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Spike protein function12/28/2023 The researchers identified that bases with a chemical modification called N1-methylpseudouridine - which are currently contained in mRNA therapies - are responsible for the 'slips' along the mRNA sequence. Their report is published today in the journal Nature. The latest developments, led by biochemist Professor Anne Willis and immunologist Dr James Thaventhiran from the MRC Toxicology Unit at the University of Cambridge, build upon previous advances to ensure the prevention of any safety issues linked with future mRNA-based therapeutics. This discovery led to their award of the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 2023. They demonstrated that by adding chemical modifications to the bases - the building blocks of mRNA - the synthetic mRNAs could bypass some of our body's immune defences allowing a therapeutic to enter the cell and exert its effects. This revolutionary class of therapeutics was made possible in part through the work of biochemist Katalin Karikó and immunologist Drew Weissman. They have been used to control the COVID-19 pandemic and are already proposed to treat various cancers, cardiovascular, respiratory, and immunological diseases in the future. MRNA vaccines are considered game changing. In addition to the target protein, these slips lead to the production of 'off-target' proteins triggering an unintended immune response. Researchers from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Toxicology Unit have discovered that the cellular machinery that 'reads' mRNAs 'slips' when confronted with repeats of a chemical modification commonly found in mRNA therapeutics. Hence, there are even more reasons to intervene with the use of anti-oxidant compounds, such as luteolin, in addition to available vaccines and anti-inflammatory drugs to prevent the harmful actions of the spike protein.ĪCE2 antibodies blood vessels blood-brain barrier coronavirus endothelial cells receptor spike protein.Ĭopyright 2021 Biolife Sas.MRNA - or 'messenger ribonucleic acid' - is the genetic material that tells cells in the body how to make a specific protein. In this regard, it is known that polyphenols are natural anti-oxidants with multiple health effects. In COVID-19, a response to oxidative stress is required by increasing anti-oxidant enzymes. These findings may be even more relevant to the pathogenesis of long-COVID syndrome that may affect as many as 50% of those infected with SARS-CoV-2. One paper reported that certain antibodies in the blood of infected patients appear to change the shape of the spike protein so as to make it more likely to bind to cells, while other papers showed that the spike protein by itself (without being part of the corona virus) can damage endothelial cells and disrupt the blood-brain barrier. However, recent reports have raised some skepticism as to the biologic actions of the spike protein and the types of antibodies produced. The best well-known vaccines have utilized either mRNA or an adenovirus vector to direct human cells to produce the spike protein against which the body produces mostly neutralizing antibodies. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the rapid production of vaccines aimed at the production of neutralizing antibodies against the COVID-19 spike protein required for the corona virus binding to target cells.
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