KDCA Identifies Protein Sensor That Triggers Severe Mpox Symptoms

Joint Discovery by Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, and Sungkyunkwan University

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s National Institute of Health announced on the 25th that it had discovered a protein sensor that acts as a ‘trigger’ for severe Mpox symptoms on the 12th, and published its research findings in the world-renowned immunology journal, Cellular & Molecular Immunology (IF*=19.8).

Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency

This study was jointly conducted by the Infectious Disease Vaccine Research Division of the Public Vaccine Development Support Center at the National Institute of Health, Professor Lee Sangjun’s team at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, and Professor Kim Daesik’s team at Sungkyunkwan University. Through experiments, the researchers identified that the AIM2 protein is a major cause of excessive inflammatory responses during monkeypox virus infection. AIM2 is a DNA sensor protein that directly recognizes foreign DNA entering the cytoplasm.

To date, the reported fatality rate of Mpox is not high, at around 3%. However, excessive inflammatory responses within the body can destroy healthy tissue and actually worsen the disease. In many cases, even healthy young people lose their lives to influenza or COVID-19 due to this runaway inflammatory response known as a ‘cytokine storm’.

The research team confirmed through this study that AIM2 functions as a ‘sensor’ that recognizes the DNA of invading monkeypox virus. Once AIM2 is activated by recognizing viral DNA, it forms an inflammasome, and this inflammasome then activates the caspase-1 enzyme, leading to cell destruction and the excessive secretion of inflammatory signaling molecules (IL-1β, IL-18).

Additionally, the researchers confirmed that when AIM2 was inhibited, inflammatory responses and cell death in the lung tissue of mice were alleviated.

Im Seungkwan, Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, stated, “This research is significant as it is the first experimental evidence that AIM2 is the initiating factor causing excessive inflammatory responses in monkeypox virus infection. By elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying the severity and inflammatory responses caused by the monkeypox virus, we have established a scientific basis for the development of vaccines and therapeutics to prepare for a potential Mpox pandemic.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.