4 ms·
How can blood type matter? What’s the mechanism of action?
by mrfusion 7y ago
How can blood type matter? What’s the mechanism of action?
- bluGill 7y agoWho knows. Maybe this is a fluke maybe not. When you notice a correlation you study it. Sometimes you discover it isn't significant and stop further study. Sometimes it is significant so you study more. That isn't to say your question is bad, just that it could be years before we understand.
- tathougies 7y agoI mean blood type is literally molecules exposed on the outside of blood cells. I believe they are exposed on other cells, not just on blood cells. Viruses bind to receptors on the cell wall in order to infiltrate the cell. Perhaps the A blood type receptor makes it easier for the virus to enter?
- hirenj 7y agoExcellent question! Here's the answer: We have no idea! Blood type antigens are complex carbohydrates, and A/B/O is the difference between N-acetyl-Galactosamine/Galactose/nothing at the end of a sugar chain. So let's talk about Coronavirus and sugars. SARS-COV-2 (and the prequel for that matter) are relatively unique for viruses because they don't (as far as we know) use sugars (sialic acids to be specific) to bind to cells, unlike all of our other favourite viruses (e.g. influenza). BUT that's not the only place it could matter. Maybe sugars help organise the membrane to increase multivalent reactions, and there's some galectin that binds to B antigen. Or the virus itself somehow carries the antigen, and A/B protects against furin processing? Lots of possibilities. First thing I would check for is co-expression of ABO with ACE2. If it's not in the same cells, then I have NO idea how it works.