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According to American researchers from the University of Utah, who published a study in the journal ACS Central Science last February, it is thanks to mucin that we are protected against various pathogens in the environment. . This protein is produced by the cells of our mucous membranes.
Scientists continue to study the Covid-19 virus and go from discovery to discovery. According to researchers from the University of Utah, in the United States, the virus is only weakly transmissible by surfaces.
Protection offered by mucin
We usually think that touching an object previously touched by a person infected with Covid-19 could make us sick. It would seem not, in any case scientists from the University of Utah, in the United States, are questioning this.
According to them, although the virus can contaminate and remain intact on different surfaces, this is not enough to create an infection in humans. Indeed, it is thanks to the protective functions of mucin, present in our postillions, that we would be protected. By attaching itself to pathogens, it prevents them from contaminating them. In this case, the mucin would have the ability to bind to the Spike protein of the virus, thus preventing it from contaminating the cells.
Stronger contamination in the air
To be contaminating, the virus passes through the spray that a sick person can emit. However, it is encapsulated in water droplets and therefore surrounded by mucins. When the postilions settle on a surface, the water ends up evaporating fairly quickly and the virus remains “prisoner” of the mucins, so very little contamination, ultimately.
On the other hand, hydrated postilions, suspended in the air, will be more likely to be contaminating. “Mucins are intimately linked to viral transmission. Mucin and virus-laden particles can be expelled from the mouth and nose and then infect other people. Viruses must also cross the mucus layer before entering cells and replicating.” say the authors of the study.
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A link with lifestyle and state of health?
The results of the authors of this study give food for thought: why would some people be able to block the virus from the start, thus remaining asymptomatic, while others have a severe form of the disease? We know that the quality of mucins is linked to the state of health and lifestyle. One can therefore imagine that good quality mucins in healthy people will be better able to block the virus and prevent contamination, while poor quality mucins would lose their role as a “barrier” and thus facilitate contamination.