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Microbes & Immunity RANTES/CCL5 and ezrin peptide RepG3 for long COVID
ezrin peptides both increase HLA-DR expression in life in the lyophilized form. Not only do ezrin peptides
monocytes and macrophages. have an exceptional safety record, but they also have
The wide spectrum of biological effects of RANTES/ efficacy against all bacterial, viral, fungal, and protozoan
CCL5 that are common with ezrin peptides, and the infections.
observed elevation of RANTES/CCL5 serum levels in Ezrin peptide RepG3 is unique in that it increases
response to ezrin peptide RepG3, suggests that ezrin the expression of adaptive immune-amplifier RANTES/
peptides act to increase the expression of RANTES/CCL5, CCL5 while inhibiting the expression of innate immunity
the natural amplifier of adaptive immune responses. In proinflammatory cytokines. Ezrin peptide RepG3 is a
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addition, RANTES/CCL5 and ezrin peptides both activate solution for drug-resistant or persistent infections that
NK-cell activity and amplify NK-cell killing of tumors induce chronic inflammation. Ezrin peptide RepG3 is an
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(Figure 9). effective therapy for all inflammatory respiratory diseases
The activities of the RANTES/CCL5 and ezrin peptides and also seems to reduce brain inflammation, a symptom
were not identical. RANTES/CCL5 differs from ezrin of long COVID. Ezrin peptide RepG3 is an effective
peptides in that it does not inhibit proinflammatory treatment for other inflammatory problems associated with
cytokine or chemokine expression, while ezrin peptides exposure to the SARS2 spike protein (RepG3 is a potential
significantly inhibit the expression of proinflammatory therapy for long COVID and COVID vaccine injury).
cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-13, TNF-α, and Ezrin peptides are an effective treatment for inflammatory
proinflammatory chemokines MIP-1α and MIP-1β. 88 liver disease caused by HCV and HBV. Ezrin peptides are
an effective treatment for all inflammatory and ulcerative
The ezrin peptide platform technology was reverse-
engineered from HIV and AIDS, and the products derived diseases of the gut, such as inflammatory bowel disease
(IBD) and ulcerative colitis (UC).
from this know-how are short synthetic peptide mimics of
the alpha domain of human ezrin. The safety and broad- Ezrin peptides such as RepG3 have the potential to
spectrum efficacy of ezrin peptides have already been overcome a wide spectrum of antimicrobial resistance
demonstrated in clinical trials in Russia. These short (AMR). All microorganisms mutate, and growing numbers
peptides are cheap to manufacture and have a long shelf of these mutant microorganisms are developing resistance
A B C
Figure 9. Ezrin peptide NK activation and anti-tumor activity. (A) Ezrin peptide HEP1 (TEKKRRETVEREKE) induces phosphorylation of ERK in
NK-92 cells in a linear dose-response between 25 and 500 µg/mL. The time course of this phosphorylation at 75 µg/mL was triggered in a few minutes and
peaked in about half an hour. (B,C) Implanted solid tumors (cervical cancer and sarcoma) in mice (10/group) grew slower than in controls in response
to ezrin peptide Rep312 (KKRRETERE) intraperitoneal injections (0.1 µg/mouse for cervical cancer treatment and 1 µg/mouse for sarcoma treatment,
administered twice weekly). Rep312 induced core necrosis of tumors, probably due to NK-homing and target cell killing. This work was performed in
Russia in 2000 as part of preclinical safety studies to confirm that ezrin peptides did not promote the growth of tumors. In contrast, ezrin peptides have
anti-cancer activity, but much more research needs to be performed to establish these positive preliminary observations.
Volume 1 Issue 1 (2024) 19 doi: 10.36922/mi.2474

