Desarrollan nuevo modelo tridimensional de una proteína crucial del H1N1

Solo dos semanas después de que las muestras de los primeros pacientes estuvieron disponibles, científicos de Singapore reportaron sobre el análisis evolutivo de una proteína crucial producida por la cepa del virus de la Influenza A H1N1 del 2009.
En el número del 20 de mayo de la revista Biology Direct, Sebastian Maurer-Stroh, Ph.D y su equipo de científicos del Instituto de Bioinformáticas (BII), uno de los institutos de investigación de la Biopolis de Singapore, mostraron el uso de un modelo computacional estructural y tridimensional de la proteína neuraminidasa.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-05/afst-n3s052209.php

“Because we were working as a team, driven by the common goal to understand the potential risks from this new virus, our group at BII was able to successfully complete this difficult analysis within such a short time,” said Dr. Maurer-Stroh, BII principal investigator and first author of the paper.
BII’s interactive 3D model is available at the following link: http://mendel.bii.a-star.edu.sg/SEQUENCES/H1N1/
With the 3D model, Dr. Maurer-Stroh and his team were able to map the regions of the protein that have mutated and determine whether drugs and vaccines that target specific areas of the protein were effective. Among their findings:
a. neuraminidase structure of the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus has undergone extensive surface mutations compared to closely related strains such as the H5N1 avian flu virus or other H1N1 strains including the 1918 Spanish flu;
b. neuraminidase of the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus strain is more similar to the H5N1 avian flu than to the historic 1918 H1N1 strain (Spanish flu);
c. current mutations of the virus have rendered previous flu vaccinations directed against neuraminidase less effective; and
d. commercial drugs, namely Tamiflu® and Relenza®, are still effective in treating the current H1N1 virus.
With the Biology Direct journal paper, the Singapore scientists have become the first to demonstrate how bioinformatics and computational biology can contribute towards managing the H1N1 influenza A virus.
“BII’s H1N1 virus sequence study marks a significant milestone in the use of computational biology methods in understanding how the mutations of the fast evolving influenza virus affect immunogenic properties or drug response,” said BII Director Frank Eisenhaber, Ph.D. “This information helps to develop a strategy for fighting the H1N1 virus and for organising an effective treatment for patients.”
Other technologies to tackle the 2009 H1N1 Influenza A virus have been developed by scientists at Biopolis research institutes sponsored by Singapore’s A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research). They include:
• a chip that is able to quickly sequence or decode the genes in the flu virus and distinguish between the H1N1, seasonal, and mutated flu strains, at the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS).
• a microkit for the detection and identification of the flu virus strain within 2 hours, at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN).
• a molecular diagnostic assay to distinguish between the H1N1 and seasonal flu strains, at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB).