13 ways that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein causes damage

Posted on by Jesse Santiano, M.D.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus has four structural proteins. The spike, membrane, envelop, and nucleocapsid proteins. The spike protein protrudes from the middle of the coronavirus and attaches to the ACE2 receptor of cells to start the process of cell entry, replication, and infection. The two major parts of the spike protein are the S1 and S2 subunit. The S1 has the receptor-binding domain.

For easier reading, this review starts with what happens after the COVID jabs, soluble spike proteins, and what it takes to have a normal blood vessel. Then I will enumerate how the spike protein damages the body.

What happens after the COVID shots?

COVID vaccination aims to produce an immune response against the spike protein in the form of neutralizing antibodies so that in future SARS-CoV-2 exposures, COVID-19 will be prevented.

The injected messenger RNA provides instructions to the cells on making the spike proteins. Once the spike protein is produced, it migrates to the outside of the cell to be anchored on the cells’ outer surface, where the immune system will recognize it and develop an immune response to it. (antibodies, T cells, B cells).

Soluble spike proteins

Ideally, the whole spike protein should stay attached to the outside of the cells. Sometimes incomplete spike proteins are produced in the form of spike peptides. As shown below, they are also presented to the immune system by cells outside the surface with an anchoring protein called the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC).

Rijkers et al. Vaccines 2021

Anchoring to the cells is critical because once the spike protein or its pieces in the form of peptides become soluble or float in the bloodstream, they induce inflammation and clot formation in the arteries and capillaries. Scientists have found several ways that it happens.

First is that enzymes called metalloproteinases can cut the MHC1 at their bases.[1] Free-floating MHCs are found in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus SLE and cancers.[4][5]

The second is that errors can happen while RNA splicing occurs inside the nucleus. This results in variant spike proteins that are soluble.[2] Soluble S1 subunits were observed among recipients of the Moderna shots.[3] 

You can read more about it in this article: SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins detected in the plasma following Moderna shots.

Third, are exosomes released from cells containing MHCs with the spike proteins. [6] T-cells can interact with the spike proteins in the exosomes and cause inflammation [7]. Immunogenic spike proteins inside exosomes were demonstrated after Pfizer injection[8].

 Donor Blood Can Have Spike Protein Exosomes

The normal blood vessel

All organs in the body need an adequate blood supply, and blood vessels have to be in pristine working conditions for that to happen. They should be distensible to allow greater blood flow during exertion, smooth inside to prevent blood clot formation, and have working mechanisms to repair themselves and dissolve blood clots that may form.

All that work falls on the endothelial cells that line the inner wall of the blood vessels, andI talked about them at The Magical Endothelium. Any injury to the endothelium can elicit an inflammatory response and clot formation leading to organ dysfunctions like heart attacks, strokes, and deaths. 

Blood clots always start small, and once they develop, they initiate a chain reaction that promotes a more extensive clot. The good thing is that the body can do fibrinolysis, a built-in mechanism to dissolve clots.

13 ways Spike Proteins cause disease

The following are how the spike proteins and their S1 subunit can cause damage. They can work together and have four results, inflammation, thrombosis or clot formation, auto-immunity, and amyloid formation.

Any foreign protein inside the body can elicit inflammation. That is why parts of the spike proteins in the form of their S1 subunits or shorter fragments are enough to cause damage.[9][10].

Inflammation and thrombosis

  1. The S1 subunit activates Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling to induce pro-inflammatory responses. It happens with the spike protein in COVID-19 [10] and the S1 subunits.[12]
  2. The spike protein triggers cell signaling events that promote pulmonary vascular remodeling and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), and other cardiovascular complications [13]

    Source: Suzuki and Gychka. Vaccines 2021
  3. The spike S1 initiates inflammatory responses from tumor-necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) to initiate a cytokine storm syndrome in the lungs. [14].
  4. Spike proteins cause vascular leaks by degrading the barrier of the endothelium. [15] The leak may explain the proliferation of lymphocytes seen by German pathologists in the organs of deceased patients who died after the shots.
  5. Spike proteins affect the cardiac pericytes, the cells that “supervise” the endothelial cells responsible for maintaining the smoothness of the blood vessels. [16]. Study shows spike proteins affect cardiac pericytes and explain why soccer players collapse
  6. Spike proteins downregulate the ACE2 and impair endothelial function [17]
  7. The S1 produces blood clots resistant to the body’s fibrinolysis and hospital clot-buster medications [18]. That’s why some have their limbs amputated after the shots. One woman had both legs and hands amputated. There’s a list here.
  8. The spike protein can cause inflammation by activating the alternate complement pathway. [20]

Long COVID-Syndrome

9. The S1 Proteins can persist in CD16+ Monocytes up to 15 Months Post-Infection and vaccination to induce chronic inflammation. This explains the symptoms of the Long COVID Syndrome. [19]

Amyloids formation and interaction

10. Amyloids are fibrillar proteins. They are most commonly associated with neurodegenerative diseases like dementia. However, they can also form in the heart and lungs and make them rigid and form blood clots resistant to dissolution. [21] The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein can form amyloids seen in lung, blood, and nervous system disorders

11. The S1 protein contains heparin-binding sites that attract amyloids to initiate amyloid protein aggregation. Amyloid formation leads to neurodegeneration like Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s’ disease, and Frontal lobe dementia. [22]

Molecular mimicry

12. Molecular mimicry happens if protein sequences in the spike protein and peptides have similarities to human proteins. Antibodies made for those viral proteins may also attack the host proteins.[24][25][26].

Segal and Schoenfeld, 2018 [31]
This leads to several autoimmune diseases like immune thrombocytopenia (low platelet counts) [23], autoimmune liver diseases, Guillain-Barré syndrome, IgA nephropathy, rheumatoid arthritis, and systemic lupus erythematosus[27]

Cancer and Immune Deficiency

13. Spike proteins impair DNA damage repair and result in ineffective antibodies and damaged tumor-suppressor genes like the BRCA1 and 53BP1 that lead to cancers. BRCA1 damage is associated with breast, ovarian, and prostate cancers.

53BP1 loss of function in tumor tissues is elated to tumor occurrence, progression, and poor prognosis in human malignancies.[30]

 

Parting thoughts

The disease-causing part of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is the spike protein, and it is present in COVID-19 and the COVID injections. Prevention and early treatment are possible for COVID-19. Once you have the shot, there is no way to control the spike protein.

It is unclear why not all have the adverse effects or die. What is sure is that there are over one million reported adverse effects on VAERS, and more than one hundred thousand have been killed. Vaccine-induced deaths in the U.S. and Europe are way higher than the VAERS reports!

This list is not all-inclusive, and I probably missed some. Indeed, more will be discovered in the future, and I don’t want my body to find out. Do you?

 

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Related:

  1. Blood Vessel Damaging Proteins of the SARS-CoV-2
  2. Cerebral Thrombosis after the Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccine
  3. The High Risk of Deadly Brain Clots in the J & J COVID Vaccine
  4. This Study shows a Ten-Fold Risk of Developing Blood Clots after the COVID Vaccines.
  5. You got the COVID shot and found that others developed blood clots. Now what?
  6. Platelet Changes Causes Blood Clots in COVID-19
  7. Unidentified Foreign Bodies in the Vaccines Form Clots
  8. Retinal complications after COVID shots
  9. U.K. Study of COVID-19 shots and Excess Rates of Guillain-Barré Syndrome
  10. mRNA Vaccination Increases the Risk of Acute Coronary Syndrome
  11. German Analysis: The Higher the Vaccination Rate, the Higher the Excess Mortality
  12. Anti-Idiotype Antibodies against the Spike Proteins may Explain Myocarditis

References:

  1. Rijkers GT, Weterings N, Obregon-Henao A, et al. Antigen Presentation of mRNA-Based and Virus-Vectored SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines. Vaccines (Basel). 2021;9(8):848. Published 2021 Aug 3. doi:10.3390/vaccines9080848
  2. Kowarz E, Krutzke L, Reis J, et al. “Vaccine-Induced Covid-19 Mimicry” Syndrome: Splice reactions within the SARS-CoV-2 Spike open reading frame result in Spike protein variants that may cause thromboembolic events in patients immunized with vector-based vaccines. Research Square; 2021. DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-558954/v1
  3. Ogata AF. et al. Circulating SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Antigen Detected in the Plasma of mRNA-1273 Vaccine Recipients [published online ahead of print, 2021 May 20]. Clin Infect Dis. 2021;ciab465. doi:10.1093/cid/ciab465
  4. Hervier B, Ribon M, Tarantino N, Mussard J, Breckler M, Vieillard V, Amoura Z, Steinle A, Klein R, Kötter I, Decker P. Increased Concentrations of Circulating Soluble MHC Class I-Related Chain A (sMICA) and sMICB and Modulation of Plasma Membrane MICA Expression: Potential Mechanisms and Correlation With Natural Killer Cell Activity in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. Front Immunol. 2021 May 3;12:633658. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.633658. PMID: 34012432; PMCID: PMC8126610.
  5. Salih, Helmut & Goehlsdorf, Dennis & Steinle, Alexander. (2006). Salih HR, Goehlsdorf D, Steinle A. Release of MICB molecules by tumor cells: mechanism and soluble MICB in sera of cancer patients. Hum Immunol 67: 188-195. Human immunology. 67. 188-95. 10.1016/j.humimm.2006.02.008.
  6. Edgar JR. Q&A: What are exosomes, exactly?. BMC Biol. 2016;14:46. Published 2016 Jun 13. doi:10.1186/s12915-016-0268-z
  7. Raposo G, Nijman HW, Stoorvogel W, Liejendekker R, Harding CV, Melief CJ, Geuze HJ. B lymphocytes secrete antigen-presenting vesicles. J Exp Med. 1996 Mar 1;183(3):1161-72. doi: 10.1084/jem.183.3.1161. PMID: 8642258; PMCID: PMC2192324.
  8. Bansal et al. Cutting Edge: Circulating Exosomes with COVID Spike Protein Are Induced by BNT162b2 (Pfizer–BioNTech) Vaccination prior to Development of Antibodies: A Novel Mechanism for Immune Activation by mRNA Vaccines. J Immunol November 15, 2021, 207 (10) 2405-2410
  9. Nuovo, G.J. et al. (2021) Endothelial cell damage is the central part of COVID-19 and a mouse model induced by injection of the S1 subunit of the spike protein. Ann. Diagn. Pathol. 51, 151682, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anndiagpath.2020.151682
  10. Gu, T. et al. (2020) Cytokine signature induced by SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in a mouse model. Front. Immunol. 11, 621441,
  11. Aboudounya MM, Heads RJ. COVID-19 and Toll-Like Receptor 4 (TLR4): SARS-CoV-2 May Bind and Activate TLR4 to Increase ACE2 Expression, Facilitating Entry and Causing Hyperinflammation. Mediators Inflamm. 2021 Jan 14;2021:8874339. doi: 10.1155/2021/8874339. PMID: 33505220; PMCID: PMC7811571.
  12. Shirato K, Kizaki T. SARS-CoV-2 spike protein S1 subunit induces pro-inflammatory responses via toll-like receptor 4 signaling in murine and human macrophages. Heliyon. 2021 Feb 2;7(2):e06187. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06187. PMID: 33644468; PMCID: PMC7887388. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33644468/
  13. Suzuki YJ, et al. SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Elicits Cell Signaling in Human Host Cells: Implications for Possible Consequences of COVID-19 Vaccines. Vaccines (Basel). 2021;9(1):36. Published 2021 Jan 11. doi:10.3390/vaccines9010036
  14. Cao, X. et al. (2021) Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 activates macrophages and contributes to induction of acute lung inflammation in male mice. FASEB J. 35, e21801
  15. Biering et al. SARS-CoV-2 Spike triggers barrier dysfunction and vascular leak via integrins and TGF-β signaling. bioRxiv 2021.12.10.472112
  16. Avolio E et al.  The SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein disrupts human cardiac pericytes function through CD147 receptor-mediated signaling: a potential non-infective mechanism of COVID-19 microvascular disease. Clin Sci (Lond). 2021 Dec 22;135(24):2667-2689. doi: 10.1042/CS20210735. PMID: 34807265; PMCID: PMC8674568.
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  19. Patterson B. et al. Persistence of SARS CoV-2 S1 Protein in CD16+ Monocytes in Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) Up to 15 Months Post-Infection.
    bioRxiv 2021.06.25.449905
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  21. Nyström et al. Amyloidogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein. bioRxiv 2021.12.16.472920. 
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  28. Jiang H, Mei YF. SARS-CoV-2 Spike Impairs DNA Damage Repair and Inhibits V(D)J Recombination In Vitro. Viruses. 2021;13(10):2056. Published 2021 Oct 13. doi:10.3390/v13102056
  29. BRCA1 gene. Medline [website]
  30. Mirza-Aghazadeh-Attari M, et al.  53BP1: A key player of DNA damage response with critical functions in cancer. DNA Repair (Amst). 2019 Jan;73:110-119. doi: 10.1016/j.dnarep.2018.11.008. Epub 2018 Nov 20. PMID: 30497961.
  31. Segal, Y., Shoenfeld, Y. Vaccine-induced autoimmunity: the role of molecular mimicry and immune crossreaction. Cell Mol Immunol 15, 586–594 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/cmi.2017.151

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2 Replies to “13 ways that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein causes damage”

  1. Pingback: More Deceptive Drug Marketing from the New York Times - Jeffrey Dach MD

  2. Thank you for sharing this important information, which I wish was more broadly shared and made available to the public. I have dealt with longhaul covid, and agree with the findings of Dr. Patterson regarding viral debris persisting. It took me a year and a half to recover from longhaul covid, and autophagy, rest, sleep, and taking a 90 day break from stress, heat, and exertion helped me rid my body of the (naturally induced) spike proteins. I first got sick with what must have been covid-19 in late January 2020, and came down with what I later learned was longhaul covid in February 2020. It took me most of that year to gather information regarding various ways I could recover. I strongly suspected the spike protein, and thus have rejected spike protein focused medical interventions.

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