Clues to long COVID

A lesser-known SARS-CoV-2 protein may offer clues to long COVID symptoms

August 5, 2026
12:33 am

Six years after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists are still uncovering surprising ways the virus can wreak havoc on the body. A new UCLA study published in Science Advances describes a previously unrecognized way the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein—a structural protein less familiar than the spike protein that has dominated public attention and much vaccine research—can push the immune system into dangerous overdrive.

The nucleocapsid protein’s main job is to package and protect the virus’s genetic material. Like several other coronavirus proteins, it’s also known to suppress the body’s early antiviral defenses, helping the virus get a foothold.

Scientists led by virologist Melody Li set out to see whether SARS-CoV-2’s version of this immune-dampening protein worked the same way as those found in SARS and MERS, earlier coronaviruses known to cause severe disease.

A lesser-known SARS-CoV-2 protein may offer clues to long COVID symptoms

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