With all of the medical advances in recent history, it is sometimes surprising that we have not yet found a cure for the common cold. But a new model for rhinovirus C shows unexpected structural differences, creating potential for the development of new cold drugs.

Researchers from the University of Wisconson-Madison, led by Prof. Ann Palmenberg, successfully constructed a 3D model of the cold virus, rhinovirus C, which has been called the “missing link” cold.

Results of their findings, which employ the genetic sequencing of this particular cold virus to make a topographical model of the capsid – protein shell – were published recently in the journal Virology.

Though 3D structures of the A and B families of cold virus have long been known, rhinovirus C was only first discovered in 2006, when researchers discovered it had been “lurking” in human cells along with the A and B strains.

The researchers explain that antiviral drugs operate by attaching themselves to the surfaces of a virus, modifying them along the way. They describe this process as finding the right piece of a jigsaw puzzle, which must properly “fit and lock into the virus.”

Because the scientific community has not been able to accurately describe the surface of rhinovirus C, that meant pharmaceutical companies that were designing cold drugs were essentially “flying blind.”