For Release: Feb. 5, 1998

Steve Roy
Office of Media Services
(205) 544-6535
Steve.Roy@msfc.nasa.gov
/centers/msfc/NEWSROOM/

RELEASE: 98-019

The infection, called Respiratory Syncytial Virus, attacks the respiratory airways and lungs. According to the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine in Washington, D.C., nearly four million children ages 1 to 5 are infected every year in the United States by the virus. Approximately 100,000 of these children require hospitalization and 4,000 die annually from the resulting infection. The virus is considered by physicians to be the most serious infectious disease for infants in the United States.

"Through NASA funding research in space and on the ground, and the application of space technology, we have determined the three-dimensional atomic structure of a potentially very important therapeutic antibody to this virus," said Dr. Daniel Carter, president of New Century Pharmaceuticals in Huntsville, Ala. Antibodies aid the individual's immune system by neutralizing toxins, such as viruses, as they attempt to invade healthy cells.

Knowledge of the molecular structure of the antibody will permit scientists to understand key interactions between the antibody and virus, facilitating development of treatments for the disease.

"Currently, there is no vaccine against the virus," said Simon McKenzie, chief executive officer of Intracel Corp. in Issaquah, Wash., which developed and produces the antibody. "Since this antibody neutralizes all known variants of the virus, therapeutics developed from it should have a major impact on lowering the mortality rate caused by the disease. And knowing its structure will provide key insight into our future development activities."

The illness most frequently begins with a fever, up to 101 degrees Fahrenheit, along with runny nose, cough and sometimes wheezing and trouble breathing. When his six-week old daughter caught the respiratory infection, Carter saw the effects of the virus first-hand. "There was nothing the hospital could do for her," he said. "We brought her home, watched as the infection ran its course and hoped for the best," he said. His daughter recovered.

Carter's research team used the viral antibody to grow antibody crystals aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in June and July of 1997. In the weightless environment of space known as microgravity, the antibody crystals grew larger and were of better quality than those previously grown on Earth.

Using highly specialized X-ray equipment and computers, scientists at New Century Pharmaceuticals located the key positions of individual atoms in the crystal structure and constructed a model of the antibody. Because of the increased size and perfection of the space-grown crystals, the researchers will be able to more precisely determine the atomic structure of the antibody.

The joint research effort by government and industry is sponsored by the NASA Microgravity Research Program's Biotechnology Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.

Note to Editors:

Interviews are available via telephone, NASA/TV live satellite link or e-mail. Please contact Steve Roy at (205)544-6535 for more information.

More information on NASA protein crystal growth in space is available on the Worldwide Web at: http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/ssl/msad/pcg/

Proposed Photo captions:

#9800617 (Lab scene) Dr. Dan Carter, president of New Century Pharmaceuticals, Huntsville, Ala., examines a chamber of protein solutions prepared for the flight to the MIR Space Station, as he and his team, Dr. Joseph Ho and Dr. John Ruble work with NASA to understand a virus that infects nearly four million U.S. children ages 1 to 5 every year.

(Virus Antibody Model) NASA and industry biotechnology researchers take an important step toward developing a treatment for a life-threatening virus that causes pneumonia and severe upper respiratory infection in infants and young children. Researchers have created this molecular model of the virus' antibody -- which may lead to cures of all know variants of the virus -- for commercial drug development efforts.

(Crystals) Because of the increased size and perfection of the these space-grown crystals of the Respiratory Syncytial Virus, NASA and industry researchers have been able to more precisely determine the atomic structure of what may be the answer to a virus that infects nearly four million U.S. children ages 1 to 5 every year. In space, crystals tend to grow larger and are of better quality than those previously grown on Earth giving scientists a better opportunity to understand and develop the health care treatments of the future.