By Julie Bierach, KWMU
SAINT LOUIS, MO – Researchers at St. Louis University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham have uncovered new information about how the smallpox virus subverts the immune system.
The research explores the interferon-gamma binding protein found in the mousepox virus, which is similar to smallpox. Researchers found the protein prevents the immune system from ridding the body of the virus.
Dr. Mark Buller, professor of microbiology and immunology at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine and one of the study's authors, says the new findings have potential for use in developing drugs that target immunological and inflammatory disorders like Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis.
"There are a number of diseases that actually occur in humans that are based on interferon gamma being produced either at the wrong place or wrong amounts," said Buller. "And this research might provide ways to make a therapeutic directly targeted at interferon gamma."
The smallpox virus is responsible for the deaths of 300 to 500 million people in the 20th century.
Although the virus was declared officially eradicated in 1979, some experts fear that clandestine samples of the virus still exist, making it a bioterrorism concern.