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Although the coronavirus “Sars-CoV-2” is currently attracting the attention of global research, it was not yet clearly clear how exactly “Covid-19” attacks the cells of our lungs.
Scientists from the “University of Cambridge” have now for the first time been able to see what happens at the cellular level during a “Sars-CoV-2” infection.
Corona infection: the disease course simulated in the laboratory
The coronavirus “Sars-CoV-2” not only affects the lungs and airways, but also the tissue of other organs such as the heart, intestines, brain and nervous system. For most of these organs, doctors have already found a way to successfully visualize a corona infection in the laboratory.
Of all things, the alveoli that are particularly badly affected by “Covid-19” so far lack the information to track exactly how an infection is occurring in the cells. “We still know surprisingly little about how ‘Sars-CoV-2’ affects the lungs and makes them sick,” explains Joo-Hyeon Lee, a PhD student at the Institute for Stem Cell Research in Cambridge.
Researchers from the “University of Cambridge” have now succeeded in examining the course of the disease and the effects of “Sars-CoV-2” on the lungs. To do this, scientists developed so-called organoids, a miniature image of an organ grown from stem cells, in this case a lung.
The researchers cultured lung organoids from healthy donor stem cells and then infected them with “Sars-CoV-2”. The scientists published their observations and results in the stem cell research journal Cell stem cells.
Protective Mechanism: Corona drives cells to suicide
Contact with a single viral particle is enough to infect a lung cell, according to the researchers. According to the study, 61% of the organ’s lung cells were infected with corona just one day after initial contact with “Covid-19”. The body immediately started making interferons, an immune messenger that puts cells on alert.
But although the cells changed after a few hours and turned into small “virus factories”, the virus defense mechanism only started after 48 hours: by the third day after infection, the cells had maximized their production. of antiviral molecules, according to the researchers.
In most cases, however, the body’s cellular defense is not sufficient to defeat “Sars-CoV-2”. Scientists report that the messenger substances of apoptosis are produced approximately 60 hours after infection.
According to the research, apoptosis is a kind of suicidal command for cells: “A cell goes into apoptosis when the signals it needs for survival are withdrawn from it, or when other signals order suicide. […] This prevents genome defects from being passed on to daughter cells “, says the” Federal Ministry for Education and Research “.
Coronavirus Study: Organoids provide a good representation of reality
According to the scientists, the study provides valuable information on the course and phases of a “Covid-19” disease: from the viral acquisition of the cellular mechanism and the first warning signs to the mobilization of the cell’s resistance to the failure of defense measures and cell death.
It can be assumed that an infection in the human body proceeds in a very similar way. Since the corona usually causes severe lung damage only about ten days after infection, it can be assumed that the cellular response to “Sars-CoV-2” in humans occurs with a delay compared to the organoid.
According to the study, this could be because the coronavirus takes a few days to travel from the upper airways to the lungs.
As a radiologist, Christopher Herzog has already dealt with numerous people who have contracted the coronavirus. In the interview he explains what is happening in the lungs and why a “CT” can be important.
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