Ebola and HIV Antiviral Drug Found in Genes of Monkeys and Mice

A team of researchers from the University of Utah in collaboration with Rockefeller University have just uncovered how genetic mutations found in a few species of New World Monkeys and mice interfere with how viruses like Ebola, HIV, and other infectious diseases infect cells.

Understanding HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus or HIV, according to the America's HIV Epidemic Analytics, is a type of virus that primarily attacks cells in the human body that fight off infections. This effectively makes a person susceptible to other diseases and infections.

HIV is spread via contact with specific bodily fluids that mst commonly occurs during unprotected sex. When left untreated, HIV can lead to AIDS or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Despite there not being an effective cure against HIV for now, taking medication and proper treatment has resulted in HIV positive people living longer healthier lives and prevent transmission to their partners.

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Natural Antiviral Gene for HIV and Ebola Found in New World Monkeys and Mice

RetroCHMP3 gene has been found to encode altered proteins that disrupts the ability of some viruses to exit infected cells thereby preventing it from infecting other human cells. Researchers suggest that the findings published in the journal Cell, titled "RetroCHMP3 blocks budding of enveloped viruses without blocking cytokinesis" could help better future development and strategies in human therapeutics.

Senior author, Nels Elde, PhD an evolutionary geneticists from the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Utah says that their discovery was unexpected and that the team was surprised that slightly slowing the human cell biology would have great implications in throwing of virus replication from its normal pace, reports GenNews.

In human and animal genetics, a protein known as charged multivesicular body protein 3 (CHMP3) is known for playing a vital role in cellular mechanisms that are key in maintaining the integrity of cellular membrane, intercellular signaling, and active cell division. The authors explain in their study that endosomal sorting complexes required for transport mediates the essential cellular membrane fission like cytokinetic abscission, multivesicular body formation, researling of post-mitotic nuclear envelope, and more. Some viruses like HIV are also known as enveloped viruses that hijack ESCRT pathways to exit the infected cell, which the viruses do by encasing themselves in cell membranes and budding out from the host cell.

The recent study found that RetroCHMP3, a variant of CHMP3, that can be found in mice and New World monkeys delays the process enough that viruses are no longer able to escape. RetroCHMP3 began as a duplicate of CHMP3. Hence, while humans only possess the original gene, species such as mice, monkeys, and other animals, have the variant and other variant genes in their genomes.

Standing from an evolutionary perspective the team believes that the discovery represents a novel type of immunity that can, in time, arise quickly to aid against short-lived threats. Elde explains that researchers have thought that the ESCRT pathway was the Achilles heel of the body which viruses like Ebola and HIV could exploit, but the discovery of the RetroCHMP3 flipped the scales.