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Scientists determined earlier this year that there is a cleavage site in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein for furin, a human protease, and that the spike protein is split into two subunits at that spot. This cleavage has been implicated in helping break the virus open so it can enter human cells.
In a paper published May 26 in eLife, researchers found that the spike protein’s furin cleavage site is identical to a sequence in the human epithelial sodium channel, which likewise must be cut by furin in order to be activated. The authors propose that the virus may be competing with the sodium channel for furin, and possibly disrupting its function, but that remains to be demonstrated.
“The paper’s really nice because it gets at this common view that many viruses co-opt parts of human cells to help them survive,” says David Perlin, who studies infectious diseases and ...
