Peter recently spoke with the publication Scientific American about the challenges of working with Rhinovirus, the primary causative agent of the common cold, and the potential for a cure to be developed.

In the article by writer Angus Chen, entitled “Why haven’t we cured the common cold yet?“, Peter talks about the large number of circulating strains of rhinovirus, as well as some exciting approaches being employed by scientists in terms of either preventing or treating this infection.

The article touches upon the work of Filipa Henderson Sousa and Dr Victor Casanova, previous members of Peter’s research group who have been working on peptide based therapeutic options for rhinovirus.

Peter also talks about the implications of developing a cure for the common cold, and whether this would ever be rolled out to be an over the counter therapy.

Read the article now at Scientific American

A new invited review article has been published entitled “Antiviral therapeutic approaches for human rhinovirus infections” in the journal Future Virology.  The review, authored by Dr Victor Casanova, Filipa Henderson Sousa, Dr Craig Stevens and Dr Peter Barlow, highlights the current, limited therapeutic options for treating human Rhinovirus. This virus is the primary cause of the common cold and cause dangerous disease exacerbations in individuals with lung conditions such as asthma, COPD and Cystic Fibrosis.

The article highlights some recent work, particularly in the area of small molecule inhibitors, that have been shown to have antiviral activity against rhinovirus.  It also highlights the recent work by Sousa et al. (2017) demonstrating that cathelicidins from human and other mammals have highly effective activity against Rhinovirus.

Peter also wrote an article for The Conversation to accompany the review, which attracted media coverage from The Scotsman (1) (2) and The Express among others.

The full text of the review article can be found on the journal website.

A look behind the writing of the article can be found here on ID-Hub

A new study from Imperial College London has been published in the journal Nature Chemistry investigating the anti-rhinovirus activity of a novel compound.  The paper, entitled ’Fragment-derived inhibitors of human N-myristoyltransferase block capsid assembly and replication of the common cold virus’ attracted significant media attention, and Peter was asked to give media statements as Spokesperson for the British Society for Immunology that were distributed via the Science Media Centre.

• Science Media Centre (Link)
• BBC News (Link)
• The Telegraph (Link)
• The Sun (Link)
• The Daily Mail (Link)
• Newsweek (Link)
• The Scientist (Link)
• IFLScience (Link)
• Atlanta Journal and Constitution (Link)

Work conducted by members of Peter’s group, including Filipa Henderson Sousa and Dr Victor Casanova, was profiled as part of BBC Countryfile Winter Diaries, broadcast on BBC 1 on 9th February 2018.  The segment, with presenter Paul Martin, highlighted experimental work performed using Protegrin-1, a cathelicidin host defence peptide derived from pigs that displayed antiviral activity against Rhinovirus.

This work was published in the journal Peptides in 2017 (PubMed link)

The programme can be found on BBC iPlayer for 30 days after broadcast.

On December 12, Dr Peter Barlow gave media interviews to The Guardian and on BBC Radio Ulster in regarding the existence of “Man Flu”.  The interviews were in response to a tongue in cheek article published in the Christmas edition of the British Medical Journal suggesting that man flu was, in fact, real and that men should be afforded the opportunity to recover in male-friendly spaces with televisions and reclining chairs.

Work from the laboratory group of Dr Peter Barlow has been published today in the Journal of Immunology.  The new paper, entitled “Carbon Nanoparticles Inhibit the Antimicrobial Activities of the Human Cathelicidin LL-37 through Structural Alteration” was authored by Dr Fern Findlay, who undertook her PhD under Peter’s direction at Edinburgh Napier University.

The work describes the inhibitory effects of carbon nanoparticles on the antibacterial, antiviral and immunomodulatory capacity of the human cathelicidin LL-37. The work was conducted in collaboration with the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, and the Moredun Research Institute.  The findings have important implications for human health in the context of exposure to particulate air pollution.

The paper can be found here. Media coverage of the manuscript findings can be found below;

• The Scotsman
• AOL UK
• The Daily Mail
• Evening Express
• The National
• The Herald