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BOSTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. medical scientists say they have identified a small family of flu-fighting proteins that increase a person's natural resistance to viral infection.
Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital researchers said the proteins block most virus particles from infecting a cell at the earliest stage in the virus life cycle. The researchers said they also found one protein protects against several human viruses, including H1N1, other influenza A strains, West Nile virus and dengue virus.
After cells are infected, the proteins are critical for the interferon immune response, which makes more of the proteins and activates other defenses, the scientists said.
"We've uncovered the first-line defense in how our bodies fight the flu virus," said Harvard Medical School Professor Stephen Elledge, one of the researchers. "The protein is there to stop the flu. Every cell has a constitutive immune response that is ready for the virus."
The study was led by Dr. Abraham Brass, a geneticist and instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. "When we knocked the proteins out, we had more virus infection," Brass said. "When we increased the proteins, we had more protection."
The researchers said their findings could lead to better treatment and prevention of influenza and other viral infections.
The study that included Harvard Associate Professor Michael Farzan appears in the early online edition of the journal Cell.
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