The discovery could pave the way for developing drugs that strengthen the body’s natural ability to fight multiple viral infections, including Covid-19, chikungunya and Japanese encephalitis.
Hyderabad: Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) researchers have discovered a mechanism through which human cells detect invading viruses and activate their immune defences before the pathogens multiply.
The research, led by Dr Santosh Chauhan, senior principal scientist at CCMB, has identified a protein called DZIP3 that performs two crucial functions — detecting viral genetic material and activating the cellular machinery responsible for launching an immune response. The findings were published in ‘ The EMBO Journal’ . The latest study has established that DZIP3 performs this dual role. When it encounters viral RNA, the protein changes its shape and becomes activated. Dr Rinku Sahu was the study’s first author, with collaborators from national and international institutions. The research received funding from the department of biotechnology.