Protein Identified as Trigger for MPOX Severity

A domestic public-private joint research team has discovered a protein that acts as a ‘trigger’ for the severity of MPOX (monkeypox) infection.

The National Institute of Health, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, announced on the 25th that it had experimentally identified the fact that ‘AIM2 protein’ is the main cause of excessive inflammatory response during monkeypox virus infection, along with Professor Lee Sang-jun’s team at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology and Professor Kim Dae-sik’s team at Sungkyunkwan university.

AIM2 protein is one of the DNA sensor proteins that directly recognizes foreign DNA entering the cytoplasm. In this study, it was found that among several DNA sensor proteins, only the AIM2 protein is a key sensor that actually detects the DNA of monkeypox virus that comes from outside and induces a strong inflammatory response.

According to the research team, the activated AIM2 protein recognizes viral DNA and forms inflammatory