By Eric Bock
Dr. Eric Topol
Covid-19 is not just a respiratory virus. The virus affects many organs, including the heart, said Dr. Eric Topol during a recent NHLBI webinar series called “Covid-19 Insights.”
“The more we learn about Covid, the more we learn about other aspects of its attack,” said Topol, executive vice president and professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research Institute and founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute.
Coronaviruses are spherical viruses that have crown-like protein spikes on their surfaces. The spikes found on SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, bind to a protein called ACE2, which is located on the surface of cells found in the lungs, heart, arteries and other organs. This binding allows the virus to enter and take over the cell.