Why blood type O might lower risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection
Infection by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes COVID-19 disease leads to no symptoms in some people and severe and fatal consequences in many others. The development of a disease depends on many factors. For coronaviruses, this includes the different types of physical and chemical bonds formed between the virus and host cells.
In the previous SARS-CoV infection, researchers found that O-glycosylation, or the attachment of carbohydrates to the oxygen group in proteins, played a key role in disease development. For SARS-CoV-2, researchers predict something similar may happen, with the O-glycoproteome being a critical component of the infection.
Although the human angiotensin-converting receptor 2 (ACE2) appears to be the primary receptor of the virus in host cells, the virus likely binds via the formation of an intermediate O-glycan, dominated by the amino acid serine of the virus. In humans, the resulting intermediate structure, which is independent of the blood group, may be replaced by carbohydrates specific to the ABO(H) blood groups.
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