Sentences with phrase «rhinovirus c»

They have redefined the epidemiology of this virus and have resulted in the discovery of a third species, Rhinovirus C (RV - C), in addition to the species Rhinovirus A (RV - A) and Rhinovirus B (RV - B).

Scientists investigating an outbreak of respiratory disease in a community of wild chimpanzees in Uganda were surprised and dismayed to discover that rhinovirus C was killing healthy chimps.

«Rhinovirus C has been the «missing link» in explaining illness caused by the common cold,» says Michael Rossmann, Hanley Distinguished Professor of Biological Science at Purdue and co-lead of the study with UW — Madison's Ann Palmenberg, professor of biochemistry and with the Institute for Molecular Virology.

Last fall, using a rhinovirus C preparation grown in the Palmenberg lab — currently one of the few places in the world capable of culturing the virus — and an imaging technology new to Purdue, Rossmann's graduate student, Yue Liu, first author of the study, was able to map the full atomic structure of a rhinovirus C particle.

The atomic resolution structure of a strain of rhinovirus C.

While learning how to culture rhinovirus C, Palmenberg's research team discovered the virus only infects certain lung cells that express a particular genetic form of a cell - surface molecule called cadherin - related protein 3 (CDHR3).

Once Palmenberg worked out how to grow rhinovirus C, she, too, partnered with Rossmann.

Rhinovirus C is resistant to current antiviral drugs and no vaccines exist.

Rhinovirus C infections are also a major contributor to poor outcomes for people with chronic lung conditions like cystic fibrosis, and early exposure to the virus can cause lifelong lung scarring leading to persistent respiratory difficulties later, says Palmenberg.

This and other virus surface changes help explain why clinical rhinovirus drug trials, which rely on different virus surfaces, have generally failed when tested against rhinovirus C isolates over the last four to five years, says Palmenberg.

For some people (young children, in particular) rhinovirus C infection can be a precursor or complicating factor for asthma.

For instance, Liu uncovered physical features of rhinovirus C that help explain why it is resistant to standard antiviral treatments, how it interacts with cells to cause infection, and why it behaves as a different disease from other members of the enterovirus family.

Multiple types of rhinovirus C exist and they are part of a larger group of illness - causing viruses, including cold viruses rhinovirus A and B. «We knew it would be different from rhinovirus A and B: It didn't respond to drugs, it used a different receptor, it had different biological properties.

Asthma affects an estimated 24 million people in the U.S. and asthmatic children infected with rhinovirus C have been shown in previous studies to have more severe asthma symptoms.

Finding rhinovirus C as the cause of the 2013 outbreak in Uganda was part good luck, says Goldberg.

In people, rhinovirus C infection can be especially severe in children, notes James Gern, another senior author of the study and a professor of allergy and immunology in the UW School of Medicine and Public Health.

Unlike other viruses known to cause respiratory disease in chimps, though, rhinovirus C is not typically found in feces and may have been overlooked in the past.

We're thinking that rhinovirus C might be a major, missed cause of disease outbreaks in chimps in the wild,» Goldberg notes.

But rhinovirus C is notably more severe than its relatives, rhinoviruses A and B. Although the virus had likely been infecting people for several thousand years, it was unknown to science until 2006, when it was discovered using new DNA sequencing technologies.

Scientists funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have identified a cellular receptor for rhinovirus C, a cold - causing virus that is strongly associated with severe asthma attacks.

While the cellular receptors for other rhinovirus types are known, the rhinovirus C receptor had remained elusive.

The scientists identified CDHR3 as a potential candidate by analyzing cells that either were or were not susceptible to rhinovirus C infection.

Researchers led by James Gern, M.D., at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, discovered that CDHR3 recognizes and binds rhinovirus C, enabling the virus to enter human cells.

Like all viruses, rhinovirus C uses the molecular machinery of host cells to replicate and become infectious.