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Dr Julian Hiscox and Dr John Barr of the University's Faculty ofBiological Sciences are working with the Health Protection AgencyPorton (HPA) to build a bank of molecular signatures that will helpidentify the severity of virus infection from characteristicchanges seen in cells. Currently the team is barcoding differentstrains of influenza virus and human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) - a virusassociated with the onset of asthma in young children. "Diseases such as flu infect and hijack our cells, turning them into virus producingfactories," says Dr Hiscox. "The infection causes the balance ofproteins in a cell to change - some proteins are overproduced andothers suppressed. Which proteins are affected and by how muchvaries depending on the type of virus, allowing us to identify aunique barcode of disease for each." The research, published today (14 May) in Proteomics , investigates changes in lung cells infected with swine flu from the 2009 outbreak compared with seasonal flu. The team used alabelling technique called SILAC to measure and compare thousandsof different proteins in a sample. This technique was used alongside mass spectrometry to identify theproteins most affected by viral infection and used these asmolecular signatures to provide the 'barcode' of disease. The paperreports how several processes in the cell were affected by thevirus, with most changes seen in proteins involved in cellreplication. "Swine flu affects the lungs in a similar way to seasonal flu andthis was reflected in the barcodes we found for each," explains DrBarr. "Using this test might have been a way to identify how lethalthe 2009 swine flu pandemic was going to be, lessening worldwidepanic. "Our next step is to test more lethal strains of flu, such as bird flu , to see how the barcodes differ. Flu virus frequently mutates,resulting in new strains which may be life-threatening and becomepandemic. If we can test new strains using our method, we candetermine their potential impact on health by comparing theirbarcode of disease to those of viruses already studied." The group from Leeds has already barcoded two types of HRSV whichcan cause severe respiratory disease in young children. Co-authorProfessor Miles Carroll of HPA Porton says: "We have focused ourwork on common respiratory viruses, such as flu and HRSV, but thismethod could be applied to a wide variety of viruses, includingtropical diseases that are prone to sudden outbreaks and can belethal." Additional References Citations. I am an expert from pioneer-cases.com, while we provides the quality product, such as IPhone 4 Hard Cover Case , China Iphone 4 Leather Case, IPhone 4 Hard Cover Case,and more.
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