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The new coronavirus may be using part of our immune system against us.The novel coronavirus is known to use a keyhole called the ACE2 receptor to "unlock" a cell and get inside, where it replicates and wreaks havoc. Now, researchers have found that the gene that encodes the ACE2 receptor may be stimulated by interferons, one of the body's main defenses against viruses. When a foreign pathogen invades, interferons act like "first responders"; the immune system releases these proteins to alert other cells that there's a pathogen in the body. But when interferons rush to alert the body to the coronavirus, they're actually stimulating the gene that ramps up expression of ACE2 receptors, which may lead to more ACE2 production and allow SARS-CoV-2 to infect even more cells.....
This finding is important, given that interferons are being tested as a possible treatment for the new coronavirus. However, it's still unclear whether an interferon treatment would help or harm patients. "It might be that in some patients, because of the timing or the dose, interferon can contain the virus, while in others, interferon promotes more infection," Ordovas-Montanes said in a statement. "We want to better understand where the balance lies and how we can maintain a productive antiviral response without producing more target cells for the virus to infect."...
Original report to be published in Cell:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.035
https://www.cell.com/pb-assets/products/coronavirus/CELL_CELL-D-20-00767.pdf
