Study finds specific proteins inhibit or enhance virus that causes COVID-19

A new study in human and mouse cell lines shows that specific proteins that have long been studied as inhibitors of influenza can also inhibit SARS-CoV-2, the type of coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Findings of the study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, The Ohio State College of Medicine and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) are published online in The EMBO Journal. The research team focused on studying interferon-induced transmembrane proteins (IFITMs) that are known to restrict infections by many viruses. According to past research on IFITMs and common cold coronaviruses, whether IFITMs are antiviral depends on the specific virus. “Our new findings are potentially quite important because there are people who have mutations in the IFITM3 gene, possibly making them more susceptible not only to influenza but also SARS-CoV-2,” said co-author Jacob Yount, an associate professor of Microbial Infection and Immunity and co-director of the Viruses and...