Coronavirus may attack immune system, study reveals
The findings may help explain why SARS-CoV-2 transmission rates are so high, researchers say
The virus that causes COVID-19 may attack the immune system by invading T-cells, leading to the patient’s death, a study reports.
Researchers from China and the US say their results show that the novel protein “spike” of SARS-CoV-2 allows it to enter T-lymphocyte cells.
They infected two laboratory-grown T lymphocyte cell lines with SARS-CoV-2.
The researchers also tried to infect the T-cells with the SARS virus (SARS-CoV), the team reported in Cellular and Molecular Immunology.
