Researchers at Lawson Health Research Institute and Western University have identified a novel way that the common adenovirus causes disease; this discovery has provided important information on one of the body’s key immune responses and may have implications for infectious diseases and cancer. One key component of antiviral immunity is interferon but adenovirus is completely resistant to interferon and the mechanism relies on changes in epigenetic regulation. The researchers have discoveredthatinterferon-regulatedgenesrequireaspecificepigeneticmodification calledmonoubiquitinationofhistone2B(H2B)towork.Adenovirusessentiallyblocks the formation of the complex that performs the monubiquitination of H2B, thereby blockingitsfunction.Theresearchersbelievethatmanyofthetricksadenovirususes may be similar to those used by other viruses and cancer cells.
