AEG12 Mosquito Protein inhibits virus family causing dangerous diseases
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Washington, Mar 16: The research scientists from US National Institutes of Health have found that, a mosquito protein called AEG12 strongly inhibits the family of viruses which cause dengue, yellow fever, Zika and West Nile. They also noted that the protein also inhibits the corona viruses. Although the protein does not affect viruses that do not have an envelope, such as those that cause pink eye and bladder infections, the findings could lead to therapeutics against viruses that affect millions of people around the world.
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Scientists at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), which is a part of NIH, used X-ray crystallography to solve the structure of AEG12. According to senior author Geoffrey Mueller, head of the NIEHS Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Group, at the molecular level, AEG12 rips out the lipids, or the fat-like portions of the membrane that hold the virus together.
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Mueller said, "It is as if AEG12 is hungry for the lipids that are in the virus membrane, so it gets rid of some of the lipids it has and exchanges them for the ones it really prefers. The protein has high affinity for viral lipids and steals them from the virus."
According to Mueller thus the AEG12 protein has great killing power over some viruses. While the researchers demonstrated that AEG12 was most effective against flaviviruses, the family of viruses to which Zika, West Nile, and others belong, it is possible AEG12 could be effective against SARS-CoV-2, the corona virus that causes COVID 19. However, Mueller also said that it will take years of bioengineering to make AEG12 a viable therapy for COVID 19. Part of the problem is AEG12 also breaks open RBCs. Hence, researchers will have to identify compounds that will make the protein target only the viruses.