Navigation Links
New drug blocks influenza, including bird flu virus

e, viruses must gain access to cells where they make new infectious particles to infect yet more cells in a cascade of infection.

The scientific team emphasized that while the new drug shows great promise, much work remains to determine optimal dosage, efficacy and safety before the drug can be tested in a human patient. One possibility is that the new agent could be used as part of an anti-influenza cocktail of drugs, much like those used to treat HIV infection. The team hopes to move the research into preclinical phase as quickly as possible.

Currently, there are a few effective antiviral medications on the market for influenza, but they are beginning to show signs that they are losing their effectiveness, and scientists and health professionals worry that the flu virus, and especially the H5N1 bird flu virus, will evolve to the point where existing drugs are no longer effective. Drugs now on the market work by either preventing virus replication within the cell or preventing the release of viruses from the cell.

The peptide found by the Wisconsin group seems to work in an entirely different way.

"It attacks a completely different part of the virus life cycle," explains Curtis R. Brandt, a co-author of the study and a UW-Madison professor of medical microbiology and immunology and of ophthalmology and visual sciences. "The virus can't even get into the cell. The peptide is blocking the very earliest step in infection."

Antiviral drugs are considered to be a critical line of defense in the event of an influenza epidemic or pandemic. Vaccines are the most important defense, but new vaccines must be customized in response to an outbreak of disease and it can take as long as a year to formulate and manufacture vaccine in quantity. Antiviral drugs, it is anticipated, would be used to buy time to produce a vaccine in the event of a flu pandemic.

And one intriguing possibility, the Wisconsin scientists add, is that t
'"/>

Source:University of Wisconsin-Madison


Page: 1 2 3

Related biology news :

1. Brainstem blocks pain to protect key behaviors
2. Scientist uses form to explain function of key building blocks of life
3. Anemone genes reveal versatile building blocks for body plans
4. Cigarette smoke blocks cell repair mechanism, University of Florida study shows
5. LEGO-Like building blocks to halt cell growth wins Hebrew University prize
6. Researchers discover surprising drug that blocks malaria
7. Blood sugars manufacture limited by building blocks supply
8. Flu shot effective against drifted influenza, nasal spray vaccine less so
9. First surveys of Tanzanian mountains reveal 160+ animal species, including new & endemic
10. Live vaccines more effective against horse herpes virus
11. MUHC scientists describe genetic resistance to rampant virus

Post Your Comments:
(Date:12/2/2009)...d other foods have done more than raise public awa...e quietly fueling a boom in the market for food te...lations. That,s the topic of the two-part cover st...g News , (C&EN) ACS, weekly newsmagazine. , C&EN...spondent Marc Reisch point out that food safety is...
(Date:12/2/2009)... students from Stevens Institute of Technology was...osted by the International Society for Pharmaceuti...hlights the research conducted by the students and... San Diego, Calif. , The winning poster, titled ...oning Device," was presented by Aaron Rella, a Bio...
(Date:12/2/2009)...nd are more likely to go on to university, reveals...Academy and Sahlgrenska University Hospital. , T... Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ...men doing military service who were born between 1...lts of both physical and IQ tests when the men enr...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Young adults who exercise get higher IQ 2Shining a light on disease tracking light emitting bacteria during infection 56496 1Helix BioPharma Closes Private Placement 13918 1Helix BioPharma Closes Private Placement 13918 2Helix BioPharma Closes Private Placement 13918 3Immucor to Present at Upcoming Investor Conferences 56489 1
...ton, DC The National Association of Biology Teach...ssor of biology at the University of Minnesota, wi...ABT annual conference to be held 15-18 October 200...ion Award is cosponsored by the American Institute...Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS). The award is pr...
...-Scientists from The Forsyth Institute, working wi...es, have discovered a new control over embryonic s...atural bioelectrical mechanism within frog embryon...including increased cell growth, change in cell sh...esearch shows that electrical signals are a powerf...
...the male-dominated societies of their chimpanzee r...igher social status than maleshas a "make-love-not...ntly band together to hunt and kill monkeys, the m...t meat they do eat to forest antelopes, squirrels,...ported in the October 14th issue of Current Biolo...
Other Biology News:Biologists, educators recognize excellence in evolution education 2Biologists, educators recognize excellence in evolution education 3Forsyth scientists trigger cancer-like response from embryonic stem cells 2Despite 'peacenik' reputation, bonobos hunt and eat other primates too 2
(Date:12/1/2009)... Dr. Kerry Solomon announced that he h...ched his redesigned website at www.DrKerrySolomon...roup. Dr. Solomon is a proven LASIK, lens implant...ionally recognized for his substantial contributio...a member of Trusted LASIK Surgeons, which screens ...
(Date:12/1/2009)...LYMOUTH, Mass., Dec. 1 Harvest Tec...today results from the company sponsored 60-patien...cal Center in Chennai, India using the company,s B...ble Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI). Sri Ramachandra ...associated institution based in Chennai, India and...
(Date:12/1/2009)..., SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Dec. 1 Prairi...announce that it was recently awarded two statuett...on Nov. 13 in New York City. The CLIO Healthcare A...n in the healthcare advertising industry and is an...most recognized awards competitions for advertisin...
(Date:12/1/2009)...RANBURY, N.J., Dec. 1 Pa...announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Offic...clic Natriuretic Peptide Constructs." The claims ...ounds that bind to natriuretic peptide receptor A ...ilure drug candidate. ,, "Our natriuretic compo...
Breaking Biology Technology:Charleston LASIK and Cataract Expert Dr. Kerry Solomon Opens New Practice and Launches DrKerrySolomon.com 2Charleston LASIK and Cataract Expert Dr. Kerry Solomon Opens New Practice and Launches DrKerrySolomon.com 3Charleston LASIK and Cataract Expert Dr. Kerry Solomon Opens New Practice and Launches DrKerrySolomon.com 4Charleston LASIK and Cataract Expert Dr. Kerry Solomon Opens New Practice and Launches DrKerrySolomon.com 5Charleston LASIK and Cataract Expert Dr. Kerry Solomon Opens New Practice and Launches DrKerrySolomon.com 6Harvest Technologies Announces Trial Results in its India Study Using BMAC to Treat Patients With Non-Reconstructable Critical Limb Ischemia 2Harvest Technologies Announces Trial Results in its India Study Using BMAC to Treat Patients With Non-Reconstructable Critical Limb Ischemia 3Prairie Heart Institute of Illinois Wins Two CLIO Healthcare Awards 2Palatin Technologies, Inc. Issued U.S. Patent for Heart Failure Drug Candidate 2Palatin Technologies, Inc. Issued U.S. Patent for Heart Failure Drug Candidate 3
... , Molecular Devices Corporation , , ...cribes the use of the SPECTRAmax GEMINI XS from ...LIVE/DEAD Viability/Cytoxicity Assay Kit for ani...alcein AM (cal AM) and ethidium homodimer (EthD-1)...l AM is an electrically neutral, nonfluorescent, e...
...nd Rapid Assay , Uses High Efficiency Fluores...says a broad range of tyrosine kinases , Requir... kit and in bulk packaging , , Introduction... be accelerated using High Efficiency Fluorescence...KXtra HEFP Assay Reagents provides a sensitive a...
...dfield, Martin Boissonneault, Esther Tremblay, Ben... , Recent advances in combinatorial chemi...ented increase in both the number of compounds and...development of automated liquid handling and micro...for increased throughput. Concomitantly, the intro...
Other Biology Technology:LIVE/DEAD Viability/Cytotoxicity Assay for Animal Cells Using the SpectraMax Gemini XS Fluorescence Microplate Reader (MaxLine Application Note #43) 2LIVE/DEAD Viability/Cytotoxicity Assay for Animal Cells Using the SpectraMax Gemini XS Fluorescence Microplate Reader (MaxLine Application Note #43) 3LIVE/DEAD Viability/Cytotoxicity Assay for Animal Cells Using the SpectraMax Gemini XS Fluorescence Microplate Reader (MaxLine Application Note #43) 4LIVE/DEAD Viability/Cytotoxicity Assay for Animal Cells Using the SpectraMax Gemini XS Fluorescence Microplate Reader (MaxLine Application Note #43) 5TKXtra DataFile: Homogenous tyrosine kinase detection using High Efficiency Fluorescence Polarization 2TKXtra DataFile: Homogenous tyrosine kinase detection using High Efficiency Fluorescence Polarization 3Development of Radioligand Binding Assays for the Motilin Receptor Using ScreenReady Targets. 2Development of Radioligand Binding Assays for the Motilin Receptor Using ScreenReady Targets. 3Development of Radioligand Binding Assays for the Motilin Receptor Using ScreenReady Targets. 4Development of Radioligand Binding Assays for the Motilin Receptor Using ScreenReady Targets. 5
Pancreatic Cell Cryopreservation Medium from CHEMICON
Rabbit Anti-Burkholderia pseudomallei Flagellin Polyclonal Antibody, Unconjugated from Abcam
Rabbit Anti-Human G-protein coupled purinergic receptor P2Y8 Polyclonal Antibody, Unconjugated from GenWay Biotech, Inc.
Anti-Acid Phosphatase, Potato Polyclonal Antibody, Unconjugated from CHEMICON
Biology Products: