Scientists have discovered a mutation in SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, that plays a key role in its ability to infect the central nervous system.
Northwestern UniversityAug 23 2024 Scientists have discovered a mutation in SARS -CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, that plays a key role in its ability to infect the central nervous system . The findings may help scientists understand its neurological symptoms and the mystery of "long COVID," and they could one day even lead to specific treatments to protect and clear the virus from the brain.
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. This was completely unexpected, but very exciting." "In order for the virus to traffic from the lung to the brain, it required changes in the spike protein that are already known to dictate how the virus gets into different types of cells," Hultquist said. "We think this region of spike is a critical regulator of whether or not the virus gets into the brain, and it could have large implications for the treatment and management of neurological symptoms reported by COVID-19 patients.
"It's still not known if long COVID is caused by direct infection of cells in the brain or due to some adverse immune response that persists beyond the infection," Hultquist said. "If it is caused by infection of cells in the central nervous system, our study suggests there may be specific treatments that could work better than others in clearing the virus from this compartment.
SARS SARS-Cov-2 Brain Fog Central Nervous System Covid-19 Evolution Medicine Microbiology Mutation Nervous System Protein Spike Protein Virus
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