Cellular responses that protect pigs from COVID-19

Research since the start of the pandemic has indicated that pigs can become infected with the virus if exposed to high doses, but the infection is self-limited and the pigs do not show clinical signs of disease and do not transmit the virus to other animals

So Rahul Nelli, research assistant professor of veterinary diagnostics and production of animal drugs, and Luis Gimenez-Lirola, associate professor of veterinary diagnostics and production of animal drugs, report in the academic journal Cell Death In a new study published in Cell Death Discovery, we set out to find out why

Nelli and Gimenez-Lirola have been studying how the coronavirus affects pigs for years

"When we looked under the microscope, an interesting phenomenon was happening inside the cell," Nelli said

The fragmentation of the nucleus, a sign of apoptosis, may be key to helping pigs avoid symptoms after exposure to SARS-CoV-2

Human cells are more likely to undergo necrosis, another form of cell death that is less controlled than apoptosis

The researchers speculate that a large-scale apoptotic response helps avoid disease because it disposes of infected cells quickly without the immune system overreacting, whereas a large-scale necrosis and the resulting hyperimmune response are critical to the disease.

"We don't want to jump to conclusions, but this response may be inherent in the pig immune system and not acquired," Giminez-Lirola said

Further research could lead to therapies aimed at triggering apoptosis in human cells, allowing people infected with the coronavirus to avoid severe symptoms, the researchers said

The next step for the ISU research team is to identify all the genes that are activated during infection and compare them to other animal species where these genes are present

Rahul K.