Researchers at McGill University in Canada discovered a new type of immunotherapy for fighting the influenza virus. It turns out that the protein RIPK3 is able to minimize the impact of cold, helping interferon cope with the disease. Annually about half a million people die from the flu around the world, especially old people and children. The current seasonal cold has already killed 37 children in the US alone. In this case, the methods of preventing the disease are limited to vaccinations and hygiene. Scientists from the laboratory Maz'ya Dyvangakhi set a goal to understand how the immune system fights against colds, hoping to find new ways to prevent disease. Previous studies have helped scientists find out that type 1 interferon protein (IFN I) that produces macrophages, a kind of leukocytes, causes cells to block the production of the virus. In case of influenza, IFN I helps limit the replication of the virus in the lungs. However, the question remained: how does IFN I work, and what mechanism is responsible for its effectiveness? The answer was the protein RIPK3, which is in the cytoplasm of cells, including macrophages. In the past, this protein was associated with the mechanism of cell death, but in the case of influenza-infected macrophages, RIPK3 behaves differently.

It turns out that under the circumstances he acts as a useful assistant to IFN I, increasing his production and, thereby, helping to block the replication of the cold virus. Further, the researchers found that macrophages that lack RIPK3 are highly susceptible to infection. Thanks to this discovery it becomes possible to develop a medicine for influenza, reports Futurity. Specialists of the University of Pennsylvania found that high doses of GM-CSF protein help cope with influenza and pneumonia, and the drug works even several days after infection.

The new kind of an immunotherapy will help to cope with a virus of a flu.