A team of researchers from Penn State College of Medicine found a new target for treating diseases associated with human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1). They determined that blocking a class of enzymes called kinases, which regulates cellular functions, leads to cell death caused by the degradation of Tax, a protein essential for viral gene expression, viral transmission and survival of cells infected by HTLV-1. The team published the findings in Nature Communications.
HTLV-1 is a retrovirus -; a type of virus that hijacks a cell by inserting a copy of its genetic material into the host cells' DNA -; and infects between 10 to 20 million people worldwide, primarily in southern Japan, central Australia, sub-Saharan Africa, South America, the Caribbean and the Middle East. Approximately 10% of those infected will develop adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) or a neuroinflammatory disease similar to multiple sclerosis called HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). HTLV-1 is understudied and there is currently a lack of effective treatments for the diseases it causes.
Our study could lead to possible new clinical approaches to target the Tax protein in patients infected by HTLV-1." Edward Harhaj, professor of microbiology and immunology at Penn State College of Medicine and senior author of the study The research team set out to identify kinases that HTLV-1-infected cells need to survive. Using human cells transformed by the virus, the research.