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Smallpox trigger holds secret to defense
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A discovery by Purdue Agriculture researchers could help prevent use of smallpox-related viruses as bioterrorism weapons.
People are no longer vaccinated against or exposed to smallpox because it has been eradicated. However, laboratory stockpiles of the virus still exist in the United States and other places around the world. If some of the virus were released, either in common or mutated form, a health crisis could result.
The scientists have shown that a protein in the nucleus of victims' cells triggers progression of poxviruses. The illnesses move to the second and third stages of development by recruiting a protein, called "TATA-binding protein," in the nucleus of mammals' cells. "This protein is required for activation of the middle- and late-stage poxvirus genes," says biochemistry professor Steven Broyles. "In the past, we were just groping around. We now have a model for how the poxvirus growth process is orchestrated."
In order to guard against a terrorist-introduced or spontaneous smallpox outbreak, efforts are underway to learn how smallpox and similar illnesses halt normal cell activity in mammals, including humans. If scientists understand the biochemical changes that allow poxviruses to cause illness and also the processes that allow the disease-causing organisms to mutate, it may be possible to create new vaccines and treatments.
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