Summer 1995 Volume 4, Number 3
The Virus and Nature's Syringe
For all mankind's technological powers, sometimes Mother
Nature still makes the best inventions. Viruses, for example, have as their
sole goal in life to invade a host cell and replicate. As such, they are
highly specialized to attach to cells and introduce their DNA. Although this
causes disease, it also presents an opportunity for scientists interested in
genetic modification of cells. By developing methods for harnessing the
DNA-injecting power of viruses while disabling their destructive features, an
exciting new way of examining protein function has been created.
Anne West and Kathleen Buckley at Harvard Medical School in collaboration with
Rachael Neve of the McLean Hospital are using a tamed herpes virus to deliver
DNAs into cultured neurons. The researchers seek to uncover signals that
direct newly-made proteins to different locations within cells. The targeting
sequences are identified by modifying DNA, using the virus to re-introduce it
to the cell, and then tracking the localization of the new protein. By
cracking the intracellular "zip codes" they hope not only to shed light on an
important question in cell biology, but also to give researchers the power to
target proteins to specific parts of the cell at will.
Two proteins (stained red and green) are targeted to opposite ends of the neuron,
although they overlap (yellow) in the center where they are both synthesized.
(Photo by A. West.)
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