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The fish are able to detect viruses through their olfactory neurons, which are responsible for activating the defense mechanisms of their immune system to prevent viral infection.
This is the main conclusion reached by an investigation conducted by Victoriano Mulero, Professor of Cell Biology, in which the Immunity, Inflammation and Cancer research group of the University of Murcia and the IMIB participated.
This work, carried out in collaboration with the University of New Mexico (USA), opens the door to develop more effective treatments and vaccines against a virus similar to rabies in humans that affects fish, and which is a challenge for the sector of aquaculture due to the considerable economic losses it entails.
"This ability of olfactory neurons to detect viruses gives fish the possibility of avoiding infection by fleeing, but we have also discovered that if the virus enters the nasal route, it is these same neurons that activate the immune response and put them to work to the T lymphocytes, which are like soldiers who protect against infection, "explains Mulero.
The research, conducted with zebrafish in Murcia and with trout in New Mexico, has confirmed that the response is activated by an electrical signal from the neurons.
The challenge now is to discover exactly what mechanisms are involved for this response of the immune system to get under way.
The objective of this research is its application to aquaculture, but it opens the way to long-term research in order to draw conclusions from the behavior of viruses that affect the nervous system, such as rabies, and others that infect the respiratory tract, like the cold and the flu.
The research group of Professor Mulero in the IMIB, Murciano Institute of Biosanitary Research which is part of the University of Murcia, has different lines of research in biomedicine in which the zebrafish is used, a small vertebrate fish that thanks to its characteristics It allows obtaining results applicable to human beings.
Psoriasis, diseases related to the formation of blood cells and infectious diseases are three lines of research in which we work with zebrafish.
The fact of being small and transparent multiplies the possibilities of the researchers, who can work with populations of one hundred individuals obtaining a great performance with an affordable economic cost.
Source: Universidad de Murcia
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