Researcher’s keen eye on the enterovirus finds molecules against the coronavirus in nature

Virus researcher Varpu Marjomäki from the University of Jyväskylä has got a handle on enteroviruses, the world’s most infectious viruses for humans.

“Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was exceptional in the faculty and created a great challenge for teaching and research. Our staff responded to the challenge laudably and, as a result, many indicators of research and education improved from the previous years. The pandemic also had other positive outcomes. For example, the visibility and impact of our virus researchers increased significantly. This is great proof of the importance of basic research. When the world around you changes, high-quality basic research turns to practical solutions.”

Mikko Mönkkönen | DEAN

An interest in viruses that started two decades ago is now producing results: one patent has already been registered and two are pending based on work with molecules that kill enteroviruses. The molecules also show promise against coronaviruses.

Professor Varpu Marjomäki began researching enteroviruses in 1991, when she joined the research team of Professor Jyrki Heino at JYU. The zeal to identify virus infection routes has led Marjomäki to participate in several collaboration studies on the basic mechanisms of virus infections, developing vaccines and antivirals, and researching the structure of enteroviruses.

The enterovirus is an important research target, because the group of almost 200 known enteroviruses cause flu and its serious aftereffects for a vast number of people every year. Enteroviruses also cause chronic diseases such as type 1 diabetes.

In recent years, the research groups of the Nanoscience Center at the University of Jyväskylä have also built up enterovirus competence. Together with other researchers from the Nanoscience Center, including Professor Hannu Häkkinen and Mika Pettersson, Marjomäki has developed different probes that can be used to identify viruses or their components.

ENCOUNTER WITH A FUNGUS RESEARCHER SPARKS AN IDEA FOR NATURAL ANTIVIRALS

It was eight years ago that Marjomäki first glimpsed that the solution for preventing enterovirus infections might be found in nature. During a cooperation visit to South Africa, Marjomäki accidently met fungus researcher Riikka Linnakoski.

“In our first discussions, we agreed right away to join forces and start searching for virus-destroying agents from the world of plants and fungi,” says Marjomäki.

Marjomäki’s team investigates molecules that can be called antivirals, with one patent already pending. The two most recent possibilities have been found in Finland’s natural environment. The word antiviral refers to any substance that prohibits the functioning of a virus.

The collaboration has already led to several further studies with the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).

“The patentable molecules affect the virus structure by either breaking it down or stabilising it,” Marjomäki explains. “It would be fantastic to have safe natural products that would effectively destroy illness-causing viruses from our environment.” New molecules are able to do what currently available disinfectants cannot.

FUNCTIONING OF CORONAVIRUSES AND ENTEROVIRUSES ARE PREVENTED WITH THE SAME INHIBITORS

In addition to enteroviruses, the molecules’ effect on coronaviruses is being actively studied.

“Many times the active agents we find are effective against more than enteroviruses. They often work against other virus groups as well,” says Marjomäki.

Marjomäki’s research team is currently focused on coronavirus research and collaboration to defeat the COVID19 pandemic. Marjomäki and Professor Perttu Permi from the University of Jyväskylä received consortium funding from the Academy of Finland for seeking effective inhibitors to tame the COVID-19 virus infection.

“Surprisingly, coronaviruses and enteroviruses have much in common,” Marjomäki says. “They both have a very structurally similar protein-digesting enzyme, whose functioning could be effectively prevented with the same inhibitors.”

DEVELOPING ANTIVIRAL SURFACES THAT KILL THE INFECTIVE CAPABILITIES OF CORONAVIRUSES

Varpu Marjomäki’s group is also participating in a COVID-19 project run by Associate Professor Antti Haapala from the University of Eastern Finland. The project aims to determine how safe different surfaces and materials, especially wood-based materials, are from the coronavirus.

“There is very little research on this topic, and it directly benefits users and the building industry,” Marjomäki says.

Marjomäki’s group also studies antiviral surfaces with the researchers of the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke). In summer 2020, Business Finland awarded Co-Creation COVID-19 funding for joint projects that seek new antiviral surfaces in cooperation with companies.

← Varpu Marjomäki