CountRecount wrote:
“A common TMPRSS2 variant protects against severe COVID-19
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.03.04.21252931v1
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smileyface wrote:
“TMPRSS2
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30626688/
TMPRSS2 Contributes to Virus Spread and Immunopathology in the Airways of Murine Models after Coronavirus Infection
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So a variant of TMPRSS2 protects, and the regular TMPRSS2 harms/spreads ?
As I read it, from my brief look at the data, normally TMPRSS2 is needed to take the virus into lung cells. If you have the variant form of TMPRSS2, you are protected.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20926566/
TMPRSS2 affects the S protein at the cell surface and induces virus-plasma membrane fusion. This is the first report of TMPRSS2 being required in the target cell for activation of a viral fusion protein but not for the S protein synthesized in and transported to the surface of cells. Our findings suggest that the TMPRSS2 expressed in lung tissues may be a determinant of viral tropism and pathogenicity at the initial site of SARS-CoV infection.
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So if you have a TMPRSS2 that is wonky (a variant) you are not as likely to take up the virus in your lung cells.
short answer -—yes.
The 3D structure of the extracellular region was found to be of good quality. Of the 378 TMPRSS2 variants analyzed in the current study, one variant, p.V160M, was found to have a minor allele frequency (MAF) of 0.248 in the population, slightly higher among males compared to females.
This corresponds to a distribution of about 25% of the general population. About 6.7% of the population was homozygous for this variant, which has been predicted to be a damaging substitution by all the methods used.
According to the researchers, the study shows that “TMPRSS2 variants should be investigated further to understand the impact of a person’s genetic background on their clinical presentation and prognosis when contracting SARSCoV-2.” Further studies on the co-expression of these gene variants in the cells of the gastrointestinal tract are also required.