Keeping the flu away
A new discovery from SDSU's Donald P. Shiley BioScience Center finds the synthetic protein EP67 helps kick-start the immune system, preventing the flu
2012-07-07
(Press-News.org) 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.
INFORMATION:
Read the complete paper online at PLoS ONE.
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2012-07-07
A staggering 320 tons of gold and more than 7,500 tons of silver are now used annually to make PCs, cell phones, tablet computers and other new electronic and electrical products worldwide, adding more than $21 billion in value each year to the rich fortunes in metals eventually available through "urban mining" of e-waste, experts say.
Manufacturing these high-tech products requires more than $16 billion in gold and $5 billion in silver: a total of $21 billion -- equal to the GDP of El Salvador -- locked away annually in e-products. Most of those valuable metals will ...
2012-07-07
Washington, D.C. (July 2, 2012)– Forty years into the Title IX era, female athletes have risen to prominence and populate the sports landscape. Female viewership, however, has not witnessed the same rise. What sports are women watching (or not), and why? Of the many events in this summer's Olympics, which will be favored by women viewers?
A recent study conducted by Erin Whiteside (University of Tennessee) and Marie Hardin (Pennsylvania State University) explores these questions. The results, published in Communication, Culture & Critique, show that women prefer condensed ...
2012-07-07
Women using fertility drugs who did not conceive a 10-plus week pregnancy were at a statistically significant reduced risk of breast cancer compared to nonusers; however, women using the drugs who conceived a 10-plus week pregnancy had a statistically significant increased risk of breast cancer compared to unsuccessfully treated women, but a comparable risk to nonusers, according to a study published July 6 in the Journal of The National Cancer Institute.
Ovulation-stimulating fertility drugs temporarily elevate estrogen levels in women, and estrogen is known to play ...
2012-07-07
Cambridge, Mass. - July 6, 2012 - Atmospheric scientists at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and Nanjing University have produced the first "bottom-up" estimates of China's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, for 2005 to 2009, and the first statistically rigorous estimates of the uncertainties surrounding China's CO2 emissions.
The independent estimates, rooted in part in measurements of pollutants both at the sources and in the air, may be the most accurate totals to date. The resulting figures offer an unbiased basis on which China might measure ...
2012-07-07
Professor Ian Simmonds from the University of Melbourne's School of Earth Sciences co-authored the study and said the new information showed this combined effect at both ground and atmospheric level played a key role in increasing the rate of warming in the Arctic.
"Loss of sea ice contributes to ground level warming while global warming intensifies atmospheric circulation and contributes to increased temperatures higher in the Arctic atmosphere," Professor Simmonds said.
Lead author, Dr James Screen of the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne said ...
2012-07-07
These kinds of experiments are important as they reveal the interaction strength of the X-rays with the liquids and therefore allow for the structural analysis of substances dissolved in solution. "The method will achieve its absolute apprehension when will be applied to metal ions that are part of chemical catalysts used for clean energy production and biocatalysts (protein enzymes) used in biochemical transformation inside the living cells – the team leader Prof. Aziz stated, which is the next milestone in our research progress. Previously, these types of experiments ...
2012-07-07
Research from the University of Southampton and National Oceanography, Southampton has provided new insight into the basic immune response and repair mechanisms of corals to disease and changing environmental conditions.
The study, published in the latest issue of the journal Coral Reefs, found that increased growth is the underlying physiological process associated with disease, wounding and stress-related colour changes in reef-building corals.
The study investigated distinct green fluorescent protein (GFP)-like pigments responsible for the green, red and purple-blue ...
2012-07-07
A team of researchers from the Technical University of Valencia, the University Hospital La Fe, the University of Valencia and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona conducted in vitro studies of cytotoxicity (cellular affection) to assess the optimal concentration level of propolis in which this natural substance extracted from bee resin would offer the maximum protection against ionised radiation and not be toxic for blood cells.
According to the results of the research, this optimal concentration level is between 120-500 micrograms/mL. "Within this range can be found ...
2012-07-07
The effect of spaceflight on a microscopic worm — Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) — could help it to live longer.
The discovery was made by an international group of scientists studying the loss of bone and muscle mass experienced by astronauts after extended flights in space. The results of this research have been published today, July 5 2012, in the online journal Scientific Reports.
Dr Nathaniel Szewczyk, from The University of Nottingham, was part of the ICE-FIRST project which involved scientists from Japan, France, the US, and Canada. They discovered that ...
2012-07-07
The University of Nottingham has begun the search for a new class of injectable materials that will stimulate stem cells to regenerate damaged tissue in degenerative and age related disorders of the bone, muscle and heart.
The work, which is currently at the experimental stage, could lead to treatments for diseases that currently have no cure. The aim is to produce radical new treatments that will reduce the need for invasive surgery, optimise recovery and reduce the risk of undesirable scar tissue.
The research, which brings together expertise in The University of ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Keeping the flu away
A new discovery from SDSU's Donald P. Shiley BioScience Center finds the synthetic protein EP67 helps kick-start the immune system, preventing the flu