ph.D student Matthew Waller, noted in a statement that "it acts a bit like Velcro, molecular Velcro, in that it sticks to the spike of the virus and then pulls it away from the target cell types."
• LRRC15 can stick to the virus and immobilize it, preventing other vulnerable cells from becoming infected in the process.
• Waller said in a statement that the researchers "found that this receptor also controls antiviral responses, as well as fibrosis, and could link COVID-19 infection with lung fibrosis that occurs during long COVID."

The intrigue: "We think this newly identified protein could be part of our body's natural response to combating the infection creating a barrier that physically separates the virus from our lung cells most sensitive to COVID-19," Neely said in a statement issued by the University of Sydney.

What they're saying: "The LRRC15 protein appears to effectively mop up extracellular virus floating around in infected lungs," said Cassandra Berry, an immunology professor at Murdoch University in Western Australia, who was not involved in the study, in an emailed statement.

• "This discovery allows us to better understand innate immunity that helps to protect us during virus invasion and offers new ways for development of antivirals."

The bottom line: "For me, as an immunologist, the fact that there's this natural immune receptor that we didn't know about, that's lining our lungs and blocks and controls virus, that's crazy interesting," Neely said.

• "Since this receptor can block COVID-19 infection, and at the same time activate our body's anti-virus response, and suppress our body’s fibrosis response, this is a really important new gene."
  

  Australian researchers find protein in lung that blocks COVID infection​

  
  • Rebecca Falconer
  
  
  
  
  Radiologists in Cremona, Italy, observe CT scans of COVID-19 patients' lungs. Photo: Nicola Marfisi/AGF/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
  Australian scientists announced Friday they've discovered a protein in the lung that sticks to the COVID-19 virus like Velcro and forms a natural protective barrier in a person's body to block infection.
  Why it matters: The study, published in the journal PLOS Biology on Friday, "opens up an entirely new area of immunology research" around this receptor protein, LRRC15, and "offers a promising pathway to develop new drugs to prevent viral infection from coronaviruses like COVID-19 or deal with fibrosis in the lungs," per a statement from the University of Sydney announcing their findings.
  Left: A healthy control lung. Right: Immunofluorescent staining showing the newly discovered SARS-CoV-2 spike-receptor LRRC15 in green in post-mortem lung tissue of a person who died of COVID-19. Photo: Loo and Waller et al via the University of Sydney
  • It could also help explain why some people who contract COVID experience serious illness, while others never get sick.
  • The study builds on earlier research into the LRRC15 receptor. The new research shows that this naturally occurring protein can bind to the spike of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, and protect neighboring cells from infection, per an emailed statement from study lead author Greg Neely.
  What they did: Neely, a professor of functional genomics at the University of Sydney, and his team screened human cells for genes and investigated the lungs of COVID patients using CRISPR technology.
  What they found: The researchers discovered that LRRC15 binds to the virus.
  • Lipin Loo, a postdoctoral researcher who worked on the study with Neely, and Ph.D student Matthew Waller, noted in a statement that "it acts a bit like Velcro, molecular Velcro, in that it sticks to the spike of the virus and then pulls it away from the target cell types."
  • LRRC15 can stick to the virus and immobilize it, preventing other vulnerable cells from becoming infected in the process.
  • Waller said in a statement that the researchers "found that this receptor also controls antiviral responses, as well as fibrosis, and could link COVID-19 infection with lung fibrosis that occurs during long COVID."
  The intrigue: "We think this newly identified protein could be part of our body's natural response to combating the infection creating a barrier that physically separates the virus from our lung cells most sensitive to COVID-19," Neely said in a statement issued by the University of Sydney.
  
  What they're saying: "The LRRC15 protein appears to effectively mop up extracellular virus floating around in infected lungs," said Cassandra Berry, an immunology professor at Murdoch University in Western Australia, who was not involved in the study, in an emailed statement.
  • "This discovery allows us to better understand innate immunity that helps to protect us during virus invasion and offers new ways for development of antivirals."
  The bottom line: "For me, as an immunologist, the fact that there's this natural immune receptor that we didn't know about, that's lining our lungs and blocks and controls virus, that's crazy interesting," Neely said.
  • "Since this receptor can block COVID-19 infection, and at the same time activate our body's anti-virus response, and suppress our body’s fibrosis response, this is a really important new gene."
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[Intestinal Fortitude]

‘Crazy interesting’ findings by Australian researchers may reveal key to Covid immunity

University of Sydney scientists have found a receptor protein which ‘acts a bit like molecular velcro, in that it sticks to the spike of the virus’

www.theguardian.com

‘Crazy interesting’ findings by Australian researchers may reveal key to Covid immunity​

Article will NOT post

 

[Dozdoats]

We are unaware of many things which keep us alive.

 

[Babs]

I wonder in what segment of the population, or what nationalities this protein is most often found.

 

[packyderms_wife]

I wonder in what segment of the population, or what nationalities this protein is most often found.

This^^^

 

[Knoxville's Joker]

‘Crazy interesting’ findings by Australian researchers may reveal key to Covid immunity

University of Sydney scientists have found a receptor protein which ‘acts a bit like molecular velcro, in that it sticks to the spike of the virus’

www.theguardian.com

‘Crazy interesting’ findings by Australian researchers may reveal key to Covid immunity​

Article will NOT post

Had to run it through a plain text editor and then paste

‘Crazy interesting’ findings by Australian researchers may reveal key to Covid immunity
University of Sydney scientists have found a receptor protein which ‘acts a bit like molecular velcro, in that it sticks to the spike of the virus’

Melissa Davey Medical editor Thu 9 Feb 2023 14.00 EST

Australian researchers have found a protein in the lungs that sticks to the Covid-19 virus like velcro and immobilises it, which may explain why some people never become sick with the virus while others suffer serious illness.

The research was led by Greg Neely, a professor of functional genomics with the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre in collaboration with Dr Lipin Loo, a postdoctoral researcher and Matthew Waller, a PhD student. Their findings were published in the journal PLOS Biology on Friday.

The team used human cells in tissue culture to search the whole human genome for proteins that can bind to Sars-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19.

This was done using the genetic engineering tool known as Crispr, which allowed them to turn on all genes in the human genome, then look to see which of those genes give human cells the ability to bind to the Sars-CoV-2 spike protein. The spike protein is crucial to the virus’s ability to infect human cells.

“This let us find this new receptor protein, LRRC15,” Neely said.

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“We then used lungs from patients that died of Covid or other illnesses and found the serious Covid patients had tons of this LRRC15 in their lungs.”

LRRC15 is not present in humans until Sars-CoV-2 enters the body. It appears to be part of a new immune barrier that helps protect from serious Covid-19 infection while activating the body’s antiviral response.

Despite those patients who died from Covid-19 producing LRRC15, the researchers believe not enough was produced to be protective, or it was produced too late to help.

“When we look at lungs from patients that died of Covid there is much of this protein,” Neely said. “But we couldn’t look at the lungs of patients that survived Covid as lung biopsy is not something that is easy to do on live people. We predict there is more of this protein in survivors versus those that died of Covid.”

A separate study from London that examined blood samples for LRRC15 found the protein in the blood was lower in patients with severe covid compared to patients that had mild Covid, supporting this theory.

“Our data suggests that higher levels of LRRC15 would result in people having less severe disease,” Neely said.

“The fact that there’s this natural immune receptor that we didn’t know about, that’s lining our lungs and blocks and controls virus – that’s crazy interesting.”

They also found LRRC15 is also expressed in fibroblast cells, the cells that control lung fibrosis, a disease which causes damaged and scarred lung tissue. Covid-19 can lead to lung fibrosis, and the finding may have implications for long Covid.

“We can now use this new receptor to design broad-acting drugs that can block viral infection or even suppress lung fibrosis,” Neely said. There are currently no good treatments for lung fibrosis, he said.

A woman receives a booster dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Fifth Covid vaccine for Australian adults to roll out later this month

Loo said LRRC15 “acts a bit like molecular velcro, in that it sticks to the spike of the virus and then pulls it away from the target cell types”.

Prof Stuart Turville, a virologist with the Kirby Institute at the University of New South Wales, said the finding is “a powerful example” of what happens when teams work together in Australia.

“Greg Neely’s team is brilliant at what we call functional genomics,” Turville said.

“That is the ability to wake up or turn off thousands of proteins at a time and when looking at new viruses, this is really important. Our team provided the platforms and virus for testing in this setting and these collaborations are really powerful both now and also in the future for emerging pathogens.”

And while the discovery may take years to translate into drugs that can protect against viruses and other diseases, Turville said the research adds to our understanding of innate immunity – hard-wired responses humans have that can act as soon as a virus appears.

“Understanding these pathways is important as they enable us to put the brakes on a virus, so other arms of our immune system can catch up and respond,” Turville said.

“In some cases these brakes can be so effective, that the virus may never gain momentum. Indeed this could be one of many factors that may increase the ability of people to be protected from the virus early on.”

 

[Griz3752]

I wonder in what segment of the population, or what nationalities this protein is most often found.

And, where can it be had?

 

[ainitfunny]

The non-vaccinated have NOT HAD THEIR
IMMUNE SYSTEM DAMAGED BY THE
VACCINES AND BOOSTERS!

That may be why.

 

[WalknTrot]

Do believe there are folks floating around in the population who have natural defenses against new assaults like the Covid bug. Thus the beauty of natural selection. If researchers can learn something that might be applied to other situations that come up, all the better. May be the only ONE good thing that comes out of this mess.

Even though I was vaccinated with the initial two, and took the first booster, we all know how short-lasting the protection was - probably only a couple months at best. My decision to vaccinate was based on not wanting to expose from the wild, a totally new virus to my immune system...wanted to at least show a rough pattern of what was circulating. That was well accomplished with the three shots.

As far as I know, I never got it. With my contacts and activities, I should have been exposed like everyone else. Thought maybe early on a barely noticeable case/exposure, but was not confirmed by an antibody test a few months later. My brother never got it either, nor did any of our next generational pups in the family. Pa passed on some magnificent "swimmer's lungs" to his kids - noted by many Docs over the years for off-the-charts capacity and resilience. Maybe those lungs have other good things going as well. Who knows, but food for thought. Carry on, lab rats.

 

[BUBBAHOTEPT]

I wonder about myself as well. Why? I have never been exempt from anything before in my life, and I did not change how I live in the last 3 years- except for D3 levels. Of course, there is always tomorrow….

 

[Dozdoats]

Genetics ...

Leucine rich repeat containing 15 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Leucine rich repeat containing 15

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
LRRC15
Identifiers
Aliases LRRC15, LIB, Leucine rich repeat containing 15
External IDs MGI: 1921738 HomoloGene: 26080 GeneCards: LRRC15
Gene location (Human)
Gene location (Mouse)
RNA expression pattern
Gene ontology
Orthologs
Species Human Mouse
Entrez
131578

74488

Ensembl
ENSG00000172061

ENSMUSG00000052316

UniProt
Q8TF66

Q80X72

RefSeq (mRNA)
NM_130830
NM_001135057

NM_028973

RefSeq (protein)
NP_001128529
NP_570843

NP_083249

Location (UCSC) Chr 3: 194.36 – 194.37 Mb Chr 16: 30.09 – 30.1 Mb
PubMed search [3] [4]
Wikidata
View/Edit Human View/Edit Mouse
Leucine rich repeat containing 15 is a cell membrane-expressed protein. In humans it is encoded by the LRRC15 gene.[5] It is located on chromosome 3 at 3q29. It belongs to the LRR superfamily, which is involved in cell–cell and cell–ECM interactions.

Preliminary evidence indicates that expression may be related to the severity of COVID-19[6] and that it is an inhibitory accessory factor for SARS-CoV-2 cell entry.[7][8][9][10]

LRRC15 lacks obvious intracellular domains. LRRC15 displays a highly restricted expression pattern, but is expressed in areas that make up innate immune barriers such as the placenta, skin, activated fibroblasts in wounds, and lymphoid tissues such as the spleen.[citation needed]

LRRC15 may play some role in innate immunity.

LRRC15 is aberrantly expressed in cancer. It is highly expressed in CAFs within the stroma of numerous solid tumors and directly expressed in mesenchymal tumors such as glioblastoma, sarcomas, and melanoma.[citation needed]
================

LRRC15 Single Gene - Clinical test - NIH Genetic Testing Registry (GTR) - NCBI

Fibroblast-expressed LRRC15 is a receptor for SARS-CoV-2 spike and controls antiviral and antifibrotic transcriptional programs - PubMed

Although ACE2 is the primary receptor for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, a systematic assessment of host factors that regulate binding to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein has not been described. Here, we use whole-genome CRISPR activation to identify host factors...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

LRRC15 promotes osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells by modulating p65 cytoplasmic/nuclear translocation - PubMed

Taken together, our findings reveal that LRRC15 is an essential regulator for osteogenesis of MSCs through modulating p65 cytoplasmic/nuclear translocation, and give a novel hint for MSC-mediated bone regeneration.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Pebbles]

Fascinating!!! It's amazing what REAL science can tell us.

 

[Dozdoats]

Probably dates back to some howevermany times great grandparent who lived through a really bad time in history through an accident of genetics, and made babies by accident with another survivor with the same gene.

For example-

The Black Death and AIDS: CCR5-Delta32 in genetics and history - PubMed

Black Death and AIDS are global pandemics that have captured the popular imagination, both attracting extravagant hypotheses to account for their origins and geographical distributions. Medical scientists have recently attempted to connect these two great pandemics. Some argue that the Black...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The Black Death and AIDS: CCR5-Delta32 in genetics and history

Some of those random genetic mutations that keep happening are just mods we didn't know we needed yet...