Scientists might have found the ultimate formula for Ebola cure. After the preventive vaccine, scientists are now planning to develop a new treatment for the deadly Ebola virus. Researchers were able to find a mechanism which represents a way in which host cells have evolved to be able to outsmart Ebola and other viruses.
Ebola has a high risk of death killing about 20 to 90 percent of the infected patients. Those who survive suffer a lot of complications like joint pain, liver inflammation, continued weakness, decreased appetite, decreased hearing and more. However, it looks like survival rates of Ebola will soon go up. The said mechanism discovered by the researchers would be able to stop the spread of Ebola to other cells.
"We think we have uncovered a cellular defense mechanism against Ebola and other viruses by which the cell can counteract the virus' ability to bud and spread to other cells," Ronald Harty, a professor of pathobiology and microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania said according to Science Daily. He added that they want to dissect and further study the mechanism and mimic it to develop a treatment for dangerous viruses like Ebola.
In a study published in PLOS Pathogens on Wednesday, Jan 11, researchers studied how viruses interact with host proteins to find a way to interrupt its life cycle. Previously, scientists believed that all the interactions will enable the virus to spread in the cell. The researchers found out that the BAG3 as a novel and functional host interactor can negatively regulate the virus budding.
The researchers then tried decreasing the levels of naturally occurring BAG3 or the chaperone protein. It increased the budding of the virus in the cell. Amplifying these molecular interactions would disrupt the life cycle of the virus and strengthen the immune system to overcome the virus. Thus leading to the development of the Ebola cure.
The researchers added that the Ebola cure would be very important to treat those who are already infected. "A vaccine is certainly important, but the therapeutics are a different arm of the antiviral strategy and are particularly essential for those who are already infected," Harty said.
