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Updated: Jun 27, 2025

Visualization of SARS-CoV-2 using Immuno RNA-Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization
Published on: December 23, 2020
"Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining": How Three Rare Diseases Defend Themselves from COVID-19 and What We Have Learnt
Martina Cacciapuoti1, Ilaria Caputo1, Lucia Federica Stefanelli1
1Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Padova, 35128 Padova, Italy.
Abstract:
The process of SARS-CoV-2 infection, responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, is carried out through different steps, with the interaction between ACE2 and Spike protein (S) being crucial. Besides of that, the acidic environment of endosomes seems to play a relevant role in the virus uptake into cells and its intracellular replication. Patients affected by two rare genetic tubulopathies, Gitelman's and Bartter's Syndromes, and a rare genetic metabolic disease, Fabry Disease, have shown intrinsic protection from SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 on account of specific intrinsic features that interfere with the virus uptake into cells and its intracellular replication, which will be reported and discussed in this paper, providing interesting insights for present and future research.
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