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ScienceDaily (June 26, 2012) ? University of Georgia scientists have discovered a new flu-fighting role for a well-known component of the immune system. Kimberly Klonowski, assistant professor of cellular biology in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, and her colleagues found that administering a cell-signaling protein known as IL-15 to mice infected with influenza reduces their peak viral load by nearly three times.
"We gave the IL-15 intranasally and found that it enhanced the movement of the immune system's natural killer cells and CD8 T cells into the lung airways," said Klonowski, whose findings were recently published in the journal PLoS ONE. "As a result, the animals that received it cleared the virus faster than the control group."
Klonowski cautioned that the protein is only effective against influenza for a defined period of time immediately following infection, which would make its use as a flu treatment difficult to implement. She added that IL-15 has been tested as a vaccine-booster, or adjuvant, in other viral diseases such as HIV, monkey pox and hepatitis B; understanding its mechanism of action is essential to maximizing its effectiveness in these contexts.
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"We gave the IL-15 intranasally and found that it enhanced the movement of the immune system's natural killer cells and CD8 T cells into the lung airways," said Klonowski, whose findings were recently published in the journal PLoS ONE. "As a result, the animals that received it cleared the virus faster than the control group."
Klonowski cautioned that the protein is only effective against influenza for a defined period of time immediately following infection, which would make its use as a flu treatment difficult to implement. She added that IL-15 has been tested as a vaccine-booster, or adjuvant, in other viral diseases such as HIV, monkey pox and hepatitis B; understanding its mechanism of action is essential to maximizing its effectiveness in these contexts.
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