A nationwide team of researchers has determined how a genetic mutation found in mice and monkeys interferes with viruses such as HIV and Ebola. They say the finding could eventually lead to the development of medical interventions in humans.

The gene, called retroCHMP3, encodes an altered protein that disrupts the ability of certain viruses to exit an infected cell and prevents it from going on to infect other cells.

Normally, some viruses encase themselves in cell membranes and then make an exit by budding off from the host cell. RetroCHMP3 delays that process long enough that the virus can no longer escape.

«This was an unexpected discovery,» says Nels Elde, Ph.D., senior author of the study and an evolutionary geneticist in the Department of Human Genetics at U of U Health. «We were surprised that slowing down our cell biology just a little bit throws virus replication off its game.»

The study appears online Sept. 30 in advance of the Oct. 14 issue of Cell.

RetroCHMP3 originated as a duplicated copy of a gene called charged multivesicular body protein 3, or CHMP3. While some monkeys, mice, and other animals have retroCHMP3 or other variants, humans only have the original CHMP3.

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