As flu viruses mutates quite often, flu vaccines are continuously being developed for effective flu prevention. But as the viruses grow more resistant, it may be possible for vaccines to eventually stop working one day.
Now, scientist from the Ohio State University have discovered that there may be a natural method to curbing flu viruses and the subsequent mutations. The key is in a protein in the body's cells.
Researchers did their tests on mice and found that by increasing the amount the protein called interferon-induced transmembrane protein 3, or IFITM3, they were able to stop the virus from further infecting the host.
IFITM3 typically grows in number as the body becomes afflicted with the flu. It works to kill the strain, so that the virus stops copying and spreading itself.
"What we're doing is targeting a more fundamental process that is not specific to any particular strain of the virus," said Jacob Yount, a senior author of the study, according to Telegraph. "If we were to have an outbreak of some pandemic influenza virus similar to what we experienced in 2009, I could envision using this technique to help people who are particularly vulnerable to infection. It would work best if used before an infection, because the strategy prevents cells from becoming infected in the first place."
In activating the IFITM3 during the experiment, scientists, inhibited another protein called the NEDD4, which works to degrade the IFITM3 when the body has no flu.
"That was a huge finding - that you don't need an infection or interferon to increase the level of IFITM3. The steady-state level of the protein is enough to inhibit the virus if you get rid of NEDD4," the researchers noted in their study, according to Medical Express.
The experiment suggests that, in the future, those on high risk for the flu, such as the elderly and the sick, may be given a drug to boost IFITM3 proteins instead of a vaccine during flu season.
The findings were published in full in the journal PLOS Pathogens.
