Skoltech spoke about the discovery of a mechanism for bypassing immunity by coronavirus

Skoltech scientists have discovered a mechanism by which the coronavirus can elude human cellular immunity, Georgy Bazykin, head of the study, professor at Skoltech, told Izvestiya.

Human immunity resists infection by producing antibodies and T-lymphocytes (a type of immune cell), the publication explains. The first method of protection has been known to scientists for a long time, and the second remains poorly understood, the newspaper writes.

The researchers wanted to test whether the virus is developing protection against T-lymphocytes. As part of the study, they tracked the development of coronavirus in a cancer patient whose body fought the infection for 318 days, Bazykin said. He explained that because of her diagnosis, the woman is forced to undergo therapy that suppresses the synthesis of antibodies.

“This allowed us to observe the virus, which was left alone with T-lymphocytes. And our analysis showed that during a long infection, the coronavirus actually accumulated just such mutations that prevented the patient’s T-lymphocytes from recognizing it, ”said the professor.

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Usually T-lymphocytes determine the sites inherent in certain viral particles, the newspaper writes. These regions are called antigens.

The body independently "chooses" T-lymphocytes that best recognize the antigen, explained Bazykin. As a result, the immune system is able to fight off the disease on its own. However, if a person has been infected for a long time, the antigen may change due to mutations. As a result, the matched T-lymphocytes will stop working, and the body will not be able to detect the antigen on the surface of infected cells.

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“This evolution of the virus genome occurred as a result of the pathogen’s attempts to adapt to the immunity of a particular patient. However, a more detailed analysis showed that the coronavirus <...> has also learned to partially evade the T-cell response in the human population as a whole,” the professor added.

Bazykin did not rule out that in this way new strains could arise in the bodies of people with weakened immunity. According to him, they can break out and infect others.