Keeping the flu away: Synthetic protein EP67 helps kick-start the immune system
San Diego State University researchers at the Donald P. Shiley BioScience Center may have found the secret to helping the immune system fight off the flu before it gets you sick.
A new study published today in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE, finds that EP67, a powerful synthetic protein, is able to activate the innate immune system within just two hours of being administered.
Prior to this study, EP67 had been primarily used as an adjuvant for vaccines, something added to the vaccine to help activate the immune response. But Joy Phillips, Ph.D. a lead author of the study with her colleague Sam Sanderson, Ph.D. at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, saw potential for it to work on its own.
"The flu virus is very sneaky and actively keeps the immune system from detecting it for a few days until you are getting symptoms," Phillips said. "Our research showed that by introducing EP67 into the body within 24 hours of exposure to the flu virus caused the immune system to react almost immediately to the threat, well before your body normally would."
Because EP67 doesn't work on the virus but on the immune system itself, it functions the same no matter the flu strain, unlike the influenza vaccine which has to exactly match the currently circulating strain.
Phillips said while this study focuses on the flu, EP67 has the potential to work on other respiratory diseases and fungal infections and could have huge potential for emergency therapeutics.
"When you find out you've been exposed to the flu, the only treatments available now target the virus directly but they are not reliable and often the virus develops a resistance against them," Phillips said. "EP67 could potentially be a therapeutic that someone would take when they know they've been exposed that would help the body fight off the virus before you get sick."
It could even be used in the event of a new strain of infectious disease, before the actual pathogen has been identified, as in SARS or the 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak, Phillips said.
Right now, the testing has been done primarily in mice by infecting them with a flu virus. Those that were given a dose of EP67 within 24 hours of the infection didn't get sick (or as sick) as those that were not treated with EP67.
The level of illness in mice is measured by weight loss. Typically, mice lose approximately 20 percent of their weight when they are infected with the flu but mice treated with EP67 lost an average of just six percent. More importantly, mice who were treated a day after being infected with a lethal dose of influenza did not die, Phillips said.
She said there are also huge implications for veterinary applications, since EP67 is active in animals, including birds.
Future research will examine the effect EP67 has in the presence of a number of other pathogens and to look closer at exactly how EP67 functions within different cells in the body.
Journal reference:
PLoS ONE
Provided by
San Diego State University
-
Flu immunity is affected by how many viruses actually cause the infection
Jun 28, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Broadening immune protection by supplementing the seasonal flu vaccine
Jan 04, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
SLU findings: Don't pitch stockpiled avian flu vaccine
Feb 09, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Vaccine protects mice from 1918 flu virus
Oct 17, 2006 |
not rated yet |
0
-
New approach to defeating flu shows promise
Apr 22, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions
Apr 23, 2013 |
3 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)
Apr 02, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
5
-
The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
Mar 30, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
9
-
Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled
Mar 27, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance
Feb 28, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
14
-
Calculating Steam Pressure in Closed Container
6 hours ago
-
Learning curve of Electromagnetism?
11 hours ago
-
thin glass in liquid
12 hours ago
-
How many joules expended for a push up?
15 hours ago
-
force to keep the folding doors
15 hours ago
-
Confusion regarding direction of kinetic friction on inclined plane.
16 hours ago
- More from Physics Forums - Classical Physics
More news stories
Stem-cell-based strategy boosts immune system in mice
Raising hopes for cell-based therapies, UC San Francisco researchers have created the first functioning human thymus tissue from embryonic stem cells in the laboratory. The researchers showed that, in mice, ...
Immunology
May 16, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (5) |
0
|
Resistance to visceral leishmaniasis: New mechanisms involved
Researchers from CNRS, Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier and IRD have elucidated new molecular mechanisms involved in resistance to visceral leishmaniasis, a serious parasitic infection. They have shown that dectin-1 ...
Immunology
May 16, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
Women's immune systems remain younger for longer
Women's immune systems age more slowly than men's, suggests research in BioMed Central's open access journal Immunity & Ageing. The slower decline in a woman's immune system may contribute to women living longer than men. ...
Immunology
May 14, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
Newly described type of immune cell and T cells share similar path to maturity, according to new study
(Medical Xpress)—Labs around the world, and a core group at Penn, have been studying recently described populations of immune cells called innate lymphoid cells (ILCs). Some researchers liken them to foot soldiers that ...
Immunology
May 14, 2013 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
|
Not all cytokine-producing cells start out the same way, study finds
(Medical Xpress)—Cytokines are molecules produced by immune cells that induce the migration of other cells to sites of infection or injury, promote the production of anti-microbial agents, and signal the production of inflammatory ...
Immunology
May 13, 2013 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
|
Consuming coffee linked to lower risk of detrimental liver disease, study finds
Regular consumption of coffee is associated with a reduced risk of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), an autoimmune liver disease, Mayo Clinic research shows. The findings were being presented at the Digestive Disease ...
Ketamine shows significant therapeutic benefit in people with treatment-resistant depression
Patients with treatment-resistant major depression saw dramatic improvement in their illness after treatment with ketamine, an anesthetic, according to the largest ketamine clinical trial to-date led by researchers from the ...
New research identifies risks, interventions for children's GI health
An increasing number of U.S. children are experiencing gastrointestinal issues that require interventions to resolve, according to research presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW).
US psychiatry gets makeover in new manual
The latest makeover to a massive psychiatric tome honored by some, reviled by others and even called the "Bible" of mental disorders is being released Saturday with a host of new changes.
AIDS science at 30: 'Cure' now part of lexicon
Big names in medicine are set to give an upbeat assessment of the war on AIDS on Tuesday, 30 years after French researchers identified the virus that causes the disease.
New case of SARS-like virus in Saudi: ministry
A new case of the deadly coronavirus has been detected in Saudi Arabia where 15 people have already died after contracting it, the health ministry announced on Saturday on its Internet website.