Medicine: Nosing ahead

October 1, 2012 Editor 0

AS THE newly identified coronavirus that has just turned up in London re-emphasises (see article), new diseases—and new versions of old diseases—can appear suddenly, apparently from nowhere. Developing and deploying vaccines against such novelties takes time. If a lethal strain of flu, or something else equally deadly, were to emerge, that delay could cost a lot of lives. A second line of defence that took effect immediately would therefore be desirable. And, as they report in Molecular Pharmaceutics, David Jackson of the University of Melbourne and his colleagues think they may have found one. They are working on a way to create a universal virus shield at the point of entry used by most respiratory viruses: the nose.A traditional vaccine works by stimulating what is known as the adaptive immune system.

This is the part that adjusts itself to pathogens encountered by the body, and crafts specific responses to them. But the immune system has a second, generic arm, known as the innate immune system, that is activated immediately by a pathogenic challenge. It was this that Dr Jackson proposed to enlist.His tool was a molecule called Pam2Cys, which he knew binds to receptors that activate the innate immune system. This molecule can be made artificially, so it would be…

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Categories: The Economist

Tags: diseases-and, innate immune system, vaccine