The Fletcher Lab

Today we uploaded Emma’s story on the gene OAS2 to BioRxiv and you can find it here:

https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.02.24.639105

Here’s a brief summary.

To recognise viruses that have infiltrated our cells, the cell makes various proteins that are positioned as sentries in specific locations around the cell interior. Often at well-trodden entry sites used by viruses to get inside the cell, or at places inside the cell where viruses like to replicate. One of these proteins is called OAS2 and the gene that encodes this defender produces two ‘versions’ of the protein. These two versions (technically known as ‘isoforms’) only differ in a teeny portion at the very end of the protein that we call the ‘tail’. Why does this gene do this? Emma discovered that these two isoforms of OAS2 recognise different kinds of virus. The tools that each OAS2 isoform uses to inhibit their respective viral quarry are also distinct, perhaps reflecting the nature of each target virus. Overall, the discovery provides a great example of how our genes can individually contribute to a broad antiviral armoury, likely to provide defence against a multitude of diverse, unpredictable and constantly evolving viral pathogens.