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Hydroxyurea interaction with α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor can underlie its therapeutic efficacy upon COVID-19
Olena Lykhmus1, Olena Kalashnyk1, Raymond Sullivan2
1Palladin Institute of Biochemistry, Kyiv, Ukraine.
Abstract:
In this paper the authors provide evidence that hydroxyurea (hydroxycarbamide) interacts with α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, exerts anti-inflammatory and pro-survival effect, prevents α7 nicotinic receptor interaction with angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 and stimulates IgM to IgG class switch upon immunization with SARS spike protein fragment 674-685. Hydroxyurea shifts immunoglobulin glycosylation profile to anti-inflammatory phenotype and prevents the appearance of anti-idiotypic α7(179-190)-specific antibodies, as well as memory impairment. According to these results, interaction with α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor may underlie positive therapeutic effects of hydroxyurea upon SARS-Cov-2 infection by interfering with virus penetration into the cell and providing anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects.
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