Fabien Blanchet publishes his work in « EMBO Journal » (IF=11.6)

Alarmins are extracellular mediators known to amplify the host inflammatory response, notably upon pathogenic challenge. The intracellular functions of alarmins in this context are, however, poorly studied.

The article published in EMBO J. by Ghizlane Maarifi, Fabien Blanchet and collaborators demonstrates that the human alarmin S100A9 (particularly well expressed in some dendritic cell subtypes like Langerhans cells) exerts an antiretroviral activity. This small protein acts at the reverse transcription step and negatively regulates the activities of reverse transcriptases from HIV-1 and MMLV. The chelation of divalent cations required for viral enzyme activity appears to be a promising way to explain S100A9-mediated antiviral function.

This discovery therefore paves the way to novel strategies aimed to counteract retroviral infections.

For more information: on embopress.org