Researchers from NYU Grossman School of Medicine have engineered mice with a human-like version of COVID-19. The key to their success was introducing a genetic modification in mice to produce a human ACE2 protein, crucial for the virus's attachment to human cells, leading to symptoms closely resembling those seen in infected humans.
Jef Boeke, senior author of the paper published in Nature, emphasized the significance of these findings in developing potential drugs and treatments against COVID-19, as these mice represent the first animal model that replicates the spectrum of the virus's impact on the human immune system and exhibits corresponding symptoms.
The study involved innovative DNA-editing techniques, as traditional approaches like CRISPR face challenges in altering massive gene segments. The researchers leveraged the concept of genome writing previously established in yeast to develop the method. They adapted these techniques to the mammalian genetic code, focusing on genes encoding proteins and the regulatory elements that control gene activity. This allowed them to create mice with enhanced human-like ACE gene activity, a milestone in mimicking human biology in a living organism.
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To construct the humanized mice, the researchers utilized the mSwAP-In method, enabling the substitution of 72 kilobases of mouse Ace2 code with 180 kb of the human ACE2 gene and its regulatory DNA. Notably, this technique was instrumental in enhancing the study's scope and depth by overcoming limitations of previous DNA editing methods.
Moreover, the study ventured beyond merely replicating human genes, offering an innovative approach to the gene Trp53. This synthetic version replaced vulnerable molecular code letters to lower the mutation rate, potentially leading to fewer tumors in test animals. The strategic alteration in the gene aims to minimize the risk of random, cancer-causing changes, opening avenues for experiments investigating reduced mutation rates and tumor development.