European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 17, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Viruses Decoy immune system cells a Natalie Angier new York times just when they though they knew most of the Nasty parasitic Maneu vers of viruses researchers in the United states Are finding a new and exceedingly devious Way that the microbes. Exploit their hosts. They have discovered that viruses can pirate away copies of genes that control the health and Well being of the Host and then turn those genes against the Host species. In two cases Epstein Barr virus and a Type of pox virus the pathogens have been found to carry genes that normally govern a part of the hosts immune system. The viruses Are thought to manipulate their copies of the genes transforming them into abnormally powerful signals that can deactivate immune cells that might Battle viral infection. The hapless Host while retaining its own copies of the immune system genes has trouble competing with the corrupted versions now under viral control. In a third Case  the microbe has been found to pilfer a copy of a Gene that ordinarily forces the cell to work at maximum capacity. Under the virus Sway scientists believe the Gene probably transforms a Host cell into a factory for the High Speed production of viral proteins and viral offspring. Scientists suspect that viruses have stolen Many other genes and that the strategy is probably widespread throughout the viral kingdom by studying the details of genetic embezzlement scientists Hope to develop approaches to treating viral illnesses. The research by groups in new Jersey California and Cambridge England was described in recent issues of the journals nature and science. Quot we think this could be the tip of the iceberg Quot said dry Allan Waitz president of Drax research Institute in Palo Alto Calif where one of the discoveries was made. Quot if it turns out to be a More general mechanism with other viruses that could open a whole new approach to antiviral . Researchers Long have known that certain types of viruses known As retroviruses sometimes picked up genes from one animal cell that could cause cancer when the viruses infected another Host of the same or different species. But the capture of such cancer causing genes was considered a Freak event a mistake not necessarily beneficial to the virus. In the new research scientists Are finding examples of Gene theft that clearly give a virus a competitive Edge. Researchers believe that viruses take genes from cells they infect to save themselves the Effort of evolving similar genes independently. Quot it s a rather Clever trick Quot said or. Thomas Albrecht a professor of microbiology at the University of Texas medical Branch in Galveston. Quot the mammalian cell has an enormous number of genes compared to a virus so the virus can choose what it needs from that Large  the selection process is trial and error he said and the genes that Confer obvious advantages to viral reproduction Are conserved., among the most important advantages that a virus can. Seek is protecting itself against the Host s immune system the aids virus manages that by killing key cells that can rally other warriors of the immune system. But in a paper that appeared several weeks ago in science scientists from Drax described How the Epstein Barr virus a which causes flu like symptoms and other disorders defeats the immune system with a far More Subtle technique. A researchers found that a Gene in the virus closely resembles a human Gene for interleukin-10, which ordinarily helps switch off one Type of immune response before catalysing another immune reaction. The compound helps shut Down the body s production of Gamma interferon in order to divert All the Energy of the immune system toward battling parasites. As it turns out the scientists said Gamma interferon is one of the main chemicals that the body employs to fend off viruses. Hence by stealing a copy of the Gene that suppresses the production of Gamma interferon the Epstein Barr virus guarantees it sett unfettered passage through the body. The scientists do not yet know How the virus managed to weave a copy of the interleukin-10 Gene into its own genetic material. But once it did the addition was passed on from one generation to the next. In another recent discovery scientists from the. Immune corp in Seattle found that a member of the smallpox viral family takes a different approach to taming the immune system. The pox virus contains the Gene for a receptor protein that the Celt normally uses to communicate with molecule called tumor necrosis Factor. The Factor performs a variety of tasks including spurring the production of enzymes that destroy viruses. By creating a version of the receptor protein that. Communicates with the necrosis Factor scientists say the virus can theoretically absorb the Host s store of the beneficial Factor before it has the Opportunity to spark an anti viral immune response. R How viruses shield themselves one strategy one kind of human to cell makes interferon which inhibits virus growth. A different to cell makes interleukin-10, which inhibits production of interferon when a different immune response is called for. Source the Notty r. Mos main Btij. The Epstein Barr virus has a Gene that resembles the human Gene for interleukin-10. 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