Immune Genes Protect Cells from Ebola Virus and SARS-CoV-2

A pathway involved in the adaptive immune system, a relative newcomer in the world of pathogen defense, may have a more ancient role in protecting cells from invading viruses.

Written byRachael Moeller Gorman

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The paper
A. Bruchez et al., “MHC class II transactivator CIITA induces cell resistance to Ebola virus and SARS-like coronaviruses,” Science, 370:241–47, 2020.

Earlier this year, immunologist Adam Lacy-Hulbert of the Benaroya Research Institute in Seattle and his former postdoc Anna Bruchez were writing up their discovery of a previously unknown immune pathway that defends cells against Ebola virus. Then SARS-CoV-2 hit the US. The two suspected that the pathway provided broad antiviral defense, so they decided to test it against the novel coronavirus.

In the Ebola experiments, Lacy-Hulbert, Bruchez, and their colleagues had been using a genetic screen called transposon-mediated gene activation to search for natural antiviral mechanisms within cultured human bone cancer cells. Transposons, mobile genetic elements found throughout the genome, can be added to cells to knock out genes they randomly insert into. The team had integrated a promoter sequence into the transposons so ...

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Meet the Author

Rachael Moeller Gorman
After earning a bachelor’s degree in biology and neuroscience from Williams College, Rachael spent two years studying the tiny C. elegans worm as a lab tech at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard University. She then returned to school to get a master’s degree in environmental studies from Brown University, and subsequently worked as an intern at Scientific American, Discover magazine, and the Annals of Improbable Research, the originators of the yearly Ig Nobel prizes. She now freelances for both scientific and lay publications, and loves telling the stories behind the science. Find her at rachaelgorman.com or on Instagram @rachaelmoellergorman.
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