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Coronavirus has more than one gateway into cells. Two teams of European researchers, working independently, have identified a new entryway through which the coronavirus gets into cells and infects them, suggesting another approach to stopping it. One key route - via a protein on cell surfaces called ACE2 - is well known.
The newly identified gateway is a cell-surface protein called neuropilin-1, or NRP1. A "spike" on the surface of the coronavirus binds to NRP1, allowing the virus to break into the cell, similar to how a virus spike attaches itself to ACE2. Other viruses also employ NRP1 as an entry into cells, including the one that causes mononucleosis.
In laboratory experiments with human cells, one of the teams found that an antibody that binds to NRP1 can block the coronavirus spike from attaching and prevent infection. Neither of the studies has been through the peer-review process. One was posted on the preprint server bioRxiv on Wednesday and the other late last week. The research groups say their findings suggest that NRP1 could be another target for drugs and vaccines against the new virus....
Preprints of the studies available at bioRxiv:
