SYDNEY, June 8 (Xinhua) — A brand new research led by the University of Queensland (UQ) has proven that viruses, similar to SARS-CoV-2, could cause mind cells to fuse, resulting in malfunctions that may set off persistent neurological signs.
According to the research printed within the Science Advances journal on Wednesday, researchers have studied the results of viruses on the nervous system, suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 has been detected within the brains of individuals with “long COVID” months after preliminary an infection.
“We discovered COVID-19 causes neurons to undergo a cell fusion process, which has not been seen before,” stated Massimo Hilliard, co-author of the research and professor at UQ.
“After neuronal infection with SARS-CoV-2, the spike S protein becomes present in neurons, and once neurons fuse, they don’t die,” Hilliard famous. “They either start firing synchronously, or they stop functioning altogether.”
The scholar in contrast the function of neurons to that of wires connecting switches to the lights in a kitchen and a rest room.
“Once fusion takes place, each switch either turns on both the kitchen and bathroom lights at the same time, or neither of them,” he stated. “It’s bad news for the two independent circuits.”
“In the current understanding of what happens when a virus enters the brain, there are two outcomes – either cell death or inflammation,” stated Ramon Martinez-Marmol, one other co-author and analysis fellow at UQ. “But we’ve shown a third possible outcome, which is neuronal fusion.”
Martinez-Marmol talked about that quite a few viruses infect the nervous system and trigger cell infusion, together with HIV, rabies, Japanese encephalitis, measles, herpes simplex Virus, and Zika virus.
“Our research reveals a new mechanism for the neurological events that happen during a viral infection,” he stated. “This is potentially a major cause of neurological diseases and clinical symptoms that is still unexplored.”