Breakthrough made in search for bird flu and influenza treatment
by Rich Bowden - Feb 24 2009, 19:28
Colorized transmission electron micrograph of Avian influenza A H5N1 viruses (seen in gold) grown in MDCK cells (seen in green). Credit:Cynthia Goldsmith/Centre for Disease Control and Prevention
US scientists working on an effective treatment for the deadly H5N1 strain, or bird flu, virus may also have stumbled on a single treatment for the numerous strains of influenza.
Using monoclonal antibodies, researchers hope to be able to provide an effective treatment against all strains of influenza including H5N1 which has concerned health experts across the globe with its potential for a 1918 flu-style pandemic.
"We were funded by the National Institutes of Health specifically to develop a therapy against bird flu," Wayne Marasco, an associate professor of medicine in the department of cancer immunology and AIDS at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute told US News in an interview.
"The surprising part of the story is that along the way we discovered that the antibodies we developed not only worked very efficiently against the bird flu but also worked very effectively against the seasonal flu strains that are circulating today," he said.
The researchers on the project were able to identify the antibodies that prevent the influenza virus from activating, giving hope that the discovery will end once a year flu shots formulated for different strains of the virus.
"Instead of having vaccines every year and developing immunity for that winter season, we now have the potential and recognize we have the potential to actually have lifelong immunity if we did this correctly," Marasco said.
During the interview, Marasco described the ingenious trick used by the influenza virus to deflect the human immune system and says how his team's discovery overcomes this.
"The influenza virus has developed a very clever decoy," said Marasco. "Its coat protein [on the outside of the flu virus] looks like a lollipop. Your immune system is really directed against the big globular head of the lollipop because it's there in large supply, but that's the part that the virus can change easily. This is the reason why we end up having to get seasonal vaccinations."
"All of the vaccines are directed against the globular head, and the globular head can change.
Our vaccine is directed against the lollipop stick, which actually contains the machinery that allows the virus to enter cells. This is what allowed us to make this significant scientific advance—to identify a new Achilles' heel in the virus's coat protein," he said.
Marasco said he plans to have the new drug in clinical trials for the 2011-2012 flu season.
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