Cold sore cream users will know what their blisters look like. The list of descriptive words is not an enviable one: red, swollen, sore, scabbing, crusting, weeping, yellowing, etc. Yes, chances are that you are not going to win any prizes for lyrical poetry by writing an ode to your cold sore.
But there is another way of looking at cold sores; a way that is less personal, less prejudiced and less likely to lead to feelings of revulsion and self-disgust: it's the scientific way, which, by being entirely dispassionate, allows us to see cold sores more closely, for what they really are, on a cellular and molecular level.
And scientists have just seen cold sores more clearly than ever before, with the Journal Science detailing how researchers at UCLA have used a technology called cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM) to produce 3-D images of the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), providing new insights into its workings and structure.
Z. Hong Zhou, professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics and director of the Electron Imaging Center for NanoMachines at UCLA's California NanoSystems Institute was the study's senior author.
Essentially, the images are a breakthrough because they are the first ever atomic models of the cold sore virus particle and, thanks to a technique called subparticle refinement, have been able to provide a previously unthinkable view of the 3,000 protein molecules and tens of millions of atoms that make up the virus. Perhaps it could even be used to help develop the intelligent cold sore creams of the future.
Although it has long been know that the cold sore virus can lie latent for long periods before suddenly striking, until now it was not understood how the virus made its way from the nucleus of a nerve cell to the site of a lesion. However, Xinghong Dai, the UCLA study's first author, said that the model shoes how the virus travels via a "long projection called the axon, and to the skin surface where the sore occurs."
"This is the first time we've seen how those cellular transport vehicles could bind to their cargo, the HSV-1 capsid (the protein shell of the virus)," noted Dai.
Crucially, the images have already helped the scientists develop an enhanced understanding of the cold sore virus's structure and life cycle, meaning that they now more than previously about the way it travels, infects and remains within our nerve cells.
The scientists have already said that the research could lead to the development of new antiviral cold sore creams and medications, and may prove particularly helpful to those who suffer from recurring cold sores. However, breakthroughs of this nature do not always lead to improved treatments. Sometimes there are clinically proven treatments that may be every bit as effective.
