14 DAY TRIAL // Researchers at the Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the Catholic University of America, in Washington DC, managed to discover the mechanisms employed by the “nano-motors” inside viruses. This discovery is remarkable because it allows scientists to replicate, or even sabotage the engines, which translates into better and more effective vaccines against diseases such as herpes, and, potentially, all virally-transmitted diseases.
"The discovery of how this virus motor functions represents a significant milestone in the investigation of viral processes. This research is a breakthrough that not only may lead to the development of a means of arresting harmful infections, but it also points to possible ways in which nano-devices could be fashioned," explains David Rockcliffe, national Science Foundation Grant program director. The NSF partially sponsored the current research.
The T4 virus, hosted by the infamous bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli), was the main target of the study. Though it’s harmless to humans, the virus was analyzed thoroughly, and scientists, using cutting-edge technology, managed to get a glimpse at nano-structures a few atoms thick.
"T4 is what's called a 'tailed virus'. It is actually one of the most common types of organisms in the oceans of the world. There are many different, tailed, bacteria viruses – or phages – and all of these phages have such a motor for packaging their DNA, their genome, into their pre-formed heads," adds Michael Rossmann, a biologists at the Purdue University, who is also one of the lead researchers in the new study.
The way the motor acts left scientists puzzled – the capsid, namely the part of the virus where all the genetic information is stored, protected from harm, is attached to its tail by two rings, made entirely out of proteins. When the virus approaches foreign DNA, it sheds its tail and attaches itself via the lower ring to the DNA strands. With the two rings being oppositely charged, they pull and push each other, while, at the same time, transferring the captured DNA inside the capsid.
This allows the virus to replicate away from harm. In the most dangerous viruses, the capsid is impenetrable to the immune system, which virtually makes the virus indestructible. But by interfering with the motor, capsids may survive, but are deprived of their means of capturing foreign DNA, in order to replicate. This will virtually render them inert and harmless.