Chinese Scientists Find Achilles' heel for SARS Virus

Researchers at Wuhan University in central China's Hubei Province had identified a gene code which controls the SARS virus' duplication and transmission in human body.

The research finding might provide cure for the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which infected more than 8,000 people and claimed over 770 lives in an outbreak in 2003.

American scientists found coronavirus was what caused the deadly disease in April 2003. But international scientists were not able to track down how the virus survives and duplicates in human body. The danger of another outbreak still exists, as some wild animals still carry the virus, experts said.

Guo Deyin, professor with State Key Laboratory of Virology of the College of Life Sciences of Wuhan University, and his doctoral student Chen Yu published the result on latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the U.S.A. (PNAS) in February.

The so-called "nonstructural protein nsp14" gene code has two kinds of RNA N7-MTase activities, scientists found after analysis on several RNA processive enzyme peculiar to coronavirus. The N7-MTase activity was proved to be important for SARS virus' replication and transcription and can thus be used as an effective drug target to develop anti ¨Cviral drugs for control of coronaviruss.

Furthermore, the observation that the N7-MTase of RNA life could function in lieu of that in DNA life provides interesting evolutionary insight and practical possibilities in antiviral drug screening.

"Nonstructural protein nsp14" helps to disguise genetic information for virus so as to evade recognition of immune system. Large amount of virus were therefore sent to attack human body with protection of the protein, explained Chen Yu.

The research paper was co-authored byTien Po, academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and director of the Modern Virology Research Center of the university.

Abstract Links: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/02/10/0808790106
Homepage of Guo Deyin: http://59.174.92.166/cn1/faculty/guodeyin.htm
Homepage of Tien Po: http://59.174.92.166/cn1/faculty/tb.htm

SOURCE FROM CAS NEWS