Autoimmune Technologies
and Tulane University's School of Medicine are working
jointly on using small isolated peptides to inhibit
the entry of viral particles into their target cells.
This very powerful method of combating viral infection
may lead to highly-effective new drugs for troublesome
and dangerous viral diseases.
In order to infect their target cells, viral particles
must first attach themselves to the cell surface membranes
and fuse with the cells. If this binding and fusion
process is disrupted, the viral particles cannot enter
and infect the intended host cells. Autoimmune and Tulane
have found that certain characteristics of the surface
proteins of many viruses render these viruses highly
susceptible to entry-inhibiting peptides. To date the
researchers have used carefully-designed peptides to inhibit viral infection
at very low peptide concentrations in more than a dozen
different important viruses.
Among the peptides now being studied for use in entry-inhibiting drugs
are peptides designed against the influenza, MERS/SARS, HIV-1, hepatitis C, measles, Dengue fever and West Nile fever viruses.
For more information about FF-3, the Company's new entry-inhibiting peptide
influenza drug, click here.
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