The intrigue: "We think this newly identified protein could be part of our body's natural response to combating the infection creating a barrier that physically separates the virus from our lung cells most sensitive to COVID-19," Neely said in a statement issued by the University of Sydney.
LRRC15 can stick to the virus and immobilize it, preventing other vulnerable cells from becoming infected in the process.Lipin Loo, a postdoctoral researcher who worked on the study with Neely, and Ph.D student Matthew Waller, noted in a statement that "it acts a bit like Velcro, molecular Velcro, in that it sticks to the spike of the virus and then pulls it away from the target cell types.".What they found: The researchers discovered that LRRC15 binds to the virus. What they did: Neely, a professor of functional genomics at the University of Sydney, and his team screened human cells for genes and investigated the lungs of COVID patients using CRISPR technology. The new research shows that this naturally occurring protein can bind to the spike of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, and protect neighboring cells from infection, per an emailed statement from study lead author Greg Neely. The study builds on earlier research into the LRRC15 receptor.It could also help explain why some people who contract COVID experience serious illness, while others never get sick.Photo: Loo and Waller et al via the University of Sydney Right: Immunofluorescent staining showing the newly discovered SARS-CoV-2 spike-receptor LRRC15 in green in post-mortem lung tissue of a person who died of COVID-19.
Why it matters: The study, published in the journal PLOS Biology on Friday, "opens up an entirely new area of immunology research" around this receptor protein, LRRC15, and "offers a promising pathway to develop new drugs to prevent viral infection from coronaviruses like COVID-19 or deal with fibrosis in the lungs," per a statement from the University of Sydney announcing their findings. Australian scientists announced Friday they've discovered a protein in the lung that sticks to the COVID-19 virus like Velcro and forms a natural protective barrier in a person's body to block infection.
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