Meera Singh
Author: -
Published: December 23, 2014
Link: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/287464.php
Summary: Hepatitis C is a virus which damages the liver and can lead to liver cancer. Treatments exist, but with varying degrees of success; some people are very responsive and others only a little, while still others are not responsive at all. Investigating this, scientists at the university of Aarhus in Denmark have recently discovered a gene that is involved with patient's success in clearing themselves of the disease. The gene produces a protein called IFNL4. People who produces fully functioning IFNL4 have a lower chance of clearing the virus out, while people with less functioning IFNL4 are more likely to be able to recover. (The majority of people in Denmark fall into this category.) The fact that the protein leads to a reduced ability to clear the virus is surprising, because in the laboratory IFNL4 is antiviral and it is an essential part of the immune system. Scientists are hypothesizing that the protein, although it is part of the immune system, may confuse other parts of the immune system when hepatitis C is present, thereby reducing the body's ability to combat hepatitis C. With this new information, scientists are hopeful that new treatments could be developed that are effective not only in people with fully functioning IFNL4, but also in people with versions of reduced or no IFNL4 activity, who do not usually respond well to treatments. This may involve developing treatments that fit each patient's individual genome. In the meantime, scientists are trying to conduct further research on IFNL4 to better understand the gene and gain more knowledge about how exactly it interferes with hepatitis C clearance.
Connection: This article is relevant to our molecular genetics unit. We talked specifically about how genes impact our bodies: by producing proteins. This article provides a good example of an important protein which can either be beneficial or harmful, depending on whether the person has hepatitis C. In this way, it also resembles the sickle cell disease and malaria case, in which people with one disease actually have a resistance to another. In the case of IFNL4, people with an essential part of the immune system, which would normally be beneficial, suffer from another disease more than they would without that part of the immune system. This demonstrates how genes and proteins can impact our bodies in multiple ways, just like the sickle cell disease and malaria case. Finally, the article also connects to our heredity unit. The fact that most people in Denmark have a certain genotype in regards to this gene suggest that it may be hereditary. There also are people who have versions of the protein that function partially or not at all, indicating alternate forms of the gene, or alleles, just like we studied in our heredity unit.
Why are the majority of people in Denmark have less functioning IFNL4 and therefore are more likely to recover? People in what areas in the world are less likely to recover?
ReplyDeleteI haven't been able to find a specific reason for why people in Denmark tend to have less functioning IFNL4, but I have found that people of African descent are among those who tend to be less likely to recover. So maybe this is similar to the case of sickle cell disease and malaria; perhaps IFNL4 offers no advantage unless some other disease is present, and that disease is more common in Africa than in places like Denmark. I'm unable to find any information on the specific disease or cause, so it may not be known yet.
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