Anavex Life Sciences Corp (AVXL)

[falconer66a]

Blarcamesine could stop COVID-19? A mechanism?

Now, a team headed by Vojo Deretic, PhD, distinguished professor and director of The University of New Mexico’s Autophagy, Inflammation & Metabolism (AIM) Center of Biomedical Research Excellence, has mapped out key details of how autophagy functions in mammals – including humans.

And, in a startling finding, the researchers provide evidence showing that SARS-CoV-2 infection can disrupt the process.

Well, COVID-19 disease, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, disrupts autophagy in human cells, a process that could very conceivably clear or disable the SARS-CoV-2 virus before it could cause COVID-19 disease.

And, blarcamesine restores and/or favorably modulates (promotes) autophagy in human cells. May the reader make the potential COVID-19 connection. An apparent mechanism now exists.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/935740

Then, in the paper itself, this summary was posted:

Highlights
•
Mammalian autophagosomes are formed via fusion of cis-Golgi and endosomal membranes
•
This forms a prophagophore termed hybrid pre-autophagosomal structure (HyPAS)
•
HyPAS depends on SNARE STX17 and its interactors E-SYT2, SIGMAR1, and SERCA2
•
SARS-CoV-2 inhibits prophagophore formation by nsp6 targeting HyPAS apparatus

There is a decided, discovered, required SIGMAR1 function. Blarcamesine activates this protein!

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(21)01233-2