Found 'crystal' proteins of many viruses

The researchers said that the antiviral activity of AGO4 protein opens up hope of developing treatments for many viruses at the same time.

The team at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) discovered a new target for the preparation of antiviral drugs, helping to create a general treatment that protects the body from a range of infectious diseases. Research published Monday in the journal Cell Reports found that the Argonaute 4 protein (AGO4) is the virus's weakness.

Researchers are trying to find effective treatments for many viruses.(Photo: Phys.org).

AGO4 is a protein in the AGO family . Previously, researchers found very little evidence of the importance of this protein. The team led by Dr. Kate L. Jeffrey found that AGO4 plays a key role in protecting cells against viral infections.

AGO4 is an antiviral that is found only in mammalian immune cells. The researchers investigated the antiviral effects of some AGO proteins and found that AGO4-deficient cells are vulnerable to infection. In other words, the amount of AGO4 makes mammalian cells more likely to infect the virus.

The MGH team emphasizes that increasing the amount of AGO4 can support the immune system to fight many viruses."Our goal is to understand how the immune system works to create effective treatments for many viruses, rather than the one-specific vaccine , " Jeffrey said.

Mammals have four types of AGO proteins (numbered 1 to 4), which work by turning off genes. These are effective proteins RNA and microRNA . ARNi is the main defense mechanism against viruses in plants and invertebrates. Research on mice infected with the influenza virus shows that animals lacking AGO4 have a significantly higher viral load. According to Jeffrey, the next step of the study is to determine how many AGO4 viruses can control and find ways to increase the activity of AGO4 to strengthen the body's ability to fight against viral infections.