UC Riverside researchers discover model organism for studying viruses that aff...( e of action and reaction between virus ...)

The UCR team has shown that virus replication in the worm triggers an antiviral response known as RNA silencing or RNA interference (RNAi). RNAi specifically breaks down the virus' RNA. Virus RNA creates proteins that allow the virus to function. The virus responds by producing a protein acting as a suppressor of RNAi to shut down the host's antiviral response. Virus infection did not occur when the viral RNAi suppressor was made inactive by genetic mutations in the host system.

C. elegans' RNAi system is considered a "blanket system," meaning that it has parallels in humans, making the worm model discovered by Ding and his colleagues a valuable tool in studying the way viruses interact with hosts. This tool may speed the discovery of treatments for virus-caused diseases that plague humans.

"The RNAi machinery is very similar between humans and C. elegans, and human viruses such as Influenza A virus and HIV are known to produce RNAi suppressors," Ding said. "So now, the question is can we treat human viral diseases using chemical inhibitors of viral RNAi suppressors?"

The methods outlined in the Nature paper are now being used to generate additional C. elegans strains for screening chemical compounds that inactivate RNAi suppressors associated with avian flu, HIV and others.

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Contact: Ricardo Duran
ricardo.duran@ucr.edu
951-827-5893
University of California - Riverside
17-Aug-2005