Scientists from the United States have developed a universal antiviral drug
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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The protein antiviral complex, developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA), successfully eliminates 15 viruses, from influenza to Dengue fever. Researchers claim that the resulting drug "on teeth" is almost any virus.
If we have a wide range of antibiotics to fight bacterial infections, then, unfortunately, we can not boast of such successes in the case of viruses. In most cases, the case is limited to immunomodulators that support our immunity, while the body itself is struggling with a viral invasion. There are also a number of drugs directed against specific viruses, such as inhibitors of viral proteases, designed to combat HIV infection. But the number of such tools is too small, and the viruses have the ability to adapt to them extremely quickly.
Meanwhile, a group of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say that it managed to create a universal antiviral drug; The results of their work scientists published in the online edition of PLoS ONE.
The mechanism of action of the newly invented medicine is based on some common features of viral biology. The multiplication of many pathogenic viruses involves the stage when a long double-stranded molecule of the template RNA appears in the host cell. Such RNA is a characteristic sign of a viral infection, since animal cells do not use long double-stranded template RNAs. The cell itself usually reveals viral molecules: the recognition of such RNA by a special cellular protein leads to activation of several molecular events aimed at suppressing the reproduction of the virus. But the viruses have learned to suppress this defensive reaction at this or that stage.
It occurred to researchers to combine a protein that recognizes double-stranded viral RNA with proteins that trigger apoptosis in the cell, or a programmable cell death. The suicide program usually turns on when there is a massive damage in the genome and the cell is threatened by a cancerous transformation. In this case, scientists attempted to overcome the viral infection with apoptosis.
The drug was named DRACO, which, incidentally, has nothing to do with "Harry Potter" and stands for Double-stranded RNA Activated Caspase Oligomerizers ("Activated double-stranded caspase oligomerizer caspase"). The DRACO complex has a special peptide "key", which allows it to pass through the cell membrane. Further, if there is a virus in the cell, the complex binds to the viral RNA at one end, and the second activates caspases, the enzymes of apoptosis. If there is no virus in the cell, then the apoptotic signal is not activated, and DRACO can safely leave the cell.
The researchers tested their drug on 11 types of animals and human cells, and found no side effects toxic. But the drug successfully eliminated 15 types of viruses, including the influenza virus and the Dengue fever virus. In animal tests, a mouse infected with the H1N1 influenza virus completely got rid of the infection.
Theoretically, DRACO can cope with any virus that has the notorious double-stranded RNA in its life cycle, that is, it is "tuned" to a huge number of viral pathogens. (Therefore, it is likely that it will be useless against the DNA-containing herpes virus.) It will be much more difficult to develop resistance to such a preparation because it is an artificial protein complex.
Researchers hope that the drug will receive the widest application, after it passes clinical trials.
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