Experimental Virology
To be precise, viruses are carriers of a biological programme with which they are able to rewrite the metabolism of a human, animal or plant cell in a manner that enables those cells to produce new viruses a process known as the replication cycle. They are tiny, constructed from a mere protein-lipid shell with a filling of genetic material. Despite this, pathogens such as HIV or hepatitis C threaten the health of many millions of people. According to estimates of the WHO (WHO), up to 170 million people worldwide have come into contact with the hepatitis C virus and around 100 to 130 million of those are chronically infected with it. A frequent consequence of this is inflammation of the liver (hepatitis), which limits organ function and may lead to liver cancer. Only around two thirds of all those infected have been able to be successfully treated with medicines so far, this treatment may take up to a year and is accompanied by severe side effects.
At TWINCORE , the Experimental Virology research group of Prof. Dr. Thomas Pietschmann researches the background of hepatitis C. The problem of researching this virus is that only humans and chimpanzees are infected and it is subsequently difficult to research on the organism itself. In order to reveal the secrets of the virus, Thomas Pietschmann has developed a cell culture model. This is comprised of human liver cells and a virus variant that reproduces particularly well in cell cultures. With this test system he and his colleagues examine how the virus manages to penetrate our liver cells and why liver cells from, for example, mice, are not receptive to the virus.
In addition, scientists at the department are also investigating how the individual virus components function and interact with components of the liver cell in order to form progeny viruses. This has enabled new weak points of the virus to be discovered, which the researchers can exploit in order to disrupt the multiplication of the virus: in this respect, collections of natural substances are also being investigated for their effectiveness against the virus. The search is targeting substances that block the infiltration, multiplication or release of the viruses.
Researchers are working on new therapy options for this worldwide-occurring disease in several twinning projects with the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research and the Hannover Medical School.
