Specialists from the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (Conicet) revealed principles for finding new drug candidates for bronchiolitis and other infections was reported this Tuesday.
Researchers deciphered the role of respiratory syncytial virus replication proteins (VSR) in the formation of certain structures that viruses create in cells to maintain and infect themselves, so-called “virus factories”.
The discovery offers a new therapeutic route for RSV and possibly other viral pathogens that use the same mechanism, such as those that cause measles, Covid-19 and Ebola, Conicet reported in a statement.
RSV consists of a handful of genes that produce the proteins required for its replication and the assembly of its particles. Once it infects a cell, it begins producing them and they accumulate until at some point they condense into liquid structures resembling droplets, the “virus factories” in which their genome is replicated.
RSV consists of a handful of genes that produce the proteins required for its replication and the assembly of its particles. Once it infects a cell, it begins producing them and they accumulate until at some point they condense into liquid structures resembling droplets, the “virus factories” in which their genome is replicated.
In an article published in the Journal of Molecular Biology (JMB), the group from the Institute of Biochemical Research of Buenos Aires (IIBBA), together with biotechnologist and doctor of biochemistry Mariano Salgueiro, stated this One of the key proteins in virus replication, called phosphoprotein, is the active ingredient that stimulates the formation of these structures observed in vitro as droplets and interacts with the other proteins.
In another paper by biologist and Conicet doctoral student Araceli Visentin in the journal Viruses, the formation of condensates was reconstructed under controlled conditions The involvement of another protein (called M2-1), which accelerates the RNA synthesis machinery as a modulator of viral factories, was determined..
“It has also been described how this protein forms condensates with RNA, which It would be an Achilles heel for the virus, as it would be possible to try to intercept this formation and thus prevent it from multiplying.” said Gonzalo Prat Gay, also head of the Structure-Function and Protein Engineering Laboratory at the Leloir Institute Foundation.
RSV belongs to a family of viruses that includes serious human pathogens such as measles, rabies, Ebola, parainfluenza and metapneumovirus, among others.
RSV belongs to a family of viruses that includes serious human pathogens such as measles, rabies, Ebola, parainfluenza and metapneumovirus, among others.
“This suggests that our results allow us to think about the possibility of developing broad-spectrum antiviral drugs,” the scientist said.
The VSR It is highly contagious and the main cause of bronchiolitis an acute respiratory infection that causes colds in healthy people but can cause serious illness in babies under one year old, older adults, and immunocompromised patients.
In the middle of this year, a serious outbreak of bronchiolitis occurred in Argentina, with an increase in cases and an increase of 56% compared to the same period in 2019 (the year with the most cases of the last nine).
“Although there are vaccine candidates in advanced clinical phases and a few days ago the first vaccine was approved in the United States to be administered to mothers at the end of pregnancy to protect newborns, There are still no specific antiviral drugs against RSV that are widely available in public health settings.” said Prat Gay.
Meanwhile, for pediatrician and Conicet researcher Mauricio Caballero, “the development of new therapeutic technologies based on broad or specific spectrum antivirals is crucial for the imminent introduction of new vaccines and monoclonal antibodies for the primary prevention of the disease” in the world “.
