Gene discovery helps explain how flu can cause severe infections
2012-06-29
(Press-News.org) Scientists have discovered a new gene in the influenza virus that helps the virus control the body's response to infection.
Although this control is exerted by the virus, surprisingly it reduces the impact of the infection.
The findings will help researchers better understand how flu can cause severe infections, as well as inform research into new treatments.
Researchers found when the virus gene – called PA-X – was active, mice infected with flu subsequently recovered.
When the PA-X gene did not work properly, the immune system was found to overreact. This made the infection worse, and did not help destroy the virus any quicker.
The study looked at how the gene affected the behaviour of "Spanish flu", a virulent strain of influenza that caused a pandemic in 1918.
It was carried out by the Universities of Cambridge, Cork, Edinburgh and Utah, the Institute of Systems Biology in Seattle and the United States National Institutes of Health.
Scientists discovered the PA-X gene some 30 years after flu genome was first decoded.
Professor Paul Digard, of The Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh, said: "Just finding this gene in the first place is important, but the find is even more significant because of the role it seems to play in the body's response to flu."
The researchers, whose study is published online in the journal Science, found the hidden gene by analysing patterns of changes in the genetic information of thousands of different flu strains.
Dr Andrew Firth, of the University of Cambridge, said: "The flu virus has a very, very small genome - just 12 genes. Finding a new gene makes a pretty significant change to our understanding of this virus."
INFORMATION:
The research was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Medical Research Council, the U. S. National Institutes of Health, Science Foundation Ireland, and the Wellcome Trust.
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2012-06-29
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – June 28, 2012 – Taser shots to the chest are no more dangerous than those delivered to other body locations, according to a new study by one of the country's leading experts on the devices.
William P. Bozeman, M.D., an associate professor of emergency medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, and colleagues reviewed 1,201 cases of real-life Taser uses by law enforcement agencies but found none in which the devices could be linked to cardiac complications, even when the Taser probes landed on the upper chest area and may have delivered a shock ...
2012-06-29
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The Secure Shell, or SSH, is a popular program that lets computer users log onto remote machines. Software developers use it for large collaborative projects, students use it to work from university servers, customers of commercial cloud-computing services use it access their accounts, and system administrators use it to manage computers on their networks.
First released in 1995, SSH was designed for an Internet consisting of stationary machines, and it hasn't evolved with the mobile Internet. Among other problems, it can't handle roaming: If you close ...
2012-06-29
If popular karaoke bars and the long audition lines for American Idol demonstrate anything, it's that people like to express themselves through song — and the bigger the audience, the better. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University have found the same trait in small, rodent-like mammals called hyraxes, indigenous to Africa and the Middle East.
According to Prof. Eli Geffen and PhD candidate Amiyaal Ilany of TAU's Department of Zoology, hyrax vocalizations or "songs" go a long way towards communicating the singer's unique identity. Each one has unique songs that communicate ...
2012-06-29
Bethesda, MD—Not only does the type of flu virus affect a patient's outcome, but a new research report appearing in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology suggests that the number of viruses involved in the initial infection may be important too. Scientists from Canada found that when mice were infected by relatively high concentrations of the flu virus, they not only developed immunity against the virus that infected them, but this also promoted the generation of a type of immune cell in the lungs poised to rapidly react against infections with other strains of the flu, as well. ...
2012-06-29
In searching for better flame retardants for home furnishings—a large source of fuel in house fires—National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers defied the conventional wisdom and literally hit a wall, one made of clay.
It wasn't a dead end, but rather a surprising result that may lead to a new generation of nonhalogenated, sustainable flame retardant technology for polyurethane foam. The thick, fast-forming coating that the NIST team created has a uniformly high concentration of flame-inhibiting clay particles, and it adheres strongly to the Swiss ...
2012-06-29
Montreal, June 28, 2012 – Poetry has been following the rules for centuries. From the strict structure of the haiku to the rhythmic rhyme of the ballad, verse can be daunting to both professional poets and amateur auteurs. But poems are also media for the masses and one Concordia researcher is using mass media to put them back in the hands of the people.
Jason Lewis's work is an integral part of Concordia's Department of Design and Computation Arts, with projects ranging from computer game development to typographic design. A poet as well as a techie, the associate professor ...
2012-06-29
In an important step towards more practical quantum information processing, researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the University of California, San Diego; and the Politecnico di Milano in Milan, Italy, have demonstrated the first heralded single photon source made from silicon. This source complements two other recently developed silicon-based technologies—interferometers for manipulating the entanglement of photons and single photon detectors—needed to build a quantum optical circuit or a secure quantum communication system.
The ...
2012-06-29
New Rochelle, NY, June 28, 2012—Games that promote health can improve the well-being of employees, saving employers direct and indirect health care costs. Employers can more readily reap these benefits by offering game-based services that educate their employees about health and wellness and improve physical and psychological fitness, according to an Editorial in Games for Health Journal a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The Editorial is available free on the Games for Health Journal website.
"Wellness programs using health games have the potential ...
2012-06-29
(Boston) -- In a genome-wide association (GWA) study, researchers from Boston University Schools of Medicine (BUSM) and Public Health (BUSPH) have identified several genes which influence degeneration of the hippocampus, the part of the brain most associated with Alzheimer disease (AD). The study, which currently appears online as a Rapid Communication in the Annals of Neurology, demonstrates the efficacy of endophenotypes for broadening the understanding of the genetic basis of and pathways leading to AD.
AD is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder for which there ...
2012-06-29
CHESTNUT HILL, MA (June 28, 2012) – Harnessing the power of the sun has inspired scientists and engineers to look for ways to turn sunlight into clean energy to heat houses, fuel factories and power devices. While a majority of this research focuses on energy production, some researchers are looking at the potential uses of these novel solar technologies in other areas.
Boston College Assistant Professor of Chemistry Dunwei Wang's work with silicon nanowires and his related construct, Nanonets, has shown these stable, tiny wire-like structures can be used in processes ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Gene discovery helps explain how flu can cause severe infections
