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by philipn 2099 days ago
The spike protein downregulates ACE2[1], which may make an otherwise benign respiratory infection severe[2].

1. SARS1 spike protein itself, without any virus, causes ACE2 downregulation which leads to severe lung damage: https://twitter.com/__philipn__/status/1237588716236898304

2. When mice are engineered to be deficient in ACE2, the otherwise non-severe RSV causes severe disease: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4728398/

(This may be why COVID is bad. Check out my twitter above for a lot on this)
1 comments
aurizon 2098 days ago
My impression of spike attachment, via mediator, to the ACE2 is for cellular entry. I am not sure if this will exhaust the other ACE2 on other cells. That said a saturation level of spike in the blood so all cells lose spike in all areas is very unlikely, as this would, in all certaintly, be lethal?? A full blown infection - does it ever reach the level of ACE2 exhaustion - or are there many cells no reached? Heart cells - death of many heart cells would be a problem?
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