The influenza A virus has a complex molecular machine that allows it to replicate within the cells it infects. Now, a group of researchers from the National Center for Biotechnology of the CSIC (Madrid) has discovered the structure of said machine, a finding that solves mysteries about the life cycle of this virus that, although it is endemic to birds, is occasionally transmitted to the man and other mammals and can cause epidemics.
Viruses are organisms that cause fascination and controversy among the scientific community. Technically, they do not meet the requirements to be considered “living beings” according to classical definitions, since they cannot reproduce independently. However, they possess their own genetic material and use the machinery of the cells of the organisms they infect to self-replicate, a characteristic that places them on the “frontier” of life. Whether they are considered living organisms or not, in the fight against viruses that transmit diseases it is essential to unravel the mechanisms of their life cycles, since this allows finding target molecules towards which to direct treatments.
The new work, which is published in Science Express , the digital edition of the journal Science , reveals in this case the organization of ribonucleoproteins that form the complex replication machinery of the influenza A virus, which in 2009 underwent a mutation and it made a leap between species, going from pig to man and causing great social alarm. Scientists have extracted and purified the eight ribonucleoproteins present in the viral particles and have studied them using electron microscopy and computational image processing techniques. “The final structure obtained shows a double helix organization with two RNA chains and nucleoprotein. At one end of this double helix the polymerase is located”, explained Jaime Martín-Benito, one of the authors. “Furthermore, we have verified that the different ribonucleoproteins are packed tightly within the intact virus.” This structure is capable of transcribing the genetic material of the virus and allows it to make copies of itself within the infected cell.
The work represents a great advance in the knowledge of the influenza A virus cycle. “The next step is to delve into the mechanisms that ribonucleoproteins use to replicate and express the genetic information of the virus, the way in which they are associated with each other. yes in the virus particle and the mechanisms that facilitate that the genes of avian viruses can be transferred to human viruses “. The researchers have explained.
