Track 13: Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Therapies
The body's first line of defense against any foreign invader is triggered when a particular enzyme, present in all cells, is blocked, according to studies conducted on mice and cell cultures. This reaction significantly reduced particle proliferation when tested by several virus types in the study and shielded mouse lungs from injury. This discovery was made possible in part by a method the virologists developed to pinpoint the site of an RNA alteration they were researching and to identify the enzyme responsible for the change. They were able to deduce from the mapping that this enzyme functions in mammal hosts, not viruses, who wish to infect them. Human respiratory syncytial virus and human metapneumovirus, two viruses that can cause serious respiratory infections in young children and the elderly, as well as the Sendai virus from mice, the vesicular stomatitis virus found in cattle, and the DNA virus herpes simplex were all tested against the immune response in this study. The virologists reported early findings from prior investigations in cell cultures revealed the SARS-CoV-2 virus may be similarly controlled by this antiviral approach. Replication and gene expression of all of these viruses were dramatically decreased when the enzyme was stopped. To start the immune system's reaction, the RNA alteration known as cytosine-5 methylation, or m5C, has to be changed. It is one of around 170 documented chemical alterations to RNA molecules seen in living things that have an array of effects on biological processes.