Viral replicase points to potential cancer therapy
Monday, March 28, 2011 - 09:30
in Biology & Nature
Alpha viruses, such as Sindbis virus, carry their genetic information on a single strand of RNA. They use a protein, replicase, to produce double stranded RNA (dsRNA) inside infected cells, which initiates the host's immune response. New research demonstrates that an artificial plasmid coding for the replicase genes of Sindbis virus causes regression and destruction of lung cancer, or melanoma, cells in mice.