Researchers pinpointed a genetic code that governs infections such as polio and the common cold, potentially leading to groundbreaking new treatments and cures.
The code has been "hidden in plain sight" in the sequence of the ribonucleic acid (RNA) that makes up the virus' genome, the University of Leeds reported. Researchers have recently uncovered this code's true meaning, and found it could bring us a step closer to achieving the long-lived goal of curing the common cold.
"If you think of this as molecular warfare, these are the encrypted signals that allow a virus to deploy itself effectively," said Peter Stockley, professor of Biological Chemistry in the University of Leeds' Faculty of Biological Sciences, who led the study. "Now, for this whole class of viruses, we have found the 'Enigma machine'-the coding system that was hiding these signals from us. We have shown that not only can we read these messages but we can jam them and stop the virus' deployment."
The virus that causes the common cold (rhinovirus) is responsible for more infections per year than all other infectious agents combined. The viruses are of the single-stranded RNA which is one of the oldest families on Earth and also includes infections such as the hepatitis C virus, HIV and the winter vomiting bug norovirus.
Back in 2012, the researchers noticed the core of a single-stranded RNA virus packs itself into its outer shell in only milliseconds. They then performed a mathematic calculation to crack the code that rules this fascinating process and built computer-based models of the coding system. In this most recent study the researchers have finally cracked the code using single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy.
"We have understood for decades that the RNA carries the genetic messages that create viral proteins, but we didn't know that, hidden within the stream of letters we use to denote the genetic information, is a second code governing virus assembly. It is like finding a secret message within an ordinary news report and then being able to crack the whole coding system behind it," said Roman Tuma, Reader in Biophysics at the University of Leeds.
In the future, the researchers hope to expand the study to animal viruses in hopes of finding a path to new infection treatments.
The findings were published in a recent edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
