The Forgotten Biochemistry 101 of COVID-19
Legacy coronavirus biochemistry was overlooked that governs spike protein toxicity, key morbidities, risk factors and therapeutic responses. TrialSite News features a paper published today in Viruses (Basel), authored by an international team of researchers, including two fellows of their nations‘ academies of sciences (Colleen Aldous, senior author Wendy Hoy) and others who participated in Nobel prize-honored research (Thomas Borody, Morimasa Yagisawa). The publication reveals how coronavirus biochemistry well-established over past decades governs the morbidities of COVID-19, risk factors and therapeutic approaches. The glycan monomer sialic acid, ubiquitous on eukaryotic cell surfaces, serves as the initial attachment point to host cells for the COVID–19 virus—SARS–CoV–2—as well as for other coronaviruses. The virus can then slide over to ACE2 for cell entry. SARS–CoV–2 spike protein attaches particularly tightly to the dense sialic acid coatings on the trillions of red blood cells (RBCs), platelets and endothelial cells in the human…



