Viral pathogens pose serious health threats worldwide. For clinical viruses such as HIV or hepatitis, emerging viruses such as avian or swine influenza, and highly lethal viruses such as Ebolavirus or smallpox that might be used in bioterrorist attacks, comparatively few therapeutics or prophylactics (preventatives) exist. Most therapeutic agents that do exist are highly specific for one virus, are ineffective against virus strains that become resistant to them, or have adverse effects on patients.
As part of the PANACEA (Pharmacological Augmentation of Nonspecific Antipathogen Cellular Enzymes and Activities) project, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory (Lexington, MA, USA) have developed the application, called DRACO (double-stranded RNA [dsRNA]-activated caspase oligomerizer).
Dr. Todd Rider, senior staff scientist in MIT Lincoln Laboratory’s chemical, biological, and nanoscale technologies group, invented PANACEA and the DRACO therapeutics, and led the team that developed them: Scott Wick, in charge of DRACO production; Christina Zook, in charge of cell testing; Tara Boettcher, in charge of mouse trials; and Jennifer Pancoast and Benjamin Zusman, who performed additional experiments.
In research reported July 27, 2011, in the journal PLoS ONE, DRACO was shown to be effective against all 15 viruses that the investigators have up to now evaluated in cells, including cold viruses (rhinoviruses), H1N1 influenza strains, adenoviruses, a stomach virus (reovirus), a polio virus, dengue fever virus, and several members of hemorrhagic fever Arenavirus and bunya virus families. DRACO was also demonstrated to be nontoxic in 11 different cell types representing various species (e.g., humans, monkeys, mice) and organ types (e.g., heart, lung, liver, kidney). Moreover, experiments demonstrated that DRACO not only is nontoxic to mice but also can save mice infected with a lethal dose of H1N1 influenza. Currently, the researchers are assessing additional viruses in mice and are starting to get promising results with those as well.
Dr. Rider reported that although more wide-ranging testing is needed, “DRACO has the potential to revolutionize the treatment and prevention of virtually all viral diseases, including everything from the common cold to Ebola. Because the antiviral activity of DRACO is so broad spectrum, we hope that it may even be useful against outbreaks of new or mutated viruses, such as the 2003 SARS [severe acute respiratory syndrome] outbreak.”
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory
