A banana a day won’t keep the doctor away, but a compound found in bananas and modified by scientists could fight off diseases, new research says.
A protein known as banana lectin, or BanLec, which reads the sugars on the surface of both viruses and cells, is the subject of the most recent research.
Five years ago, researchers demonstrated that it could prevent the AIDS virus from entering cells, but it also had negative side effects that limited its usefulness.
A study published in 2020 claimed to have developed a medication that could be used to treat all existing flu strains.
Just after one week, the first laboratory-confirmed case of SARS-CoV-2 sparked the 2.5-year COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S.
Before the virus briefly halted their work, the international study team had also explored coronavirus therapy.
According to David Markovitz, M.D., professor of internal medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Michigan Medical School, “at the time we thought MERS would be the big target, which we were worried about because of its 35% mortality rate.”
A study published in Cell Reports Medicine describes the effectiveness of H84T-BanLec against all known human-infecting coronaviruses, including MERS, the original SARS, SARS-CoV2, and its omicron cousin. Peter Hinterdorfer, Ph.D., of the Johannes Kepler University Institute of Biophysics, and Kwok-Yung Yuen, MBBS, M.D., of the University of Hong Kong, are two senior authors who collaborate with Markovitz. Jasper Fuk-Woo Chan, M.D., from the University of Hong Kong, is the paper’s first author.
When the COVID-19 outbreak erupted, Markovitz “wanted to study the therapy’s potential and discovered it was effective against every type of coronavirus, in vitro and in vivo.”
“Whether delivered systemically or through the nose in animal models, or prophylactically or therapeutically early on in the illness, it worked.”
A lectin (a protein that binds to carbohydrates) that was isolated from banana fruit is the source of H84T-BanLec. It binds to high-mannose glycans, polysaccharides found on the surface of viruses but very rarely on the surfaces of healthy, normal human cells, to achieve its amazing viral-blocking powers. Once attached, the virus is unable to infect cells.
The team confirmed that H84T forms numerous strong connections with the spike protein using atomic force microscopy and related techniques. This likely explains why coronavirus resistance to lectin is difficult, according to Markovitz.
Markovitz says that, even though lectins can kill viruses, they haven’t been used as therapies in the past because they are proteins that can stimulate the immune system in a way that could be harmful. H84T-BanLec, which has been altered to eliminate this effect, had no negative consequences in animal models.
Remdesivir, Paxlovid, and monoclonal antibodies are only a few of the COVID-19 therapies that are currently available. However, due to their varying degrees of efficacy, side effects, and usability, many of them have become less effective as SARS-CoV2 continues to develop.
The team thinks that H84T-BanLec has a lot of potential because it works against all types of coronavirus and influenza viruses. As the next, and most challenging, step, Markovitz and his colleagues hope to see the therapy tested on humans.
In seasonal and pandemic scenarios, the team envisions a nasal spray or drops that can be employed to prevent or treat coronavirus and influenza infections.
The use of H84T-BanLec against cancer is another goal, as cancer cells contain high mannose glycan surfaces just like viruses do.
Source: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100774
Image Credit: Getty
You were reading: This One Fruit Holds Unique Promise Against All Coronavirus Variants And Flu Viruses