2022 AMI Online Salon
SARS-CoV-2 Viral Entry into Cardiac Muscle Cells
Project Detail
- Entrant Name: Clara Oh
- Other Contributors: Amanda Behr
- Client: Augusta University Health Cardiology Department
- Copyright: Clara Oh and Augusta University, 2022
- Medium/software used: MAXON Cinema 4D, ZBrush, and Redshift; Adobe After Effects
- Final presentation format: Video embedded in an online interactive learning module
Project Description
Starting in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic represented a global public health emergency and had a catastrophic impact on health systems worldwide. Although COVID-19 was initially considered a respiratory disease, it has rapidly become clear that multiorgan involvement is common. In particular, the heart often represents a target organ and patients may develop heart failure. Since 2019, the scientific community has made significant progress in understanding the mechanisms of infectivity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The purpose of this animation is to address some of these complex processes with an intent to recognize that individual processes may be susceptible to pharmacological interference and future therapeutic strategies to combat infectivity. This animation is part of an interactive learning module being used by Augusta University Health to teach cardiologists how to diagnose and treat myocarditis. The user of this module will encounter this animation when discussing the viral entry phase of viral myocarditis. SARS-CoV-2 has shown to have a selection of two pathways to enter host cells, in which the mechanisms of inhibition of infectivity for each pathway can differ. This animation discusses the structure and function of the spike protein and the role it plays along with its obligate receptors in mediating viral genome entry into cardiac muscle cells.
