Naturally present in our lungs, the protein 15 is in the lung fibroblasts. Elle would prevent Covid-19 infectioncontaining leucinse, which are receptors to the SARS-CoV-2 virus to finish with to block.
“We can now use this new receptor to design broad-acting drugs that can block viral infection or even suppress pulmonary fibrosis,” said Professor Greg Neely, co-author of the new study.
This protein is not only a hope in the treatment and prevention against covid-19 infection, but also for other viral diseases and the pulmonary fibrosis, impossible to process for the moment (source 1).
How does it work ?
Protein 15 would act as a “Molecular Velcro” : she succeeds in get rid of coronavirus after contacting him. This is demonstrated the study published in the journal PLOS Biology.
“We think it acts a bit like molecular Velcro, in that it sticks to the tip of the virus and pulls it away from the target cell types,” the scientists explain.
The presence or absence of this protein is therefore a new indication important in the severity of a Covid-19 infection (source 2).