The mucus of an Indian frog holds a peptide capable of fighting several strains of influenza. It binds to a protein expressed on the surface of the virus.
With its big eyes and its red back, this little animal is very tender. Its size, about that of a tennis ball, isn’t exactly scary. But make no mistake about it. Hydrophylax bahuvistara – that’s his name – is a formidable fighter. Man has nothing to fear from this frog, but the flu does. An Indo-American team has identified in this batrachian a peptide capable of eradicating this virus. In Immunity, the researchers detail the profile of this set of amino acids.
Three toxic forms
It was in an unsavory biological fluid that the scientists collected the peptide in question: mucus. Indeed, it is part of the frog’s innate immune system. It is therefore produced only under certain conditions. Here, an electric shock delivered to the animal was necessary to recover it. The discovery made later is a bit of a coincidence.
“Different frogs produce different peptides depending on their habitat,” says Joshy Jacob, co-author of the study. In this batrachian, 32 peptides responsible for defending the host have been identified. Among them, four had the ability to fight the flu. But only a human host spares. The others are poisonous. “We just found the peptide which, in the frog, is effective against the influenza of the H1 strain”, summarizes Joshy Jacob.
Targets a surface protein
But chance is not the only one to welcome. The different groups of amino acids were tackled with an influenza virus. The lucky one has been baptized urumine, in homage to the flexible Indian sword urumi, produced in the region of origin of the frog. In reality, the peptide is more like a Swiss army knife. Because it is able to fight several strains of the flu.
In the laboratory,urumine has been confronted with different variations of the seasonal flu, which have occurred at different times. The oldest strain dates from 1934. The peptide is effective against a good number of them. And for good reason: it targets a protein expressed on the surface of the influenza virus, hemagglutinin – the famous “H” of H1N1. This protein is essential for infecting host cells. THE’urumine interferes with this process and, by destabilizing it, kills the influenza virus.
A first test on mice was conclusive. But we still have to stabilize the process, and above all, make it tolerable for humans. In the meantime, epidemics are therefore likely to recur.
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