Flu viruses use secret cellular tunnels to escape your immune system! New research from Daniel Weir and colleagues uncovers influenza's most elusive escape route - tunnelling nanotubes that let viruses spread completely undetected.

🔗 KEY RESOURCES:

📄 Research Paper: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1013191

🦠 More from Daniel Weir and the Hutchinson Lab: https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/cvr/aboutus/people/researchgroups/hutchinsongroup/

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🧬 THE BREAKTHROUGH:

For the first time, tunnelling nanotubes were observed in infected lung tissue, not just lab cultures. These microscopic highways form when flu viruses trigger infected cells to die, creating direct pathways to neighbouring cells. This tunnel formation requires active viral replication and cell death (apoptosis) and opens new targets for antiviral drugs. Using super-resolution microscopy, the team tracked these elusive structures and measured how efficiently different flu strains exploit this escape route.