1996 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Viral Pathogenesis and Regulation Mechanism of Free Radicals in Host Responses : Role of Nitric Oxide
| Project/Area Number |
07670347
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Virology
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| Research Institution | Kumamoto University |
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Principal Investigator |
AKAIKE Takaaki Kumamoto University School of Medicine Associate Professor, 医学部, 助教授 (20231798)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
NOGUCHI Youichiro Kumamoto University School of Medicine Instructor, 医学部, 助手 (10244112)
MAEDA Hiroshi Kumamoto University School of Medicine Professor, 医学部, 教授 (90004613)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1995 – 1996
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| Keywords | free radicals / nitric oxide / peroxynitrite / virus infection / influenza virus / herpes simplex virus / viral pathogenesis |
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| Research Abstract |
To date, importance of free radical molecular species in the pathogenesis of various viral diseases has been increasingly recognized. Considerable attenstion is given to another type of simple inorganic radical nitric oxide (NO) in the host defense mechanism and pathogenesis of virus infection. It is now well documented that NO synthesis pathway in particular inducible isoform of NO synthase (iNOS) is expressed in different array of virus diseases via induction of proinflammatory cytokines such as interferon-gamma, and interleukin-1beta. Recent studies indicate that NO together with oxygen radicals particularly superoxide (O_2) produced excessively play an important role in inflammatory response of the host against various intruding microbes. A highly reactive nitrogen oxide species peroxynitrite is produced in biological systems through the reaction of NO with O_2. In this research project, role of NO in the pathogenesis of animal models of influenza virus and herpes simplex virus infections was investigated. As a results, we found a convincing evidence that formation of peroxynitrite is critically involved in the pathogenesis of influenza virus infection in mice. Thus, understanding of the role of NO in conjunction with oxygen radicals generated in virus infectionswill provide a new insight into the viral pathogenesis. More importantly, a novel therapeutic approach by regulating the free radical generation may be possible in various viral diseases in humans.
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