Scientists have discovered a new potential target for antiviral drugs. The discovery could lead to the creation of a universal method of treatment for a multitude of infectious diseases at once. The research results are published in the journal Cell Reports.
As the outbreak of the coronavirus in China shows, viruses pose a constant threat to humanity. Vaccines are regularly developed and introduced against some of them, but this process takes a long time, does not help everyone and does not protect against new viruses.
Scientists from Massachusetts General Hospital (USA), in collaboration with colleagues from the German Center for Cancer Research in Heidelberg, discovered the Achilles heel of most viruses - this is the AGO4 protein.
AGO4 is one of the proteins of the Argonaute family. Until now, his role was not fully understood. Now, researchers have found that this protein has a unique antiviral effect in mammalian somatic cells.
The study authors studied the antiviral effects of several Argonaute proteins in mice and found that only AGO4-deficient cells were hypersensitive to various viral infections, including influenza. In other words, low AGO4 levels increased the likelihood of infection in mammalian cells. From this, the researchers concluded that raising the level of this protein can help strengthen the immune system and protect against many viruses.
“The goal is to understand how our immune system works to create treatments that work against a range of viruses, not just vaccines against a specific one,” study leader Keith Jeffrey said in a hospital press release. Kate Jeffrey).
Mammals, like many other animals and plants, have four Argonaute proteins (1-4) that act by suppressing genes. Argonaute is involved in the formation and regulation of RNA and microRNA activity, that is, it acts as an RNA effector protein, and RNA interference is the most important strategy for antiviral cell defense.
Scientists plan to continue research.
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“The next step is to determine how broad the spectrum of action of this protein is for any type of virus,” says Jeffrey. "And then we need to figure out how to increase AGO4 activity to increase protection against viral infections."