Quoted from https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/ab556d8f5c8c949fc66df741cc8d7b1219fd4373
extracted from extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from placental stem cellsmicroRNAsthatCOVID-19. A research team led by Professor Moon Ji-sook of the Department of Bioengineering at Cha Medical University announced on the 10th that, after comparing and analyzing dielectric sequence information of 95 types of coronaviruses analyzed worldwide, they confirmed that the order of the terminal gene of the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA), called the 3'UTR (Untranslational region), is similar in mutated coronavirus RNA. According to the study, even when coronaviruses mutate, the 3'UTR region remains largely unchanged. This means that developing a drug that inhibits this region could treat mutated coronaviruses as well. Professor Moon's team isolated extracellular vesicles from placental stem cells and placental byproducts and analyzed molecular data. They confirmed that five of the 84 microRNAs present in the extracellular vesicles bound to the coronavirus's 3'UTR, inhibiting viral expression. Furthermore, because microRNAs have anti-inflammatory effects, they can also help prevent "cytokine storms," excessive immune responses that occur in severely ill COVID-19 patients. Cytokines play a crucial role in triggering immune responses when viruses invade the body, but excessive secretion can cause severe damage to the lungs and other organs, potentially leading to death. Professor Moon stated, "By utilizing the therapeutic effects of extracellular vesicles extracted from placental stem cells, it will be possible to develop vaccines and therapeutic drugs that can proactively address not only coronaviruses but also similar RNA viruses." This research was conducted by a research team led by Professor Moon Ji-sook of the Department of Bioengineering at Cha Medical University (Park Jae-hyun, Choi Yu-ri, PhD students;Lim Cheol, Integrative Researcher; and Park Ji-min, Research Professor), with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Research Foundation, as part of the "Development of Stem Cell Application Fusion Platform Technology" project. The research results were published on the pre-publication site "Biobarchive" under the title "Antiviral Effects of MicroRNAs in Extracellular Vesicles that Suppress Coronaviruses and Mutant Coronaviruses Thereof."
