Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have constructed a three-dimensional model of the rhinovirus C pathogen, which will help increase the likelihood drugs can be designed to effectively prevent colds, according to a news release.
A team led by UW-Madison biochemistry professor Ann Palmenberg wrote in the journal Virology on Monday, providing a structural model of the protein shell of the cold virus that until 2006 was unidentified.
The model is significant because it exemplifies a highly specified model of the virus strand, showing now it is distinct from other strains of cold viruses.
Rhinovirus C is thought to be responsible for up to half of childhood colds, and is also an influence in respiratory conditions such as asthma. Together with rhinoviruses A and B, the recently discovered virus is responsible for millions of illnesses yearly, costing more than $40 billion for health care in the United States.
"The question we sought to answer was, ‘How is it different and what can we do about it?’” Palmenberg said in the release. “We found it is indeed quite different.”
Palmenberg also noted it “explains most of the previous failures of drug trials against rhinovirus.”
With the structure of rhinovirus C now mapped out, there is an increased likelihood drugs can be designed to effectively prevent colds.
Antiviral drugs work by connecting to and modifying surface features of a virus. In order to be effective, a drug must fit correctly and “lock” into the virus. Previously, the lack of a three-dimensional structure for rhinovirus C meant pharmaceutical companies designing drugs to cure a cold were “flying blind.”
