Victory in the fight against the flu

2001/02/19 Galarraga Aiestaran, Ana - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Medikuntza

Viruses themselves have no multiplier capacity, but they access the inside of the cell and use their nucleus to create new viruses. These new viruses leave the host cell and contaminate other cells, multiply, and expand through the body. Flu viruses also act in this way, creating well-known symptoms. The German researchers found that influenza viruses activated a group of enzymes called kinase. Kinases stick phosphate molecules to other cell proteins, thus modifying their function.

Knowing that flu viruses used some of these enzymes to multiply them, the researchers inhibited kinase |. However, they did not prevent the reproduction of the virus, but did the exit out of the cell. Therefore, flu viruses could not spread throughout the body.

However, kinases also perform very important functions in healthy cells, as is the case of cell division control. Therefore, before the | kinasa inhibitors can be used as a flu, researchers must ensure that they only affect contaminated cells.