New instrument for analyzing viruses

[Guest guest]

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-03/aiop-nif021411.php

Public release date: 8-Mar-2011

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Contact: Ellen R. Weiss

eweiss@...

240-290-5606

American Institute of Physics

New instrument for analyzing viruses

Sensitive 'PING' device described at Biophysical Meeting today in Baltimore

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 8, 2011) -- Scientists in Israel and California have

developed an instrument for rapidly analyzing molecular interactions that take

place viruses and the cells they infect. By helping to identify interactions

between proteins made by viruses like HIV and hepatitis and proteins made by the

human cells these viruses infect, the device may help scientists develop new

ways of disrupting these interactions and find new drugs for treating those

infections.

According to Doron Gerber, a professor at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, the

PING system (Protein Interaction Network Generator) can be used to examine

thousands of potential interactions at a time, and it detects them at a

sensitivity 100- to 1,000-time greater than current methods. Gerber developed

PING with collaborators at Stanford University, and he will describe the

technology today at the 55th Annual Biophysical Society Meeting in Baltimore.

When a virus infects a human cell, it hijacks the machinery of that cell,

recruiting certain host proteins and subverting them to the task of

manufacturing new viral particles. This feature of viral biology has made viral

infections notoriously difficult to treat, as therapies must specifically target

the virus without harming the cell.

One approach that has been successful is to identify key interactions between

viral and host proteins, which can then serve as targets for new drugs. For

example, the HIV drug Fuzeon works by blocking a viral protein from attaching to

proteins on the surface of immune system cells, barring entry to the cell. Like

many antivirals, Fuzeon is used in combination with other drugs in a " cocktail. "

This is because, like most viruses, HIV mutates rapidly, acquiring resistance to

individual drugs. Therefore, the need for new antiviral drugs is constant and

ongoing.

Using PING, the Israeli and California scientists identified novel cellular

partners for proteins from hepatitis C and hepatitis D. " And we can now use the

same system to screen for inhibitors, " says Gerber, who adds that new treatments

are urgently needed for hepatitis C, for which only one treatment exists that

works in only half the patient population.

Because PING employs microfluidics, very small samples can be used; gathering

enough material has been a particular challenge with existing methods.

###

The presentation, " Mapping Virus-Host Protein Interactions Using the PING

Microfluidics Platform, " is at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 8, 2011 in Room 307

of the Baltimore Convention Center. ABSTRACT: http://tinyurl.com/67lnomy

The research was funded by the NIH Pioneer grant.

[Guest guest]

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-03/aiop-nif021411.php

Public release date: 8-Mar-2011

[ Print | E-mail | Share ] [ Close Window ]

Contact: Ellen R. Weiss

eweiss@...

240-290-5606

American Institute of Physics

New instrument for analyzing viruses

Sensitive 'PING' device described at Biophysical Meeting today in Baltimore

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 8, 2011) -- Scientists in Israel and California have

developed an instrument for rapidly analyzing molecular interactions that take

place viruses and the cells they infect. By helping to identify interactions

between proteins made by viruses like HIV and hepatitis and proteins made by the

human cells these viruses infect, the device may help scientists develop new

ways of disrupting these interactions and find new drugs for treating those

infections.

According to Doron Gerber, a professor at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, the

PING system (Protein Interaction Network Generator) can be used to examine

thousands of potential interactions at a time, and it detects them at a

sensitivity 100- to 1,000-time greater than current methods. Gerber developed

PING with collaborators at Stanford University, and he will describe the

technology today at the 55th Annual Biophysical Society Meeting in Baltimore.

When a virus infects a human cell, it hijacks the machinery of that cell,

recruiting certain host proteins and subverting them to the task of

manufacturing new viral particles. This feature of viral biology has made viral

infections notoriously difficult to treat, as therapies must specifically target

the virus without harming the cell.

One approach that has been successful is to identify key interactions between

viral and host proteins, which can then serve as targets for new drugs. For

example, the HIV drug Fuzeon works by blocking a viral protein from attaching to

proteins on the surface of immune system cells, barring entry to the cell. Like

many antivirals, Fuzeon is used in combination with other drugs in a " cocktail. "

This is because, like most viruses, HIV mutates rapidly, acquiring resistance to

individual drugs. Therefore, the need for new antiviral drugs is constant and

ongoing.

Using PING, the Israeli and California scientists identified novel cellular

partners for proteins from hepatitis C and hepatitis D. " And we can now use the

same system to screen for inhibitors, " says Gerber, who adds that new treatments

are urgently needed for hepatitis C, for which only one treatment exists that

works in only half the patient population.

Because PING employs microfluidics, very small samples can be used; gathering

enough material has been a particular challenge with existing methods.

###

The presentation, " Mapping Virus-Host Protein Interactions Using the PING

Microfluidics Platform, " is at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 8, 2011 in Room 307

of the Baltimore Convention Center. ABSTRACT: http://tinyurl.com/67lnomy

The research was funded by the NIH Pioneer grant.