Accepted medical wisdom holds that a virus is unassailable once it enters a host cell, but researchers have found that antibodies can piggyback into the cell with the virus:
Once inside the cell, the presence of the antibody is recognised by a naturally occurring protein in the cell called TRIM21 which in turn activates a powerful virus-crushing machinery that can eliminate the virus within two hours — long before it has the chance to hijack the cell to start making its own viral proteins. “This is the last opportunity a cell gets because after that it gets infected and there is nothing else the body can do but kill the cell,” Dr James said.
The researchers suggest that a TRIM21 nasal spray might fight the common cold.