Corona detonates a new shock … capable of “imitating”

Many plants and animals use the art of simulation to trick their prey or predators, and viruses use a similar strategy, in which viral proteins can mimic the three-dimensional shapes of their host’s proteins to trick the host into helping it complete its life cycle.

“Viruses use mimicry for the same cause as plants and animals, which is deception,” said Sagi Shapira, assistant professor of systems biology at Columbia University’s Vagilus College of Physicians and Surgeons, and principal investigator. of the study. Evidence of the way viruses cause viruses, including the emerging coronavirus.

“More than we could imagine”
In the study, Shapira and her research team used supercomputers to search for viral simulations using a program similar to 3D facial recognition, scanned more than 7,000 viruses and more than 4,000 hosts in Earth’s ecosystems, and discovered 6 million cases of viral mimicry. .

He also explained that “imitation is a more widespread strategy among viruses than we had imagined, it is used by all types of viruses, regardless of the size of the viral genome, how the virus reproduces, or if the virus infects bacteria, plants, insects or humans. “

‘Especially ingenious’
“However, some types of viruses use mimicry more than others. Although the viruses that cause papilloma and retroviruses do not use them frequently, we found that corona viruses are particularly adept, and we found that they mimic more than 150 proteins, including lots of protein, “he continued. Which controls blood clotting, which is a group of immune proteins that help attack pathogens for their destruction “, noting that:” We think that by simulating the body’s immune complement and clotting proteins, corona viruses they can push these systems into a hyperactive state and cause diseases that we see in infected patients. “

It is noteworthy that during the period of the epidemic, it has become clear that many Covid-19 patients have blood clotting problems and that some of them are now being treated with anticoagulants and medications that limit the activation of supplements.