What is it about?
We discovered that a specific gene, BIK, can act as a crucial host risk factor for severe influenza. We found that a genetic variation in this gene can make people more susceptible to severe flu infections by helping the virus multiply more efficiently in the airways. Our work explains how the influenza virus manipulates this gene to replicate, providing a new target for the development of future treatments and prevention strategies.
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Why is it important?
Our study is important because it shifts the focus of influenza research from solely the virus to also include the host cell. We have identified a previously unrecognized host factor, the BIK gene, that the influenza A virus exploits to enhance its replication. This is the first time this specific pathway, the IAV-BIK-β5 axis, has been linked to severe influenza. The discovery that a single genetic variation in the BIK gene can directly influence the severity of infection in humans provides a crucial link between our molecular findings and real-world patient outcomes. This research is timely and significant because with influenza continuing to pose a global health threat and drug resistance remaining a challenge, our work opens a new and unique avenue for developing much-needed host-targeted therapies that could be effective against different flu strains.
Perspectives
For me, this research is about connecting the dots between fundamental science and real-world health outcomes. We’ve all seen how flu can affect people so differently and learning that part of the answer lies in our own genes has been both surprising and inspiring. It’s incredibly rewarding to uncover a new mechanism, watching the puzzle pieces come together from cellular models to human data. I am particularly excited by the potential for this work to guide new, personalized treatment strategies. The prospect of using our understanding of this host-virus interaction to better protect people from severe flu is what makes this research so meaningful to me, and it underscores the importance of looking beyond the virus itself to understand disease.
Sourabh Soni
Ohio State University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: BIK polymorphism and proteasome regulation unveil host risk factor for severe influenza, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, July 2025, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2424367122.
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