Nature: Revealed that the new coronavirus protein ORF8 inhibits the human immune response by mimicking histones

In a new study, researchers found that the SARS-CoV-2 virus produces a protein that mimics proteins that package DNA, blocking transcription
that normally plays a role in the immune response.

In a new study, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Texas Medical School, Boston University and Boston Medical Center found that the SARS-CoV-2 virus produces a protein that mimics proteins that package DNA, blocking transcription
that normally plays a role in the immune response 。 The results of the study were published online in the journal Nature on October 5, 2022, in a paper titled "SARS-CoV-2 disrupts host epigenetic regulation via histone mimicry"
.

In the paper, the authors describe how they compared the proteins ---histones--- that package human DNA to those produced by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and what
doing so indicated.

Lisa Thomann and Volker Thiel of the University of Bern in Switzerland published a journalism and opinion type article in the journal Nature at the same time, titled "SARS-CoV-2 mimics a host protein to bypass defences", describing the authors' work
on the new study.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and abates, scientists continue to study the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, and one of their areas of focus is the virus's extraordinary ability to
inhibit host cell responses in infected people.
In the new study, the authors looked more closely at the relationship between
the histones that package DNA and the proteins produced by SARS-CoV-2 in human cells.

Previous studies have shown that SARS-CoV-2 produces three main types of proteins; Proteins involved in replication, proteins involved in structural processes, and auxiliary proteins
.

Helper proteins are involved in a wide range of activities
.
Previous research has also shown that human DNA is packaged in proteins called histones--- and their role is to hold DNA strands in place, and histones hold DNA strands in place and act as gatekeepers for proteins that read DNA strands (DNA-reading proteins), which use the DNA information they read to function, such as sending signals
to other parts of the body.
When a host is infected, some signaling is involved to prompt host defense mechanisms against invading pathogens
.

ORF8 binds
to chromatin.
Image from Nature, 2022, doi:10.
1038/s41586-022-05282-z
.

In the new study, the authors found evidence that a helper protein (ORF8) produced by the SARS-CoV-2 virus mimics at least one histone (KAT2A)
that packs DNA.
By doing so, the virus suppresses the kind of signaling that should occur when the host is infected, thereby reducing the host's immune response
.
(Bio Valley Bioon.
com)

Resources:

John Kee et al.
SARS-CoV-2 disrupts host epigenetic regulation via histone mimicry.
Nature, 2022, doi:10.
1038/s41586-022-05282-z.

Lisa Thomann et al.
SARS-CoV-2 mimics a host protein to bypass defences.
Nature, 2022, doi:10.
1038/d41586-022-02930-2.