Study shows how defensins stop viruses

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Compounds called defensins -- known to stop viruses from entering cells -- appear to do so by preventing the virus from merging to cells' outer membrane.

"This discovery provides a basic understanding of a first-line defense against such viruses as HIV and the influenza virus," said Dr. Duane Alexander, director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

"This finding may ultimately lead to new strategies for preventing viral illness, and to increased understanding of why some individuals are more resistant to certain kinds of viral infection than are other individuals."

The discovery by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and the University of California at Los Angeles is detailed in the Sept. 11 issue of the journal Nature Immunology.