A protein found in the virulent avian influenza virus strain
called H5N1 forms tiny tubules in which it "hides" the pieces of
double-stranded RNA formed during viral infection, which
otherwise would prompt an antiviral immune response from
infected cells, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in
an online report in the journal Nature. Two domains or portions
of the protein NS1 combine to form tiny tubules where double-
stranded RNA is hidden from the immune system, said Dr. B. V.
Venkataram Prasad, professor of biochemistry and molecular
biology, molecular virology and microbiology at BCM and his
student, Dr. Zachary A. Bornholdt (now of the Scripps Research
Institute in La Jolla, California). "Once we confirm the
importance of this structural information, we should be able to
design drugs to block this action," said Prasad. "There are
other things the protein could do to interfere with different
immune mechanisms. We don't know if this is the only mechanism
or if there are others that also come into pla