HOUSTON, Dec. 6, 2006 -- Striking new research from Rice
University and the University of Texas at Austin (UT) has
revealed a potential new target that drug makers can use to
attack several strains of influenza, including those that cause
bird flu as well as the common variety that infects millions
each flu season. The research, published online today by Nature,
offers tantalizing evidence of a potential drug target in a flu
protein called nucleoprotein, or NP. NP plays a vital role in
all strains of influenza A, including Hong Kong flu, Spanish flu
and bird flu. The target is NP's long, flexible tail.
Biochemists at Rice and UT found that even minor changes to the
tail prevented NP from fulfilling one of its roles linking
together into structural columns that the virus uses to transmit
copies of itself. "There is a small binding pocket for the tail
loop of the protein that appears to be a promising target for a
new class of antiviral drugs," said lead researcher Jane Tao,
assistant professor in biochemistry