Host factors for influenza A virus entry as novel drug targets

Despite the use of seasonal vaccines against influenza A virus (IAV), the threat of pandemic remains real and resistance to existing drugs is increasing. This is partly because they act on proteins of the virus itself. Pohl’s approach is to target, instead, the human factors necessary for the virus to enter our cells. Her work focuses on identifying and trying to block these partners of IAV. As many viruses use similar infection routes, such treatments could be effective on other viruses, too.