{
  "id": 8367483,
  "title": "The COVID-19 RNA vaccine SpikevaxTM transfects human umbilical endothelial cells and induces Spike protein production, inflammation and leukocyte adhesion",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/18/the-covid-19-rna-vaccine-spikevaxtm-transfects-human-umbilical",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-09-18T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.15.751712v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The COVID-19 RNA vaccine SpikevaxTM, developed by Moderna Inc., is found to transfect human umbilical venous endothelial cells, leading to the production of the Spike protein. This process triggers inflammation and promotes leukocyte adhesion, which contributes to the pathogenesis of severe and critical COVID-19. These findings offer insight into the mechanisms behind post-COVID-19 RNA vaccination pathologies, including atherosclerosis, autoimmune inflammation, and systemic inflammatory conditions, all of which stem from endothelial dysfunction caused by the direct interaction of SARS-CoV-2 Spike proteins with endothelial cells.",
  "summary": "Endothelial cell dysfunction plays a key role in the pathogenesis of severe and critical COVID-19, leading to a multi-systemic inflammatory disease, and results from the direct interaction of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike proteins with endothelial cells. COVID-19 RNA vaccines encode a recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein which undergoes systemic biodistribution. No information is however so far available…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Medical Xpress",
        "title": "How a single viral protein hijacks immune cells to supercharge COVID-19 infection",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/18/how-a-single-viral-protein-hijacks-immune-cells-to-supercharge-covid",
        "published": "2026-09-18T18:00:08.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}