Summary: Researchers have discovered a gene in the SARS-CoV-2 peak protein that makes it more likely to harm the central nervous system, which might explain the symptoms of cerebral dementia and “long COVID.”
The gene was discovered to improve the ability of the virus to enter the brain, which has implications for upcoming therapies that target COVID-19’s effects on the brain. The research demonstrates the need for particular remedies to treat these neurological consequences.
Important Facts:
- The SARS-CoV-2 burst protein’s ability to spread to other parts of the brain is enhanced by a particular gene.
- The mutation does aid in the explanation of COVID-19’s neurological symptoms and long-term results.
- The study suggests that specific therapies may be developed to eradicate the disease from the head.
Origin: Northwestern University
Experts have discovered , a gene in , SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19,  , that plays a vital part in its capacity to infect the central nervous system.
The findings may aid scientists in understanding the secret of “long COVID,” and their understanding of the virus’s neurological symptoms, and they may also one day lead to the development of novel ways to prevent and eradicate the virus from the mind.  ,
A number of changes to the SARS-CoV-2 peak protein, the outer layer of the disease that allows it to pass through cells, were discovered in a recent creative review between Northwestern University and the University of Illinois-Chicago, which increased the virus’s ability to infect mice.
” Looking at the genomes of viruses found in the brain compared to the lung, we found that viruses with a specific deletion in spike were much better at infecting the brains of these animals” , , said co-corresponding author , Judd Hultquist, assistant professor of medicine ( infectious diseases ) and microbiology-immunology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
” This , was entirely unexpected, but quite exciting”.
The investigation  , will get published Aug. 23 in , Nature Microbiology.
Changes in burst aid the virus’s infecting various body parts.
Researchers in this study sequenced the genomes of infections that replicated in the mind rather than the heart by infecting animals with SARS-CoV-2. The spike protein in the heart resembled the virus that was used to harm the mice very much.
Most viruses, but, had deletions or changes in one crucial peak region that controlled how they entered a cell. When mice’s brains were instantly infected with viruses with this deletion, it was largely cured when it reached the lungs.  ,
According to Hultquist,” the virus needed changes in the spike proteins that are already known to determine how the disease gets into different types of cells” in order for it to travel from the heart to the head.
We believe that this spike location has a significant impact on whether or not the virus enters the brain, and it has a significant impact on how well the neurological symptoms reported by COVID-19 patients are treated and managed.
SARS-CoV-2 has long been associated with various neurological symptoms, such as the loss of smell and taste, “brain fog” and “long COVID” . ,  ,
According to Hultquist,” It’s still not known whether much COVID is caused by direct disease of brain cells or by some severe immune response that persists beyond the infection.”
Our research suggests there may be certain procedures that may work better than others in removing the disease from this area if it is caused by infection of tissue in the central nervous system.
Another Northwestern artists on the research include Lacy M. Simons, Tanushree Dangi, Egon A. Ozer, Pablo Penaloza-MacMaster and Ramon Lorenzo-Redondo.
Funding: Funding for this study,” Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in the murine central nervous system drives viral diversification” , , was provided by the National Institutes of Health ( grants R01AI150672, R56DE033249, R21AI163912 and U19AI135964 ), the Department of Defense ( grant MS200290 ), and through institutional support for the Center for Pathogen Genomics and Microbial Evolution and the Northwestern University Clinical &, Translational Sciences Institute ( NUCATS ).
About this neuroscience and COVID-19 studies news
Author: Kristin Samuelson
Source: Northwestern University
Contact: Kristin Samuelson – Northwestern University
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: The results may appear in Nature Microbiology
