How Flu Viruses Enterโ Our Cells: A New Viewโข of Viral Uptake
Recent research has revealed that cells don’t passively succumb to flu โviruses; instead, thay actively participate in theโค virus’s entry, almost “capturing” it.โข As Professor Yamauchi puts it, “The infection of our body cells is like a dance that the virus and cell perform with each other.” This understanding comes from a new microscopy technique detailed โคin a โstudy published in theโฃ journal PNAS.
traditionally, it was thought the body’s cells were simply hijacked during viral infection. Though, the dynamic interplay between virus and cell occurs as viruses exploit aโฃ natural cellular process used to transport essential substances – hormones, cholesterol, and iron โฃ- into the cells.โ
Like theseโฃ vital substances, influenzaโค viruses must first attach to molecules onโ the cell surface. this process resembles surfing: the virus scans the surface, attaching to molecules untill it finds an ideal entry point – a location with a high concentration of receptor molecules that โคallow for efficient absorption.
Once โthe cell’s receptors detect a virus attached to its membrane, itโข begins to form a depression or pocketโ at that location. This โขstructure is built and stabilized by clathrin proteins. Gradually, thisโ invagination grows, enveloping the virus and forming a bubble-like vesicle. The cellโ then transports this vesicle inside, where the vesicleโฃ coat dissolves, releasing the virus.
Previous methods for studying this process, like electron microscopy, requiredโ destroying the cells, providing only snapshots in time. Fluorescence microscopy, while non-destructive, offered limitedโข spatial resolution.
the breakthroughโ comes with a combined approach: atomic โขforce and โคfluorescenceโข microscopy, dubbed “vivid atomic force microscopy” -โ “vivid” standingโ forโฃ “Virusโ View.” This technology allows researchersโ to observe the virus’s entry intoโ the cell in โunprecedented detail, revealing the dynamic nature of the process.
The researchโ team demonstrated that the cell actively promotes viral uptake at multiple stages. It actively recruits clathrin proteins to the site of viral attachment and causesโ the cell surface to undulate, creating bulges that actively capture the virus. These wave-like โmembrane movements intensify as the virus isโ drawn into the cell.
This โnew method has significant implications forโข antiviral drug progress, offering a way to testโ potential drugs inโค real-time within cell cultures. The researchersโข also believe the technique can be applied to study the behavior of other viruses and even vaccines.
[A related video explaining the process can be found here: https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/zySUz2kbbnA?wmode=transparent&jqoemcache=0ECWn]