Based on the new DNA strategy, the treatment of influenza virus shows hope

The Wistar Institute's MedImmune (AstraZeneca Global Biologics Research and Development Division) and Inovio Pharmaceuticals scientists have developed a novel, synthetic DNA-based strategy in preclinical models to provide protection against a variety of influenza viruses. These findings underscore this promising strategy, published in the npj vaccine.

Based on the new DNA strategy, the treatment of influenza virus shows hope

It is widely recognized that influenza strains change every year. Seasonal flu vaccines are effective against the annual flu virus. Therefore, at the end of the flu season, the vaccine must be put into production immediately for listing at the end of the summer.

“The process of discovery is not always smooth. Therefore, the vaccine available in the fall is not a good match for circulating strains, and the effect is poor,” said senior author David Weiner. The flu occasionally causes a dramatic change in the strain, leading to another strain of the virus, which requires a new vaccine development strategy that carries the risk of significant health consequences. "In addition, some vulnerable people may not respond well to vaccines, and the new, simple, rapid and widespread way to prevent the flu will be a big step forward."

Gene mutations can cause rare severe flu

A study of a French girl and her parents showed that a genetic mutation that was previously unknown and would destroy the body's immune system could trigger a rare but potentially life-threatening child's flu.

Gene mutations can cause rare severe flu

According to a survey published in the American Journal of Science, genetic mutations may be the root cause of severe flu in children. Most people get cured after a week with the flu, but the flu can become a very serious disease, even in some rare cases, which is fatal, and the results are confusing for doctors.

The Human Infectious Disease Genetics Laboratory, a researcher at the United States-French International Joint Laboratory, puts forward the hypothesis that serious flu in healthy children may be the result of genetic errors. To test this hypothesis, in January 2011, they were given a genome-wide determination of a seven-year-old child who was infected with severe flu at the age of two and a half after obtaining the consent of the child intensive care unit.

US and Japanese scientists recently discovered the 1918 pandemic deadly gene

Researchers in the United States and Japan have recently discovered that a genome formed by three genes may be the culprit leading to the 1918 pandemic, a finding that may contribute to the development of new influenza drugs.

US and Japanese scientists recently discovered the 1918 pandemic deadly gene

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Tokyo in Japan reported in a new issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that they identified these three by mixing samples of 1918 influenza virus variants with samples of seasonal influenza viruses. The genes - PA, PB1 and PB2 - form a genome that allows the influenza virus to enter the lungs and cause pneumonia.

The University of Hong Kong has designed a gene against influenza virus that can effectively prevent and treat the flu.

The University of Hong Kong announced that its microbiology experts have used viral genes and proteins to develop drugs that effectively inhibit influenza virus. According to reports, the research team spent more than three years to design influenza DIG3 (defective interference gene), which can effectively inhibit the growth of influenza virus in cells, and is not easy to produce drug resistance. In addition, the research team designed a new protein called TAT-P1 as a gene carrier, which can not only introduce DIG3 into the cell to inhibit the growth of the virus, but also inhibit the virus replication by inhibiting the acidification of the cell endosomes, and exert a dual antiviral effect.

The University of Hong Kong has designed a gene against influenza virus that can effectively prevent and treat the flu.

Researchers at the University of Hong Kong found that injecting DIG3/TAT-P1 into the respiratory tract of mice one or two days before the laboratory mice were infected with H1N1 human influenza virus or H7N7 avian influenza virus or 6 hours after infection, it could effectively improve the survival rate of mice. Inhibits the growth of the virus in the lungs of mice. This shows that DIG3/TAT-P1 can effectively prevent and treat influenza.

Significant progress in the Phase III clinical study of Genentech's new influenza drug

Genentech a member of the Roche Group, announced that the CAPSTONE-2, a phase 3 study evaluating the efficacy of the new flu-influenza drug baloxavir marboxil in people with high-risk complication, reached the primary end point.

Significant progress in the Phase III clinical study of Genentech's new influenza drug

The flu is a serious threat to global human health. The annual flu epidemic can cause approximately 3 to 5 million patients to be seriously ill, millions of patients need hospitalization for treatment, and as many as 650,000 people die. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines the following populations as people with high-risk flu complications: elderly people 65 years of age or older, people with asthma, chronic lung disease, diabetes, or heart disease. For these patients, the flu may cause them to stay in hospital or even die. They urgently need a new drug to relieve the disease and reduce the incidence of complications.

Baloxavir marboxil was originally developed by Shionogi & Co., Japan. It is a new antiviral drug that inhibits viral replication by inhibiting cap-dependent endonuclease in influenza viruses. The mechanism of action of anti-influenza drugs is to prevent the spread of the virus in the body by targeting neuraminidase. Compared to these drugs, baloxavir marboxil targets the earlier stages of the viral replication cycle and it is effective against influenza viruses that have developed resistance to oseltamivir.

Several genetic mutations or human infection of bird flu

An international research team has recently discovered that several specific genetic mutations may lead to the ability of the H7N9 avian influenza virus to be transmitted from person to person. Monitoring these mutations will help prevent the spread of the epidemic in a timely manner.

Several genetic mutations or human infection of bird flu

  Avian influenza viruses usually only infect birds, but in recent years it has been found that multiple subtypes can be transmitted from poultry to humans. H7N9 is one of them. The ability of the avian influenza virus to obtain interpersonal infection has not yet been discovered, but if the virus acquires this ability through genetic mutations, it may lead to a pandemic.

  To this end, researchers at institutions such as the Scripps Research Institute have analyzed mutations that may occur in the H7N9 viral genome. They focused on genes encoding H7 hemagglutinin on the surface of the virus, a protein that binds the virus to host cells and causes infection.

New study finds two human genes related to avian influenza

A research team at the University of Chicago found that the mechanism by which the H5N1 avian influenza virus infects human lung epithelial cells is related to two human genes, so a new approach to antiviral development can be developed by affecting these two genes.

New study finds two human genes related to avian influenza

Related papers were published on the 10th in the new American academic journal Cell Report. The researchers said that when the H5N1 avian influenza virus infects the human body, it often invades through the lung epithelial cells. To screen which genes are involved in viral infection mechanisms, the researchers used gene editing techniques to create about 19,000 lung epithelial cells with different genetic variants that exposed them to the H5N1 virus.

It was found that the gene named SLC35A1 is responsible for encoding a receptor on the cell surface that the virus can use to "land" on the cell surface. If you knock it out, the virus loses the "hand" of the infected host.

Another gene, called CIC, regulates the immune response, which suppresses the immune response of cells to foreign pathogens. If it is turned off, the immune response will be stronger and help fight the bird flu virus.