Mij
Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Date: May 12, 2026
Source: University of Maryland Baltimore County
Summary: Scientists at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, have uncovered a crucial trick used by enteroviruses—the group behind diseases like polio, myocarditis, encephalitis, and even the common cold—to reproduce inside human cells. The team captured, in unprecedented detail, how viral RNA recruits both viral and human proteins to assemble the machinery needed for replication, acting almost like a molecular “on-off switch” that controls whether the virus copies itself or makes proteins.
Scientists uncovered a hidden molecular switch that helps dangerous enteroviruses multiply- offering a potential path towards universal antiviral drugs.
"Scientists are already developing drugs that interfere with the 3C and 3D proteins, but the new findings reveal another possible strategy.
Drugs disrupting 3C and 3D activity are already in development, but "now we have another layer to test," Koirala says. "What if we target the RNA, or the RNA-protein interface, so that we break the interaction? That is another opportunity. Now that we have high-resolution structures, you can precisely design drug molecules to target them."
Koirala says the study highlights how surprisingly sophisticated viruses can be despite their tiny genomes.
"Viruses are so, so clever. Their entire genome is equivalent to about one mRNA sequence in humans, yet they are so effective," Koirala says. His latest work demonstrates "why we need to investigate this basic science -- so that it can be translated into developing drugs targeting pathogens that cause so many harmful diseases."
Source: University of Maryland Baltimore County
Summary: Scientists at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, have uncovered a crucial trick used by enteroviruses—the group behind diseases like polio, myocarditis, encephalitis, and even the common cold—to reproduce inside human cells. The team captured, in unprecedented detail, how viral RNA recruits both viral and human proteins to assemble the machinery needed for replication, acting almost like a molecular “on-off switch” that controls whether the virus copies itself or makes proteins.
Scientists uncovered a hidden molecular switch that helps dangerous enteroviruses multiply- offering a potential path towards universal antiviral drugs.
"Scientists are already developing drugs that interfere with the 3C and 3D proteins, but the new findings reveal another possible strategy.
Drugs disrupting 3C and 3D activity are already in development, but "now we have another layer to test," Koirala says. "What if we target the RNA, or the RNA-protein interface, so that we break the interaction? That is another opportunity. Now that we have high-resolution structures, you can precisely design drug molecules to target them."
Koirala says the study highlights how surprisingly sophisticated viruses can be despite their tiny genomes.
"Viruses are so, so clever. Their entire genome is equivalent to about one mRNA sequence in humans, yet they are so effective," Koirala says. His latest work demonstrates "why we need to investigate this basic science -- so that it can be translated into developing drugs targeting pathogens that cause so many harmful diseases."