{"id":1717,"date":"2020-09-24T14:43:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-24T14:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.inthedays.com\/?p=1717"},"modified":"2020-09-24T14:46:59","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T14:46:59","slug":"new-major-breakthrough-could-stop-covid-19-virus-in-its-tracks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inthedays.com\/?p=1717","title":{"rendered":"NEW MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH COULD STOP COVID-19 VIRUS IN ITS TRACKS"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Knowledge Increased<\/div>\n
\"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be \n\n
increased STONG\u2019S NUMBER:7235 <\/font>rabah, raw-baw\u00b4; a primitive root; to increase (in whatever respect):\u2014(bring in) abundance (x -antly), + archer (by mistake for 7232), be in authority, bring up, x continue, enlarge, excel, exceeding(-ly), be full of, (be, make) great(-er, -ly, x -ness), grow up, heap, increase, be long, (be, give, have, make, use) many (a time), (any, be, give, give the, have) more (in number), (ask, be, be so, gather, over, take, yield) much (greater, more), (make to) multiply, nourish, plenty(-eous), x process (of time), sore, store, thoroughly, very<\/span><\/div>.\"\n\n \u2014 Daniel 12:4 <\/blockquote><\/strong><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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In a new study, researchers found a druggable pocket in the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein could be used to stop the virus from infecting\u00a0human cells.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The findings are a potential \u2018game-changer\u2019 in defeating the current pandemic and add that small-molecule anti-viral drugs developed to target the pocket they discovered could help eliminate COVID-19. The research was conducted by a team at the\u00a0University of Bristol\u00a0and elsewhere.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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SARS-CoV-2 is decorated by multiple copies of a glycoprotein, known as the \u2018Spike protein\u2019, which plays an essential role in viral infectivity.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Spike binds to the human cell surface, allowing the virus to penetrate the cells and start replicating, causing widespread damage.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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In this ground-breaking study, the team used a powerful imaging technique to analyze SARS-CoV-2 Spike at near-atomic resolution.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Enabled by Oracle high-performance\u00a0cloud computing, a 3-D structure of SARS CoV-2 Spike protein was generated allowing the researchers to peer deep inside the Spike identifying its molecular composition.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Unexpectedly, the team found the presence of a small molecule, linoleic acid, buried in a tailor-made pocket within the Spike protein.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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linoleic acid is a free fatty acid, which is indispensable for many cellular functions. The\u00a0human body\u00a0cannot produce linoleic acid. Instead, the body absorbs this essential molecule through diet.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Intriguingly, linoleic acid plays a vital role in inflammation and immune modulation, which are both key elements of COVID-19 disease progression.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Linoleic acid is also needed to maintain\u00a0cell membranes\u00a0in the lungs so that we can breathe properly.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The team says linoleic acid is at the center of those functions that go haywire in COVID-19 patients, with terrible consequences.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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From other diseases, scientists know that tinkering with linoleic acid metabolic pathways can trigger systemic inflammation, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and pneumonia.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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These pathologies are all observed in patients suffering from severe COVID-19. A recent study of COVID-19 patients showed markedly reduced linoleic acid levels in their sera.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The discovery provides the first\u00a0direct link\u00a0between linoleic acid, COVID-19 pathological manifestations, and the virus itself.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The question now is how to turn this new knowledge against the virus itself and defeat the pandemic.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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One author of the study is Professor Christiane Schaffitzel from Bristol\u2019s School of Biochemistry.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The study is published in Science.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/p>\n

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In a new study, researchers found a druggable pocket in the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein could be used to stop the virus from infecting human cells.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-knowledge-increased","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthedays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthedays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthedays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthedays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthedays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1717"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthedays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1722,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthedays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1717\/revisions\/1722"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthedays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthedays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthedays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthedays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}