Thread by @white_bite

An interesting preprint came out discussing about how the spike or SARS2 affects an important biological pathway --the p53 pathway. But before getting into that, let's get a bit into the cell cycle, cellular senescence, and the p53 gene. 🧵

By now, everyone probably knows what a cell is. Among the many things that a cell can do though is to replicate/divide via a complex process called the cell cycle.
There are many genes that control the cell cycle. Among this is the gene known as p53. This gene...

is responsible for three important things:
🔹️stopping the cell cycle from proceeding
🔹️repairing damaged DNA
🔹️initiating the process of cellular suicide (apoptosis)
You can read more about that here:...
bioinformatics.org/p53/introducti….

The cell cycle is a complex process with diff stages--G1, S, G2, and M. Diff processes happen at each stage and it takes an interplay of different proteins--p53 being one of them-- to ensure that these stages proceed from point to the next. Photo from:.. sciencefacts.net/wp-content/upl…

It is the interplay between p53 and other proteins that will make or break the cell cycle. One of these proteins that is activated by p53 is a protein called p21. (Yeah, there are a lot of "p"s...)
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35361964/...

When p53 starts to activate p21, this may lead to a process called senescence. This happens after the cell cycle is stopped, but is allowed to grow with dangerous consequences...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P….

In this preprint, it was shown that the spike of SARS2 is able to induce senescence in cells of the eyes grown in petri dishes, as well as in the eyes of zebrafish...not zebra...

https://twitter.com/ejustin46/status/1622790111623610376?t=O7BC75uXwPMsNKesR6e_PA&s=19

This study showed an increase in proteins that induce inflammation, degeneration of tissue, and the activation of both p53 and p21, as well as markers associated with cellular senescence...

Due to oxidative stress during Covid infection, there is an accumulation of byproducts called ROS (reactive oxygen species) which activates inflammatory signals. This was proven through the localization of p65, a protein associated with the inflammatory pathway NF-kB, in the....

nucleus of the cell. This leads to cellular damage and cellular senescence as well...

The phenomenon of cellular senescence is usually associated with aging and degenerative diseases like diabetes. One organ affected by this degenerative process is the eye since this leads to a condition known as macular degeneration, a condition that may lead to blindness...

The study brings to light how SARS2 is able to induce inflammation which leads to stress that then triggers the p53 gene to introduce cellular senescence during the cell cycle. However, aside from degenerative change, it is important to note that cellular...

senescence, oxidative stress, changes in the cell cycle, and changes in the function of p53, can all lead to another condition that can also be caused by viruses -- cancer. There have already been previous studies that have shown mechanisms associated with oncogenesis from...

a Covid infection. This isn't surprising since oncoviruses have already been identified in different types of cancer. The implications of this study doesn't bode well wrt the possibility of SARS2 being another oncovirus. With all these unknowns, wouldn't it be wise to continue ..

having precautions in place?
@mrsunlawyer @JoshuaCAgar @iamguidodavid @StoneColdPillar