TOKYO -- A genetic feature linked to white blood cells found in more than half of Japanese people may help the body fight back against COVID-19, activating immune cells that recognize seasonal cold viruses, according to a study by Japan's Riken research institute.
The research, published online in the British journal Communications Biology, is part of an effort to dig deeper into what appear to be relatively low rates of death and serious illness from COVID-19 in Japan.
The study centers on "killer" T cells, part of the immune response when a virus invades the body. These cells seek out and destroy virus-infected cells, identifying them via peptides, or fragments of proteins from specific viruses.
The Riken team looked at a type of human leukocyte antigen called HLA-A24. HLAs, proteins located on the surface of white blood cells, play a key role in the body's defense mechanism that activates T cells.
HLA-A24 is found in about 60% of ethnic Japanese people. When a peptide called QYI derived from the SARS-CoV-2 virus's spike protein was introduced to blood samples from donors with HLA-A24, killer T cells in the samples responded by multiplying
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The Study Papers
https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-021-02885-6
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34026045/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7207161/