T1R3 Anchors ACE2 at the Pulmonary Endothelial Cell Surface to Attenuate Vascular Injury Following SARS‐CoV‐2 Spike 1 Protein Exposure In Vitro
Zsuzsanna Kertesz, Lewis Spurrier‐Best, Havovi Chichger · 2026
Read T1R3 Anchors ACE2 at the Pulmonary Endothelial Cell Surface to Attenuate Vascular Injury Following SARS‐CoV‐2 Spike 1 Protein Exposure In Vitro by Zsuzsanna Kertesz, Lewis Spurrier‐Best, Havovi Chichger (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13508132.txt.
Description
Kertesz and colleagues showed that activating a taste receptor found in lung blood vessels protects those vessels from damage by the coronavirus spike protein, in a 2026 laboratory study. The receptor, T1R3, normally senses sweetness, and the team's activator drug had protected lungs against bacterial toxin injury. Acute lung injury from viral attack on the vessel lining is a major driver of death in COVID-19.
Kertesz exposed lung microvessel cells to the spike protein's subunit and observed gap formation, leakiness, and a buildup of reactive oxygen species, all of which the receptor activator reduced. The activator also increased surface levels of ACE2, the virus's entry protein, and binding tests showed it strengthened the pairing between the receptor and ACE2. The authors propose the receptor anchors ACE2 at the surface, preventing the internalization that triggers injury signaling, and nominate receptor activation as a strategy for virus-induced lung damage.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Zsuzsanna Kertesz, Lewis Spurrier‐Best, Havovi Chichger |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 42 KB |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |