Mayo researchers find two proteins that play a role in COVID-19 severity

Christopher Magan, Pioneer Press
·3 min read

Mayo Clinic researchers say an individual’s genetic variations in the generation of two proteins may explain why some people get seriously ill with COVID-19 while others have mild or no symptoms.

A recent study by the Mayo Clinic’s Center for Individualized Medicine published in Human Molecular Genetics found variations in genes responsible for two proteins, ACE2 and TMPRESS2, can lead to varying severity of infection with SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

An increase in the ACE2 and TMPRESS2 proteins can result in elevated risk of infection and severe illness while a lower amount could be protective against severe COVID-19, the study found. The two proteins provide entry points for the coronavirus to infect human cells.

“COVID-19 is a master of frequency in changing the sequences of its genes, but that only tells half of the story,” Lingxin Zhang, lead author of the study, said in a statement. “Our findings suggest that the virus’s interaction with proteins encoded by the human genome may also be a contributor to a person’s disease outcome.”

Zhang said the improved understanding of COVID-19 susceptibility could help indicate how sick a recently infected patient might become.

“I hope this methodology can be expanded for other genes involved in COVID-19, and that scientists and clinicians across the world can use this information to help their patients,” Zhang added.

People at elevated risk for severe COVID-19 infection can receive antivirals and other treatments to lessen the severity of their illness. Often, the earlier a patient receives treatment the more effective it is.

COVID-19 has sickened more than 571 million worldwide, including 90.5 million in the U.S., since the pandemic began in March 2020. There have been nearly 6.4 million confirmed COVID-19 deaths across the globe including more than 1 million in the U.S.

Minnesota has recorded more than 1.5 million infections and nearly 13,000 COVID-19 fatalities since the outbreak began. More than 67,800 Minnesotans have been hospitalized with the coronavirus, including more than 12,000 in intensive care.

The majority of recent cases in Minnesota and across the U.S. are caused by the BA.5 subvariant of the omicron strain of COVID-19. Omicron drove infections to record high levels in January and health officials worry another surge is looming this fall when most activities move indoors.

To identify the proteins associated with COVID-19 severity, Zhang and her team examined the DNA of almost 71,000 worldwide. The researchers analyzed hundreds of different proteins, complex molecules that play critical roles in the body.

The study generated nearly a million cells and billions of data points that were analyzed with a series of different technologies.

“To our knowledge, it’s the first time anyone has applied this approach to COVID-19,” says Richard Weinshilboum, a co-author of the study and a pharmacologist in the Center for Individualized Medicine.

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