Reverse Genetics Allow Scientists To Slow The Spread Of The Rubella Virus

Reverse Genetics Allow Scientists To Slow The Spread Of The Rubella Virus
Main Category: Genetics
Also Included In: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses
Article Date: 18 Feb 2011 - 0:00 PST


Scientists have identified the gene that allows the Rubella virus to block cell death and reverse engineered a mutant gene that slows the virus's spread. Tom Hobman and a team of researchers at the University of Alberta's Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry believed that RNA viruses were able to spread by blocking the pathways in cells that lead to cell suicide, and isolated the responsible gene in Rubella, also known as German measles. They then created a mutant version of this gene that made the virus spread more slowly. These results are reported in PLoS Pathogens.

The Rubella virus is responsible for more birth defects worldwide than any other infectious agent. More generally, RNA viruses also cause many viral diseases in humans, including AIDS, influenza, hepatitis C, West Nile disease and Dengue fever. If these findings are applicable to other viruses, it would give researchers more tools for preventing the rapid spread of disease.

Hobman and his colleagues discovered that a well-known protein in the Rubella virus blocked the process that triggers cell death - allowing the virus to replicate and spread. The team then decided to conduct some reverse genetic experiments and mutated the capsid protein, which impaired the ability of the virus to replicate itself because cells would undergo cell suicide much earlier in the infection process and more often.

Hobman's team is now studying the West Nile and Dengue viruses to see if these RNA viruses prevent cell suicide in the same way. He hopes the discovery will one day lead to viral infections being limited and shutdown at an earlier stage.

Financial Disclosure

This work was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. C.I. is the recipient of a graduate studentship award from the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. I.S.G. is a recipient of a Recruitment/Retention Award from the Alberta Cancer Research Institute. T.C.H. is the recipient of a Medical Scientist Award from AHFMR. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Citation

Ilkow CS, Goping IS, Hobman TC (2011)
"The Rubella Virus Capsid Is an Anti-Apoptotic Protein that Attenuates the Pore-Forming Ability of Bax."
PLoS Pathog. 7(2): e1001291. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1001291
Reverse Genetics Allow Scientists To Slow The Spread Of The Rubella Virus