pls tell us
The link is here:
I’ll post some snippets - lots of info in it.
The genome of the new coronavirus is less than 30,000 “letters” long. (The human genome is over 3 billion.) Scientists have identified genes for as many as 29 proteins, which carry out a range of jobs from making copies of the coronavirus to suppressing the body’s immune responses.
The first viral protein created inside the infected cell is actually a chain of 16 proteins joined together. Two of these proteins act like scissors, snipping the links between the different proteins and freeing them to do their jobs.
Research on other coronaviruses has given scientists a good understanding of what some of the SARS-CoV-2 proteins do. But other proteins are far more mysterious, and some might do nothing at all.
Cellular Saboteur · NSP1
This protein slows down the infected cell’s production of its own proteins. This sabotage forces the cell to make more virus proteins and prevents it from assembling antiviral proteins that could stop the virus.
Mystery Protein · NSP2
Scientists aren’t sure what NSP2 does. The other proteins it attaches to may offer some clues. Two of them help move molecule-filled bubbles called endosomes around the cell.
Untagging and Cutting · NSP3
NSP3 is a large protein that has two important jobs. One is cutting loose other viral proteins so they can do their own tasks. It also alters many of the infected cell’s proteins.
Normally, a healthy cell tags old proteins for destruction. But the coronavirus can remove those tags, changing the balance of proteins and possibly reducing the cell’s ability to fight the virus.
Bubble Maker · NSP4
Combining with other proteins, NSP4 helps build fluid-filled bubbles within infected cells. Inside these bubbles, parts for new copies of the virus are constructed.
Genetic Camouflage · NSP10
Human cells have antiviral proteins that find viral RNA and shred it. This protein works with NSP16 to camouflage the virus’s genes so that they don’t get attacked.
Copy Machine · NSP12
This protein assembles genetic letters into new virus genomes. Researchers have found that the antiviral remdesivir interferes with NSP12 in other coronaviruses, and trials are now underway to see if the drug can treat Covid-19.
As the infected cell reads the RNA sequence for NSP12:
ucagcugaugcacaaucguuuuuaaaca...
Viral Proofreader · NSP14
As NSP12 duplicates the coronavirus genome, it sometimes adds a wrong letter to the new copy. NSP14 cuts out these errors, so that the correct letter can be added instead.
Cleaning Up · NSP15
Researchers suspect that this protein chops up leftover virus RNA as a way to hide from the infected cell’s antiviral defenses.
More Camouflage · NSP16
NSP16 works with NSP10 to help the virus’s genes hide from proteins that chop up viral RNA.
Spike Protein · S
The spike protein is one of four structural proteins — S, E, M and N — that form the outer layer of the coronavirus and protect the RNA inside. Structural proteins also help assemble and release new copies of the virus.
The S proteins form prominent spikes on the surface of the virus by arranging themselves in groups of three. These crownlike spikes give coronaviruses their name.
Part of the spike can extend and attach to a protein called ACE2 (in yellow below), which appears on particular cells in the human airway. The virus can then invade the cell.
The gene for the spike protein in SARS-CoV-2 has an insertion of 12 genetic letters: ccucggcgggca. This mutation may help the spikes bind tightly to human cells — a crucial step in its evolution from a virus that infected bats and other species.
A number of scientific teams are now designing vaccines that could prevent the spikes from attaching to human cells.
Escape Artist · ORF3a
The SARS-CoV-2 genome also encodes a group of so-called “accessory proteins.” They help change the environment inside the infected cell to make it easier for the virus to replicate.
The ORF3a protein pokes a hole in the membrane of an infected cell, making it easier for new viruses to escape. It also triggers inflammation, one of the most dangerous symptoms of Covid-19.
Envelope Protein · E
The envelope protein is a structural protein that helps form the oily bubble of the virus. It may also have jobs to do once the virus is inside the cell. Researchers have found that it latches onto proteins that help turn our own genes on and off. It’s possible that pattern changes when the E protein interferes.
Signal Blocker · ORF6
This accessory protein blocks signals that the infected cell would send out to the immune system. It also blocks some of the cell’s own virus-fighting proteins, the same ones targeted by other viruses such as polio and influenza.
Virus Liberator · ORF7a
When new viruses try to escape a cell, the cell can snare them with proteins called tetherin. Some research suggests that ORF7a cuts down an infected cell’s supply of tetherin, allowing more of the viruses to escape. Researchers have also found that the protein can trigger infected cells to commit suicide — which contributes to the damage Covid-19 causes to the lungs.
End of the Line
The coronavirus genome ends with a snippet of RNA that stops the cell’s protein-making machinery. It then trails away as a repeating sequence of aaaaaaaaaaaaa
This is an excerpt- but most of the article is above to skip the paywall.
Funny how the flubra, who has his own, segregated thread, just cannot resist posting on the CV threads?
There goes the moth to the light correlation, again.