'We think that this drug works by stopping formation of the filopodia, and we are testing this now in the lab,' Krogan said. The team identified five potentially promising drugs already being used or tested against malfunctioning kinases in other diseases, one of which - silmitasertib - targets CK2. Kinases 'are one of the most druggable group of proteins in our cells,' coauthor Nevan Krogan from the University of California, San Francisco told Reuters. Researchers who led the study published in Cell on Sunday believe this may help the coronavirus to infect other cells. A new study identified 49 kinases hijacked by the new coronavirus, including one called CK2 that generates hair-like tentacles, called filopodia, that protrude from the cell with virus particles inside them. When a virus infects a cell, it hijacks enzymes called kinases that control the cell's functions. “Tentacles” on hijacked cells might help coronavirus spread (Reuters) - The following is a brief roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.
