Cells infected with the new coronavirus grow stringy, tentacle-like arms that allow the virus to invade other cells, according to a new study.

But to truly find the right therapeutic weapon, scientists need to understand in detail how the virus invades human cells.

This new research builds upon a "blueprint" of 332 human proteins that interact with 27 SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins that researchers had described in April in the journal Nature.

In this new study, the researchers analyzed all of the human proteins that, when infected, showed changes in a process called phosphorylation — in which a protein called a kinase sticks a phosphoryl group (a phosphorus atom attached to three oxygens) onto other proteins, according to a statement.

Using a method called mass spectrometry, which measures the mass of different molecules such as proteins, the team found "dramatic rewiring of phosphorylation on host and viral proteins," inside monkey cells, the authors wrote in their new study.

Human cells have proteins that are very similar to those in monkey cells, Krogan said.

The team found that 40 of the 332 human proteins that were previously found to interact with the coronavirus were phosphorylated differently in monkey cells infected with the virus compared with those not infected. .

High-resolution imaging of the infected cells showed that the cells had grown tentacle-like protrusions called "filopodia," which contained viral proteins, according to the statement.

They found that seven of these compounds, mostly anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory compounds, inhibited the virus from replicating and growing in both human lung cells and monkey kidney cells, Krogan said. .

The researchers tested how the virus infects cells using non-human cells, rather than primary human airway cells, she said.