Robert Klatt
Various cancer drugs have stopped the reproduction of SARS-CoV-2 in cell cultures. Because the drugs are already approved, clinical trials with humans can begin soon.
Frankfurt am Main (Germany). Specific Medication to treat Covid-19 do not exist even more than eight months after the start of the pandemic. This is partly due to the complex testing and approval procedures for new active ingredients and drugs. The research Therefore, parallel to the development of corresponding agents, is also looking for already approved active ingredients that can be used against SARS-CoV-2.
A team led by Kevin Klann from the Goethe University Frankfurt has now identified a new approach for treating Covid-19. According to Klann, “knowledge of the molecular processes and changes in the host cell are essential in order to be able to successfully reassign an active ingredient.” The scientists therefore examined which changes Covid-19 triggers in the molecular signaling pathways of the infected cells.
Chromatography-mass spectrometry shows changes
According to a publication in the specialist magazine Molecular Cell they infected human intestinal cells with SARS-CoV-2. They then used chromatography mass spectrometry to analyze how the proteins and their phosphorus groups changed. This so-called phosphorylation regulates the cell metabolism and is misused by viruses for their own reproduction.
As Klann explains, “after infection with SARS-CoV-2, the scientists found extensive changes in the phosphorylation of the host proteins and that of the virus.” The signal pathways that control the cell receptors and the vesicles were affected. In addition, SARC-CoV-2 also manipulates messenger substance cascades that influence the cell cycle and protein production.
Epidermal Growth Factor (EGFR)
The so-called epidermal growth factor (EGFR) could be identified as the central one, which can deactivate the antiviral mechanisms of the host cell and which is used by many viruses to penetrate human cells. Because the epidermal growth factor also plays a decisive role in the degeneration of cells, there are already various drugs that target the signal cascades.
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