The new path of immune response helps suppress the new coronavirus

Science and Technology Daily (Reporter Feng Weidong) Recently, the University of Waterloo, Canada, said it has discovered a new mechanism of immune response that can greatly enhance the body's immune system's defenses and antiviral effects, playing a key role in the treatment of viral diseases such as neocooproid pneumonia and
and other diseases such as cancer.
One of the current research focuses on the new coronavirus is drug reuse research, but the treatment effect of existing drugs is limited and has obvious side effects, and the pathology of the new coronary pneumonia is not really understood, so it is difficult to find a successful clinical special effects drug.
Qingbin Lu, lead research professor at the University of Waterloo, has systematically studied several key biological processes of reactive oxygen (ROS), reactive halogen (RHS) and active nitrogen (RNS). These processes play a vital physiological role, including why it takes superoxide dismishing enzymes (the enzyme that catalytes H2O2 formation ) to avoid reactive oxygen-induced damage in cell metabolism, why the amount of ROS/RNS produced by clinically used ionizing radiation doses is about 1,000 times lower than the amount of endogenous ROS/RNS produced in normal cell metabolism, and why a small amount of endogenous RHS can play a key role in immune defense against phagocytosis.
Lu Qingbin proposes a very likely amplification mechanism in immune defense: the active halogen cyclic reaction similar to the one that causes the destruction of the ozone layer enhances the RHS immune defense effect and produces the three important physiological functions mentioned above. These functions are activated by the H2O2 signal molecule and inactivated by the NO signal molecule.
Lu Qingbin's immune defense system against pathogens consists of three parts: the H2O2 signal conduction path is a "trigger", the active halogen reaction cycle is an "amplifier" and the NO signal conduction path is a "terminator". The delicate balance between H2O2 and NO signaling paths produces the required immunity, creating adequate biological defenses against viruses or other alien organisms, as well as sufficient tolerance to avoid allergies and autoimmune diseases. With this new immune response, Lu Qingbin believes that the drugs found on this basis can be safer (without side effects) and more effectively promote the immune system to
.
results show that the reaction cycle of active halogens can be repeated thousands of times in the body's immune response, thereby amplifying the effects of RHS in killing pathogens (defense) by 100,000 times during phagocy. This is very similar to the RHS cycle reaction that creates a huge ozone hole in the atmosphere.
"With this new knowledge, we can replace drugs with serious side effects with new, highly effective compounds that greatly improve the immune system's efficacy, help it fight aggressive viruses and treat the diseases it produces, and treat other diseases, such as aging and cancer," Lu said. The
were published in the June 2020 issue of the journal Cell.