Thanks a lot, and I really appreciate your comment. I had a similar thought about the off-target translation of mRNA into spike proteins; that is, what happens to the cells that express spike proteins?
In an article I wrote back in March 2020, Dr. Steve Pascolo, an immunologist, said that some cells that take up the mRNA and express spike proteins on their surface might get destroyed by cytotoxic T-cells. But he added that this happens to a greater extent during SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Moreover, T-cells don’t enter the brain easily as the brain is considered an immune-privileged site. But I’m also concerned that cytotoxic T-cells might target other tissues that take up the mRNA vaccine, such as the heart, which might also be responsible for the post-mRNA vaccine myocarditis.
However, based on my understanding after an informal conversation with a physician, mRNA vaccine works by inducing muscle cells to express modified spike proteins (that are membrane-anchored and in pre-fusion state). Antigen-presenting cells of the innate immune system (the first line of defence) detect the spike protein on muscle cells, process them, and presents a piece of it (the antigen) to the adaptive immune system (the second line of defense). By the time the adaptive immune system (the B-cells and T-cells) are ready and come searching for the spike proteins, which take about 1–2 weeks, most muscle cells would no longer be expressing the spike proteins. This is based on animal studies showing that mRNA vaccine-induced protein (the luciferase) expression only lasts for less than a week.
Yeah, I’m aware that this is also speculative. Thus far, I’m not aware of any studies that examine the duration of spike protein expression. Most study luciferase, so things might be a bit different. In the end, my thought is that it’s difficult to fully understand everything that’s happening molecularly. So, I think it’s more important to see what’s happening in humans, and those large cohort studies discussed in this article can help.
