![]() "We're at the beginning of this digital age where we can really see so much more than we could see even two years ago, where we can look at every protein in the human genome and measure how every one could interact with membranes," says Overduin. #Spike proteins software#The development of software like MODA makes it easier to make predictions like this and describe how proteins really behave in a cell. The team thinks that other viruses aside from SARS-CoV-2 use similar mechanisms to enter cells, but until recently the process has been difficult to observe. Maybe that's contributing to how it gets in easier and spreads more quickly," says Overduin. We thought that's really, really exciting. So antibodies created against the spike protein won't harm your body, they will only target coronavirus. The spike protein is unique to SARS-CoV-2 it doesn't look like other proteins your body makes. Its location on the outside of the virus makes it so the immune system can recognize it easily. Then we found that the Omicron variant was super active. The spike protein is located on the outside of a coronavirus and is how SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus) enters human cells. "We found out how the spike protein engages the lipids of our lung cells and gets in. With the help of another undergraduate student, Anh Tran, the team began the process of using MODA to compare a large number of structures of spike proteins in both the original-or 'wild type'- virus and the variants. The consensus in the scientific community has been that the job of spike proteins in SARS-CoV-2 is to bind to angiotensin converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2) receptors that are on the outside of cells, not to the cell membrane. Those findings became the foundation for additional research about cell-binding activity, namely if spike proteins-such as those found on the SARS-CoV-2 virus-bind to membranes. He found that cell membranes-the barrier around cells made of fat molecules called lipids-play a more significant role in viruses binding to cells than previously thought. He assembled all the proteins in one family of membrane-binding domains, and used MODA to predict which regions on the domains bind to membranes. When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down labs at the U of A, Troy Kervin, an undergraduate student in Overduin's lab, shifted his research to work he could do outside of the lab. The work was named one of the top ten scientific breakthroughs of 2010 by the journal Science, as well as one of the top ten medical breakthroughs of the year by TIME magazine.The team of researchers, led by U of A professor of biochemistry Michael Overduin, used software called Membrane Optimal Docking Area (MODA) to identify interactions between proteins and membranes within cells. More importantly, Luigi is renowned for his work with Derrick Rossi, the co-founder of the famous biotechnology company Moderna.īack in 2010, Luigi and Derrick worked together to be the first to describe mRNA-based reprogramming in a pathbreaking paper in Cell Stem Cell, titled Highly efficient reprogramming to pluripotency and directed differentiation of human cells with synthetic modified mRNA. Luigi's now-penalised tweet addressed his views on whether spike protein is shed by people vaccinated with mRNA vaccines.įor those unaware, Luigi Warren is the current President and CEO of Cellular Reprogramming, Inc, a biotechnology firm based in California. However, this fact check does not always turn out to be as effective as it means to be.Ĭase in point, Twitter recently suspended the account of Luigi Warren, apparently for violating the Twitter Rules. As a coping mechanism, they have increasingly started to flag such fake information for their audience. By Sarthak Dogra: Social media majors have been enduring a struggle against misinformation spread through their platforms for since long. ![]()
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