SARS-CoV-2 usually infects cells by binding with the angiotensin-2 converting enzyme receptor. But although many cells—including neurons and cells that make up the blood-brain barrier—lack this protein, bits of the virus have been found in the brains of infected people post-mortem. Scientists have wondered how the virus is able to enter such unwelcoming tissues. Now, a study published yesterday (July 20) in Science Advances suggests that the virus may be shuttling itself through tiny tubes that extend from infected host cells.
“It’s a pretty exciting study,” Viabhav Tiwari, a virologist at Midwestern University who wasn’t involved in the research, tells The Scientist. “They are saying that the virus can be transferred and it’s most likely through these bridges. . . . Totally fascinating.”
Tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) are delicate, hairlike structures that sprout from the cell body and pierce through neighboring cell membranes when cells are stressed, including when they’re low ...
