The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has been found to have an enzyme that can counteract a cell’s innate defense mechanism against viruses, making it more infectious than previous SARS and MERS viruses. Researchers at Kobe University made this discovery, which could potentially lead to the development of more effective drugs against COVID-19 and similar future diseases. The innate immune system is one of the body’s basic layers of defense against viruses, and the novel coronavirus seems to be able to evade this defense mechanism in a particularly clever way.
Shoji Ikuo and his team at Kobe University have previously studied the immune response to hepatitis viruses and the role of a molecular tag called ISG15 in the innate immune system. They discovered that the novel coronavirus has an enzyme that can effectively remove the ISG15 tag, allowing the virus to overcome the innate immune system’s defenses. In a paper published in the Journal of Virology, the team reported that the ISG15 tag attaches to a specific location on the virus’s nucleocapsid protein, preventing the protein from assembling and thus inhibiting the virus’s ability to replicate.
The novel coronavirus shares similarities with the SARS and MERS viruses, both of which also have enzymes that can remove ISG15 tags. However, the team found that the novel coronavirus’s enzyme is more efficient at removing the tag, which may explain why it is more infectious. By understanding the virus’s mechanism of evading the innate immune system, researchers may be able to develop new antiviral drugs that target the viral enzyme responsible for removing the ISG15 tag or directly target the nucleocapsid protein.
The research conducted by Kobe University was funded by various organizations, including the Kansai Economic Federation, the Hyogo Science and Technology Association, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan. Collaboration with researchers from other institutions, including Universitas Gadjah Mada, Niigata University, and Hokkaido University, was instrumental in uncovering the novel coronavirus’s unique ability to counteract the innate immune system. This research contributes to the growing body of knowledge on COVID-19 and lays the groundwork for potential future treatments.