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US
researchers have identified a protein, which they believe is a universal
therapeutic target for treating a number of deadly human diseases. They used a
drug combination which included Viagra to effectively target the protein.
Researchers
at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) have figured out a protein - GRP78 -
that may be a possible target to rid humans of such viral and bacterial
infections as Ebola, Influenza and Hepatitis, as well as be a way to cure brain
cancer.
The
pre-clinical study which was led by the US University, and published in the
Journal of Cellular Physiology, used a drug combination - with Viagra being one
of its elements - to target GRP78 and related proteins. As a result,
researchers managed to prevent replication of a variety of major viruses in infected
cells, and made some antibiotic-resistant bacteria vulnerable to common
antibiotics. Evidence that brain cancer stem cells were killed was also found.
"Basically, we’ve got a concept that by
attacking GRP78 and related proteins: (a) we hurt cancer cells; (b) we inhibit
the ability of viruses to infect and to reproduce; and (c) we are able to kill
superbug antibiotic-resistant bacteria," said the study’s lead
investigator, Paul Dent.
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After
studying the effect in cancer cells, the researchers applied the same drug
combination to target the protein for infectious diseases. Viral receptor
expression on the surface of target cells was reduced, which decreased
infectivity, and replication of a virus in infected cells was also prevented.
By
proving GRP78 to be a "drugable"
target, researchers say the findings open new possibilities in treating various
viral infections - "that
certainly most people would say we'll never be able to treat."
According to Dent,
scientists already know that in mice the same Viagra treatment can kill tumor
cells without harming other tissues, and the next steps in further discovering
the possibilities of the method have already been taken.
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