– Professor Sang-Jun Lee of UNIST proves that it causes a cytokine storm after infection with COVID-19
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[헤럴드경제=구본혁 기자] A crucial gene that causes death of patients infected with COVID-19 has been discovered by a Korean research team. It is ‘ZBP1’, one of the innate immune sensors that recognize viral infection in cells.
Professor Sang-Jun Lee of the Department of Life Sciences at the Ulsan Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) announced a study showing that the ZBP1 gene, known as an innate immune sensor, increases the mortality rate of COVID-19 patients. This gene recognizes the virus that has penetrated into the cell and gives a signal to make cytokine, an immune protein. However, if the COVID-19 virus has penetrated, they make too many cytokines. This wind causes inflammation in the body due to an excessive immune response, leading to death.
Professor Lee Sang-jun said, “Immune cells play an important role in fighting pathogens, but if they are wrong, they are a ‘double-edged sword’ that attacks themselves, so the balance of immune cell activation is important. It was said to cause death,” he said.
The research team found the ZBP1 gene using gene editing technology that removes the gene of macrophages infected with the Corona 19 virus. Macrophages with this gene are killed by a cytokine storm following infection with the Corona 19 virus, but macrophages with this gene removed did not die even after being infected with the Corona 19 virus.
According to research, the ZBP1 gene is particularly well aware of the corona 19 virus that has penetrated into cells. It is good to detect danger signals well, but the problem is that more cytokines are produced than necessary. This is because, when too many cytokines are present, simultaneous inflammatory cell death occurs. This cell death causes systemic inflammation, a cytokine storm, which increases patient mortality.
The research team also found the reason why ‘Interferon (IFN) therapy’, which is commonly used to treat viruses, does not work well for patients with COVID-19. Interferon potently expresses the ZBP1 gene, which induces inflammatory cell death and cytokine storm.
Professor Lee said, “Interferon is an immune substance that is secreted after the immune sensor recognizes a virus, etc., and it does not fight the virus itself, but serves as a messenger to create a protein that can fight it.” “The ZBP1 gene is also “It is thought to cause a cytokine storm when expressed more strongly.”
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| Sang-Jun Lee, Professor at UNIST.[UNIST 제공] |
The relationship between the interferon and ZBP1 genes was also demonstrated in experiments on small animals infected with the COVID-19 virus. All small animals died only when interferon was injected while the ZBP1 gene was present. Not all small animals died when either condition was given.
Professor Lee said, “If we can control the expression of the ZBP1 gene, we can create a new drug to treat COVID-19 patients by balancing the activation of immune cells. Because it is a preventative measure, it will be able to have universality that can treat any virus infection.”
This study was conducted in collaboration with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in the United States, and the results of the study were published in the international scientific journal ‘Science Immunology’.