A strange virus that can survive being boiled in acid could be the key to fighting human disease.
The virus offers a "blueprint" for battling disease using DNA protected by "armor," the University of Virginia reported.
"What's interesting and unusual is being able to see how proteins and DNA can be put together in a way that's absolutely stable under the harshest conditions imaginable," said Edward H. Egelman, of the UVA Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics. "We've discovered what appears to be a basic mechanism of resistance - to heat, to desiccation, to ultraviolet radiation. And knowing that, then, we can go in many different directions, including developing ways to package DNA for gene therapy."
The virus, SIRV2 infects microorganisms called Sulfolobus islandicus that live in acidic hot springs reaching up to 175 degrees Fahrenheit. The researchers found an intriguing similarity between the SIRV2 virus and spores that can sometimes be found in settings such as hospitals.
"Some of these spores are responsible for very, very horrific diseases that are hard to treat, like anthrax. So we show in this paper that this virus actually functions in a similar way to some of the proteins present in bacterial spores," Egelman said. "Understanding how these bacterial spores work gives us potentially new abilities to destroy them," Egelman said. "Having this basic scientific research leads in many, many directions, most of which are impossible to predict, in terms of what the implications are going to be."
The researchers found the virus survives the treacherous conditions by forcing its DNA into what is referred to as an "A-form," which is a protective structural state.
"This is, I think, going to highlight once again the contributions [the researchers] made, because many people have felt that this A-form of DNA is only found in the laboratory under very non-biological conditions, when DNA is dehydrated or dry," Egelman said. "Instead, it appears to be a general mechanism in biology for protecting DNA."
The findings were published in a recent edition of the journal Science.
