Researchers solve the mystery of how a deadly virus hides in humans uni_copenhagen nature
. And it is likely that other types of viruses use the same trick," says Associate Professor Jeppe Vinther of the Department of Biology, who together with associate professor Troels Scheel and professor Jens Bukh from Copenhagen Hepatitis C Program headed the research.hepatitis virus
to hide in our cells is called FAD, a molecule composed of Vitamin B2 and the energy carrying molecule ATP. FAD is vital for our cells to convert energy. The FAD molecule's importance and familiarity to our cells makes it ideal camouflage for a malicious virus. For several years, the research team had a good idea that FAD was helping the virus hide in infected cells, but they lacked a clear way to prove it. To solve the challenge, they turned to Arabidopsis, a well-known experimental plant among researchers.
"We were getting desperate to find a way to prove our hypothesis, which is when we purified an enzyme from the Arabidopsis plant that can split the FAD molecule in two," explains Anna Sherwood from Department of Biology, who together with Lizandro Rene Rivera Rangel are first authors of the study. Using the enzyme, the researchers were able to split the FAD and prove that the hepatitis C virus used it as a mask.
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