The Role of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein in Long-term Damage of Tissues and Organs, the Underestimated Role of Retrotransposons and Stem Cells, a Working Hypothesis

Endocr Metab Immune Disord Drug Targets. 2024 Mar 11. doi: 10.2174/0118715303283480240227113401. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTCoronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory disease in which Spike protein from SARS-CoV-2 plays a key role in transferring virus genomic code into target cells. Spike protein, which is found on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, latches onto angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptors (ACE2r) on target cells. The RNA genome of coronaviruses, with an average length of 29 kb, is the longest among all RNA viruses and comprises six to ten open reading frames (ORFs) responsible for encoding replicase and structural proteins for the virus. Each component of the viral genome is inserted into a helical nucleocapsid surrounded by a lipid bilayer. The Spike protein is responsible for damage to several organs and tissues, even leading to severe impairments and long-term disabilities. Spike protein could also be the cause of the long-term post-infectious conditions known as Long COVID-19, characterized by a group of unresponsive idiopathic severe neuro- and cardiovascular disorders, including strokes, cardiopathies, neuralgias, fibromyalgia, and Guillaume-Barret's like-disease. In this paper, we suggest a pervasive mechanism whereby the Spike proteins either from SARS-CoV-2 mRNA or mRNA vaccines, tend to enter the mature cells, and progenitor, multipotent, and pluripotent stem cells (SCs), altering the genome integrity. This will eventually lead to the ...
Source: Endocrine, Metabolic and Immune Disorders Drug Targets - Category: Endocrinology Authors: Source Type: research