Findings point to potential treatment for virus causing childhood illnesses
The virus, called enterovirus 71 (EV71), causes yearly outbreaks of hand, foot, and mouth disease in Southeast Asian countries including China and Malaysia. Some of the infected children develop encephalitis that can be fatal or result in permanent brain damage. There are no anti-EV71therapeutic agents available.
The researchers prepared antibodies by immunizing mice with immature EV71 particles. Antibodies generated by this immunization induced a change in the mature EV71 virus, rendering it non-infectious by causing the virus particles to lose their genome.
The findings reveal a potential treatment mechanism, demonstrating that the antibody, called E18, has potential as an anti-EV71 therapy, said Michael G. Rossmann, Purdue's Hanley Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences.
Findings are being reported this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The paper was authored by Purdue postdoctoral research associate Pavel Plevka; Pei-Yin Lim, a researcher from Sentinext Therapeutics in Penang, Malaysia; Purdue research scientist Rushika Perera; Jane Cardosa, a researcher at Sentinext and MAB Explorations in Malaysia; Purdue graduate student Ampa Suksatu; Richard J. Kuhn, a professor and head of Purdue's Department of Biological Sciences; and Rossmann.
EV71 belongs to a family of viruses called picornaviruses, pathogens that cause diseases including common-cold-like illnesses and poliomyelitis in people and chronic infections in livestock.
“The antibody-mediated virus neutralization by the induction of genome release has not been previously demonstrated,” Rossmann said. “These results indicate that antibodies with genome-release activity could also be produced for other picornaviruses by immunization with immature particles. The approach could be used to prepare antibodies with similar properties against related viruses that include significant human pathogens.”
Researchers observed and documented the loss of genome using two laboratory techniques: cryoelectron microscopy and a fluorescent SYBR Green dye assay.
Hand, foot and mouth disease, an infection most common among young children, sometimes arises in a daycare setting. Of the 427,278 cases of the disease recorded in China between January and May 2010, 5,454 cases were classified as severe, with 260 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.
The research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Writer: Emil Venere, 765-494-4709, venere@purdue.edu
Sources: Pavel Plevka, 765-494-8712, plevka@purdue.edu
Michael Rossmann, 765-494-4911, mr@purdue.edu
Richard J. Kuhn, 765-494-4407, kuhnr@purdue.edu
Rushika Perera, perera@purdue.edu
Note to Journalists: A copy of the research paper is available by contacting Emil Venere, 765-494-4709, venere@purdue.edu
Media Contact
More Information:
http://www.purdue.eduAll latest news from the category: Health and Medicine
This subject area encompasses research and studies in the field of human medicine.
Among the wide-ranging list of topics covered here are anesthesiology, anatomy, surgery, human genetics, hygiene and environmental medicine, internal medicine, neurology, pharmacology, physiology, urology and dental medicine.
Newest articles
Superradiant atoms could push the boundaries of how precisely time can be measured
Superradiant atoms can help us measure time more precisely than ever. In a new study, researchers from the University of Copenhagen present a new method for measuring the time interval,…
Ion thermoelectric conversion devices for near room temperature
The electrode sheet of the thermoelectric device consists of ionic hydrogel, which is sandwiched between the electrodes to form, and the Prussian blue on the electrode undergoes a redox reaction…
Zap Energy achieves 37-million-degree temperatures in a compact device
New publication reports record electron temperatures for a small-scale, sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch fusion device. In the nine decades since humans first produced fusion reactions, only a few fusion technologies have demonstrated…