University of Sydney scientists have discovered a protein that blocks SARS-CoV-2 infection and forms a natural protective barrier in the human body.
The naturally occurring protein, LRRC15, works by attaching itself to the virus, preventing it binding with more vulnerable cells and reducing the chance of infection.
The research opens up an entirely new area of immunology research around the receptor and offers a promising pathway to develop new drugs, the team behind the study said.
Professor Greg Neely, who led the study, said his team was one of the three internationally to independently to uncover this specific protein's interaction with COVID-19.
The other teams were at Oxford University in the UK and Yale and Brown universities in the US.
"For me, as an immunologist, the fact that there's this natural immune receptor that we didn't know about, that's lining our lungs and blocks and controls virus, that's crazy interesting," Prof Neely said.
Postdoctoral researcher and study co-author Dr Lipin Loo said the LRRC15 protein was far more present in the lungs of people with COVID-19 than those without, suggesting it was already helping to protect people from COVID-19.
"When we stain the lungs of healthy tissue, we don't see much of LRRC15, but then in COVID-19 lungs, we see much more of the protein," Dr Loo said.
"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."
The team hopes their discovery will help develop new antiviral and antifibrotic medicines to treat COVID-19, and other viruses where lung fibrosis occurs.
WEEKLY VIRUS FIGURES:
* Victoria: 2941 cases, 52 deaths
* NSW: 6440 cases, 62 deaths
