Second team finds natural super flu fighter

WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - An antibody being developed by a Dutch drug company chokes off both seasonal flu and the H5N1 avian flu virus and might offer a way to develop better treatments and vaccines, researchers reported on Thursday.
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Crucell NV's (CRCL.AS) antibody, a naturally occurring immune system protein, grabs onto a hidden part of flu viruses, stopping them from infecting cells, they reported in the journal Science.

. I/ t1 w: ?* L9 bIt is the second report in a week to find antibodies that can interfere with a range of strains of flu -- one of the hardest viruses to fight because it mutates so much.
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6 W- z3 m3 W. a5 ]3 G  `* a: f"This is very exciting because it marks the first step toward the Holy Grail of influenza vaccinology -- the development of a durable and cross-protective universal influenza virus vaccine," Ian Wilson, a researcher at he Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, who helped lead the research, said in a statement.

"Such a flu vaccine could be given to a person just once and act as a universal protectant for most subtypes of influenza, even against pandemic viruses."
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On Sunday, another research team said they had found a batch of antibodies that do something similar.
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- z" v- X' J+ _8 D& ]2 }, M$ `/ FFlu vaccines and drugs focus on proteins found on the surface of the flu virus called hemagglutinin and neuraminidase, which give influenza A viruses their names, as in H5N1 or H1N1.

$ r6 o9 F6 M& B& U9 e) k/ pHemagglutinin is a lollipop-shaped structure with a big, round head. This head is so large that it attracts most of the immune system antibodies -- which then slip off when it mutates.

1 d, k+ Q' e5 z$ p4 p1 n! A% nBecause of the mutations, vaccines have to be reformulated every year and the viruses can develop resistance to antiviral drugs.
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, K# w% N+ U% a( L; l0 YThe antibodies found by Wilson's group and the U.S. team earlier this week attach to the "stick" of the hemagglutinin lollipop. This mutates less than the head, and so provides less of a moving target.
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1 R$ F! x" P( g8 _) t# a+ E2 RIn both studies, the antibody suppressed a range of flu viruses, including H5N1 avian flu and the currently circulating H1N1 seasonal flu virus, although they did not work well against another seasonal flu virus called H3N2.
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Wilson's team and Crucell Holland found their antibody, called CR6261, in the blood of people who had been vaccinated with the ordinary seasonal flu vaccine.
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. I  u5 S8 A! |& }9 f2 K6 mSimilar antibodies have now also been found in other people, but it is not clear how well they protect people from flu or whether some people's bodies use them more efficiently than others.

3 I" Y8 C, w5 Z  Q: x( a, _Both groups said their antibodies provide a way to treat people infected with flu, as well as a route to designing better drugs and vaccines. (Reporting by Maggie Fox; Additional reporting by Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago; Editing by Eric Walsh)
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http://uk.reuters.com/article/go ... 12820090226?sp=true

流感的疫苗、抗体。。。。。。。。。。

2月26号华盛顿（路透社报道）荷兰一公司正在研制一种抗体终结季节性流感和H5N1禽流感病毒的肆虐，研究者在周二报告，这可能
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提供一种方式以便研制更好的治疗措施和疫苗。
+ u* c: C! O/ w% ]$ r* p研究者在科学杂志报道，一种天然的免疫系统蛋白Crucell NV's (CRCL.AS)抗体抓住流感病毒的隐藏部分，阻止它们感染细胞。
这是本周发表的关于发现可以干扰一系列流感病毒株的抗体的报道，由于病毒突变的如此之快使它成为最难攻克的病毒之一。
2 h# w+ |# b3 C2 P* \' w6 C位于La Jolla的Scripps研究院的一位研究员Ian Wilson说道：“这令人感到兴奋，标志着向流感疫苗这个圣杯（研制出持久普遍保

7 J# B4 V  B5 A+ K& c护的流感疫苗）迈出了第一步。”
+ |" W- Y1 c5 ?- t. w“这样一种流感病毒仅需注射一次就可普遍防护大部分的流感病毒亚毒株，甚至可以防护导致大流行的流感病毒。”
  F1 M+ {5 ]& n* R. A" f/ n周日时，另一研究团队说他们也发现功能相似的一组抗体。
流感抗体和药物作用于叫做血凝素和神经氨酸酶的流感病毒的表面蛋白，这样赋予了甲型流感病毒一个称谓，如H5N1和H1N1。
- @& |2 r0 ?5 z4 {) n& E血凝素是一个有大大的圆圆的头类似于棒棒糖样的结构，这个"头"如此之大一直吸引着大部分免疫系统的抗体。当它变异时可以逃脱
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。
% t1 ]2 Q, d: n  o0 }4 E: y由于病毒的变异，益迈欧每年都需要重新研制，同时，病毒可以对抗病毒药Wilson物产生耐药性。
一周前Wilson小组和美国的团队研制的抗体可以附着于血凝素这个“棒棒糖”的“柄”上，这个柄比头变异慢，从而是目标不便于移动。
在这两项研究中，这种抗体可以抑制一系列流感病毒株，包括H5N1禽流感病毒和当前流行的H1N1季节性流感病毒，尽管对其他的被叫做H3N2的季节性流感病毒疗效欠佳。
在其他人体中也发现相似的抗体，但对于预防流感的疗效或者一些人比其他人疗效更好还不得而知。
这两个工作小组声称抗体为人们治疗病毒感染者，而且研制更好的药物和疫苗指明了方向。