{"id":1758,"date":"2020-03-20T09:01:18","date_gmt":"2020-03-20T09:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.wordpress.com\/?p=1758"},"modified":"2020-03-20T09:01:18","modified_gmt":"2020-03-20T09:01:18","slug":"how-does-the-pandemic-coronavirus-sars-cov-2-hijack-the-cells-of-an-infected-person","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/20\/how-does-the-pandemic-coronavirus-sars-cov-2-hijack-the-cells-of-an-infected-person\/","title":{"rendered":"HOW DOES THE PANDEMIC CORONAVIRUS (SARS-CoV-2) HIJACK THE CELLS OF AN INFECTED PERSON?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). Three (3) genera in the coronaviridae family namely <strong><em>Alpha-coronavirus, Beta-coronavirus and Torovirus <\/em><\/strong>contain viruses that are able to cause human infection.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">Under the first two genera, there are six (6) coronaviruses that can infect humans. <strong><em>Alpha- coronavirus &#8211; <\/em><\/strong>the strain 229E and NL63 and the <strong><em>Beta-coronavirus \u2013 <\/em><\/strong>the strain OC43, HKU1, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align:justify;\">STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">The Latin word <strong><em>\u201cCorona\u201d <\/em><\/strong>means \u201c<strong>crown\u201d <\/strong>which describes the projections seen around the virus when viewed under an electron microscope.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">Coronaviruses are enveloped, 120 to 160 nanometer (nm) particles that contain an unsegmented genome of single-stranded positive-sense RNA of about 30 kilobases (kb), the largest genome among RNA viruses. The genome has a <strong>5\u2019 methylated cap <\/strong>and the <strong>3\u2019 polyadenylated tail<\/strong>. The helical nucleocapsid is 9 to 11 nm in diameter.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1762\" src=\"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.files.wordpress.com\/2020\/03\/figures-for-mauel.jpg\" alt=\"figures for mauel.jpg\" width=\"1071\" height=\"530\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\"><strong>Figure 2. <\/strong>Shows the general structure of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">There are <strong>long club- or petal-shaped projections <\/strong>that are widely spaced on the outer surface of the envelope. The viral structural proteins include a <strong>phosphorylated nucleocapsid (N) protein<\/strong>, <strong>a membrane<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align:justify;\">\n<li><strong>glycoprotein <\/strong>that serves as a matrix protein embedded in the envelope lipid bilayer which interacts with the nucleocapsid and the <strong>spike (S) glycoprotein <\/strong>which is the petal-shaped peplomers. Some human coronaviruses, for example, the <strong>strain OC43 (HCoV-OC43) <\/strong>and <strong>SARS-CoV-2 <\/strong>contain a third <strong>glycoprotein (HE) <\/strong>that cause hemagglutination and has acetylesterase<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">The <strong>lipid bilayer envelope<\/strong>, <strong>membrane proteins, <\/strong>and <strong>nucleocapsid <\/strong>protect the virus when it is outside a host cell.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align:justify;\">THE GENOMIC ORGANIZATION OF CORONAVIRUS (SARS-CoV-2)<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1765\" src=\"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.files.wordpress.com\/2020\/03\/figures-for-mauel-2.jpg\" alt=\"figures for mauel 2.jpg\" width=\"1068\" height=\"301\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\"><strong>Fig 3. <\/strong>Shows the genomic organization of SARS-CoV-2<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">The SARS-CoV-2 genome is about 30 kb. The Open Reading Frames (ORF1a and ORF1b) encode for the <strong>replicase polyproteins <\/strong>and the others encode for the <strong>structural <\/strong>and <strong>accessory proteins<\/strong>. The S, E, M, N within the genome encode for the Spike, Envelope, Membrane, and Nucleocapsid respectively.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\"><strong><em>Since the discovery of the novel coronavirus in December 2019 in Wuhan, several concerns have been raised about this virus (SARS-CoV-2). One of the concerns I would like to share with you is \u2013 <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>how this virus hijack the cells of an infected person.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align:justify;\"><strong><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>HOW CORONAVIRUS (SARS-CoV-2) HIJACKS THE CELLS OF AN INFECTED PERSON?<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">The entire replication of coronavirus occurs in the cytoplasm of a host cell. The virus enters the body through the <strong>nose<\/strong>, <strong>mouth <\/strong>or <strong>eyes<\/strong>, then attaches and penetrates host cells that produce a protein (receptor) called <strong>Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2). <\/strong>A <strong>serine protease (TMPRSS2) <\/strong>of the host cell cleaves and activates the receptor-attached spike protein. <strong>Depending on the host cell protease\u00a0<\/strong><strong>available<\/strong>, cleavage and activation <strong>allow cell entry <\/strong>of the virus through <strong>endocytosis <\/strong>or <strong>direct fusion <\/strong>of the viral envelope with the host membrane.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1767\" src=\"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.files.wordpress.com\/2020\/03\/figures-for-mauel-3.jpg\" alt=\"figures for mauel 3.jpg\" width=\"1280\" height=\"634\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">On entry into the host cell, the virus uncoats and releases its <strong>viral RNA <\/strong>into the cytoplasm. The presence of the <strong>5\u2019 methylated cap <\/strong>and the <strong>3\u2019 polyadenylated tail <\/strong>enables the viral RNA to attach to the host cell\u2019s ribosome for <strong>translation<\/strong>. The host ribosome translates the overlapping <strong>Open Reading Frames (ORF1a and ORF1b) <\/strong>of the viral RNA to form <strong>two replicase polyproteins (pp1a and pp1ab)<\/strong>. These polyproteins have their own <strong>protease <\/strong>which cleaves them into multiple <strong>nonstructural viral proteins<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">These nonstructural viral proteins are involved in <strong>replication <\/strong>and <strong>transcription <\/strong>by binding to the <strong>Sense strand (RNA (+)). <\/strong>When they bind to the Sense strand for replication, an <strong>Anti-Sense strand (RNA (-)) <\/strong>is produced. At this stage, the Anti-Sense strand (RNA (-)) can be replicated back into a Sense strand (RNA (+)) or transcribed in a method called <strong>discontinuous transcription <\/strong>to yield <strong>different sub-genomic sized mRNAs.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>These sub-genomic sized mRNAs are <strong>translated <\/strong>by the host\u2019s ribosome into <strong>viral structural proteins (S, E, M, and N) and accessory proteins<\/strong>. The <strong>N protein <\/strong>packages the <strong>Sense strand (RNA (+)) <\/strong>into a <strong>nucleocapsid <\/strong>and is assembled into a virus particle in the rough Endoplasmic Reticulum. The newly formed virus particle undergoes maturation when passing through the Golgi bodies and exits the host cell via <strong>exocytosis<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align:justify;\">Now that we know how the SARS-CoV-2 hijacks the cells, who is at risk of getting infected.<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">Everyone is at risk, however, <strong>hypertensive <\/strong>and <strong>diabetic patients <\/strong>could be at <strong>high risk <\/strong>because of the increase expression of <strong>ACE2 <\/strong>in such individuals.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\"><strong><em>As the saying always goes, <\/em><\/strong><em>\u201cPrevention is better than cure.\u201d <\/em><strong><em>L<\/em><\/strong><strong><em>et us protect ourselves from getting infected. <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>CORONAVIRUS is real. Be on guard.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align:justify;\">Ways we can protect ourselves from getting infected with the virus include but not limited to;<\/h2>\n<ol style=\"text-align:justify;\">\n<li>Regular handwashing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds <strong>OR <\/strong>hand rubbing with alcohol-based sanitizers that contain at least 60%<\/li>\n<li>Practice common cough or sneezing etiquette such as covering of mouth with handkerchief or tissue paper when coughing or sneezing <strong>OR <\/strong>wearing of face<\/li>\n<li>Keep distance of at least <strong>one meter <\/strong>away from the person(s) showing signs of fever, dry cough and difficulty in<\/li>\n<li>If contact with a sick person or potentially infected surfaces or objects occur, those involved <strong>must <\/strong>not touch their eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed<\/li>\n<li>Seek treatment <strong>immediately <\/strong>if the infection is suspected or if symptoms occur or when advised by a health<\/li>\n<li>Contact any of the national emergency numbers <strong>immediately <\/strong>if the infection is suspected or if symptoms<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3 style=\"text-align:justify;\"><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align:justify;\">0552222004, <strong>0552222005, <\/strong><strong>0509497700 and\u00a0<\/strong><strong>0558439868<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\"><strong><em>Finally, I urge you to join the campaign on the pandemic COVID-19 sensitization in order to increase awareness. Tell a friend to tell a friend, CORONAVIRUS is real.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\"><strong><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>EMMANUEL NII OTOO DODOO<br \/>\nA FIFTH YEAR DOCTOR OF MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE STUDENT UNIVERSITY FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES (UDS), TAMALE CAMPUS.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify;\">0246877170,\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:dr.otoo1@gmail.com\">dr.otoo1@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). Three (3) genera in the coronaviridae family namely Alpha-coronavirus, Beta-coronavirus and Torovirus contain viruses that are able to cause human infection. Under [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1758\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}