Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic’s Florida Research and Innovation Center (FRIC) https://www.lerner.ccf.org/fric have found that the disruption of a cellular structure known as the “actin cytoskeleton” is a priming signal for the body to respond to a virus.
The findings published in “Cell” https://cell.com/cell/fulltext/s0092-8674(22)01060-1 potentially lays the groundwork for development of new anti-viral vaccines and treatments. Previously viral genetic material such as RNA was considered the sole requirement for certain sensor molecules that live in cells to trigger an immune response.
Interest in using RNA as the basis for vaccines and therapeutics grew exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research shows that the triggering system is similar across multiple viruses, including Zika, flu, or SARS-CoV-2, the viruses that cause COVID-19.
RNA also serves as a basis for vaccines through training a patient’s immune system to recognize a virus. This new study shows that the signaling process also requires disrupting the actin cytoskeleton inside cells, which occurs when a virus infects cells.
According to Michaela Gack, PhD, Scientific Director of FRIC, the data shows this process is common across different types of RNA viruses. Dr. Gack’s lab operating under Cleveland Clinic’s multi-site Global Center for Pathogen and Human Health Research is investigating virus-host interactions on a molecular level and also identifying host responses that can play a key role in developing new treatments and vaccines.
usesusesThe study is a collaboration with the Ulm University in Germany and other collaborators from multiple institutions. Funding is being provided by NIH, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research Germany, and the German Research Foundation.