Biologists discover that coronavirus interacts with estrogen receptors

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Scientists from the USA and Europe have discovered that the spike protein of the coronavirus, which interacts with estrogen receptors, increases the risk of blood clots. Research published in the journal Science Advances.

Using the Exscalate supercomputer, scientists identified interactions between two human estrogen receptors (ERα, ERβ) and the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Animal experiments and analysis of postmortem lung samples have shown that although circulating estrogens play a protective role by regulating the immune response to infection, their interaction with the spike protein is possible to induce proinflammatory signals that lead to vessel thickening and constriction. from their lumens.

The scientists also showed that removing the appropriate point mutations in the spike protein sequence prevents it from binding to estrogen receptors. At the same time, the ability of the virus to induce an immune response is not reduced. This observation will allow the development of vaccines that will not increase the risk of thrombosis (currently considered very low).

In addition, estrogen receptor modulators such as raloxifene may be effective in preventing some symptoms of infection.

The project used Exscalate, a Dompé supercomputer that uses a database of 500 billion molecules to search for molecules that can interact with the coronavirus. With the ability to process over 3 million molecules per second, Exscalate is currently the most powerful intelligent supercomputing platform for drug development.

Experimental data are presented in the bioRxiv preprint catalog and are considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

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