Newly funded: Targeting a potential Achilles' heel of COVID-19

Proteins of highly pathogenic viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 disease, play a critical role in the body’s immune response to infection, sometimes causing overt inflammation and tissue damage. A team of scientists led by Qinfeng Huang, PhD, suspects that a viral protein on SARS-CoV-2 — the nucleocapsid (N) protein — might be responsible for dampening the immune response that allows the virus to replicate unchecked. This can then prompt severe inflammation and lung tissue injury. Identifying the protein responsible for this dangerous and unwanted bodily reaction can lead to potential treatment and prevention options against this deadly virus. This project is funded by the UMN COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant program, and is slated to wrap up by April 15, 2021. Huang and his research team in the Ly-Liang laboratory have about a decade of experience investigating the role of key proteins in modulating virus-host interactions by deadly viral infections, including Lassa fever and Ebola.