IP SPOTLIGHT MAY 18

PIVOTING RESPIRATORY RESEARCH TO UNDERSTAND COVID-19

Wrays recently sat down with Professor Phil Hansbro from the Centenary UTS Centre for Inflammation in Sydney. This Centre is a collaboration between the Centenary Institute and the University of Technology Sydney, Faculty of Science and is Australia’s first research centre dedicated exclusively to studying the mechanisms underlying inflammation. Wrays asked Phil to tell us a little bit about the COVID-19 global pandemic and the work he and his team have been doing to pivot their respiratory disease research with the hope of unlocking the mechanisms of this virus. Phil leads a team of scientists studying respiratory diseases, such as emphysema, asthma and lung cancer, and has been the recipient of several awards for his outstanding contribution to the advancement of knowledge in respiratory medicine and science.

How is COVID-19 different from other respiratory diseases that we know about? Every virus infection is different from each other. They’re all unique, they all infect in different ways and they all have different effects as well. So each one has a characteristic way it infects, and a characteristic disease course that it induces. This particular one, this coronavirus, it binds to a specific receptor, it’s called the ACE-2 receptor, and it has a particular protein in that virus that binds specifically to that receptor. Then some cellular things need to happen for the cells to bring the virus inside the cell. And then it uses the host cell biology to make more virus particles, and then the virus grows, and grows, and grows. And it escapes from that cell and infects other cells. Now, that’s all okay. And at the moment, at that point in the disease, it’s still not really causing symptoms. What it does then, it induces an immune response to the virus. And that immune response, hopefully, and in most people, it effectively clears the virus. But in some people, and the ones that go on to get the severe disease, that doesn’t happen. And so you get this increased and ongoing immune response that induces inflammation, and that just grows, and grows, and grows. And as well as trying to kill the virus, it damages your own cells and tissues as well, it damages the lungs. And that’s what causes the severe lung disease in COVID-19. Can you tell us a little bit about your team and the research that you’re currently doing specifically with the COVID-19? I’m trained as a microbiologist, and we’ve done a lot of work on bacteria and viruses. I’m also a respiratory researcher. So we also look at all the respiratory diseases as well. What’s notable is that people with asthma and emphysema are more susceptible to respiratory infections. And we’ve done a lot of work on influenza, that’s kind of similar to coronavirus. And so we’re applying our skills and expertise into studying the coronavirus, with the intent to try and develop new treatments for it.

Below is just part of the interview. To listen to the full podcast click here.

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