Flu-fighting secret revealed
Friday December 18th, 2009
Scientists say they have found the secret of humans' innate ability to fight flu viruses.
The protein, found in the body's cells, is the "first-line defence" against flu, researchers said.
Researchers found the protein, known as IFITM3, helped fight a range of viruses, including the swine flu virus - H1N1, West Nile virus and dengue virus.
Scientists
will now be trying to establish whether the proteins could form the basis
of a new anti-viral treatment.
Researcher Michael Farzan, of Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, said: "To find something that hits the flu and hits it so close to the entry stage of the viral life cycle is really interesting and unusual among viral restriction factors."
Fellow researcher Stephen Elledge said: "If you get rid of IFITM, the virus is replicated five to 10 times more efficiently. It blocks 80 to 90 percent of the virus just by itself."
He said different individual reactions to flu might be explained by variations in the gene that products IFITM, giving some people strong protection than others.
The findings were reported in the journal Cell, which said there were now "hundreds of new leads" in the fight against the swine flu pandemic.
Meanwhile the spread of swine flu in Britain continued to decline with just 9,000 new cases in England last week, according to Health Protection Agency estimates. Another 8,000 new cases were diagnosed in Scotland.
However the number of deaths continues to increase - with a total of 299 linked to the virus across the UK since June.
Cell 139, 1 12, December 24, 2009. DOI 10.1016/j.cell.2009.12.017
Tags: Flu & Viruses | North America | UK News
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