Scientists have found that herpes virus proteins are more 'spaghetti-like' than previously thought, bringing efficient treatment against a type of herpes, which causes a form of cancer, closer.
Researchers from The University of Manchester discovered that the virus protein uses its flexible arms to pass on viral building blocks to the proteins of cells that it hijacks.
The research uncovered how the protein of cells hijacked by the herpes virus take on a 'spaghetti-like' structure.
The research provides the first ever molecular insight of how the herpes virus RNA, a type of molecule which helps to decode the generic blueprint of a virus, is transferred between viral and cellular proteins, thus helping the virus to hijack a cell.
"We have developed a novel technique which reveals how flexible molecules work together; this allowed us a glimpse of how the virus is able to compromise the workings of the cell that it infects," Dr Richard Tunnicliffe, first author of the paper, said.
The research team examined how small components of herpes virus help it to multiply by binding themselves with other large molecules; this produced images of a monkey herpes virus protein interacting with mouse cellular protein and viral RNA.
These images were then used to develop a 3D model of how viral RNA is recognised by this herpes virus protein and then passed on to the cellular protein of the host.
Although the model system studied used protein from a species of herpes virus - which is only transmitted between squirrel monkeys, without actually doing much harm to them - these monkey herpes viruses are structurally very similar to viruses causing Kaposi's sarcoma in humans.
Understanding how monkey viruses work may help to find ways to prevent this type of cancer in humans, researchers said.
The study was published in the journal PLoS Pathogens.
