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Viruses Sep 2015Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses), especially those transmitted by mosquitoes, are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in humans and animals worldwide.... (Review)
Review
Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses), especially those transmitted by mosquitoes, are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in humans and animals worldwide. Recent discoveries indicate that mosquitoes are naturally infected with a wide range of other viruses, many within taxa occupied by arboviruses that are considered insect-specific. Over the past ten years there has been a dramatic increase in the literature describing novel insect-specific virus detection in mosquitoes, which has provided new insights about viral diversity and evolution, including that of arboviruses. It has also raised questions about what effects the mosquito virome has on arbovirus transmission. Additionally, the discovery of these new viruses has generated interest in their potential use as biological control agents as well as novel vaccine platforms. The arbovirus community will benefit from the growing database of knowledge concerning these newly described viral endosymbionts, as their impacts will likely be far reaching.
Topics: Animals; Arbovirus Infections; Culicidae; Entomology; Humans; Mosquito Control; Virology; Viruses
PubMed: 26378568
DOI: 10.3390/v7092851 -
Progress in Biophysics and Molecular... Dec 2020
Topics: Biological Evolution; COVID-19; Extracellular Vesicles; Hepacivirus; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; Humans; Nobel Prize; SARS-CoV-2; Virology; Virus Diseases; Virus Replication; Viruses
PubMed: 33096122
DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2020.10.004 -
MSphere May 2021Ebola virus (EBOV) is a highly pathogenic negative-stranded RNA virus that has caused several deadly endemics in the past decades. EBOV reverse genetics systems are...
Ebola virus (EBOV) is a highly pathogenic negative-stranded RNA virus that has caused several deadly endemics in the past decades. EBOV reverse genetics systems are available for studying live viruses under biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) or subviral particles under BSL-2 conditions. However, these systems all require cotransfection of multiple plasmids expressing viral genome and viral proteins essential for EBOV replication, which is technically challenging and unable to naturally mimic virus propagation using the subviral particle. Here, we established a new EBOV reverse genetics system only requiring transfection of a single viral RNA genome into an engineered cell line that stably expresses viral nucleoprotein (NP), viral protein 35 (VP35), VP30, and large (L) proteins and has been fine-tuned for its superior permissiveness for EBOV replication. Using this system, subviral particles expressing viral VP40, glycoprotein (GP), and VP24 could be produced and continuously propagated and eventually infect the entire cell population. We demonstrated the authentic response of the subviral system to antivirals and uncovered that the VP35 amount is critical for optimal virus replication. Furthermore, we showed that fully infectious virions can be efficiently rescued by delivering the full-length EBOV genome into the same supporting cell, and the efficiency is not affected by genome polarity or virus variant specificity. In summary, our work provides a new tool for studying EBOV under different biosafety levels. Ebola virus is among the most dangerous viral pathogens, with a case fatality rate of up to 90%. Since 2013, the two largest and most complex Ebola outbreaks in Africa have revealed the lack of investigation on this notorious virus. A reverse genetics system is an important tool for studying viruses by producing mutant viruses or generating safer and convenient model systems. Here, we developed an EBOV life cycle modeling system in which subviral particles can spontaneously propagate in cell culture. In addition, this system can be employed to rescue infectious virions of homologous or heterologous EBOV isolates using either sense or antisense viral RNA genomes. In summary, we developed a new tool for EBOV research.
Topics: Cell Line; Ebolavirus; Genome, Viral; RNA, Viral; Reverse Genetics; Virology
PubMed: 33952663
DOI: 10.1128/mSphere.00235-21 -
Methods (San Diego, Calif.) Nov 2015Stress granules are induced in many different viral infections, and in turn are inhibited by the expression of viral proteins or RNAs. It is therefore evident that these... (Review)
Review
Stress granules are induced in many different viral infections, and in turn are inhibited by the expression of viral proteins or RNAs. It is therefore evident that these bodies are not compatible with efficient viral replication, but the mechanism by which they act to restrict viral gene expression or genome replication is not yet understood. This article discusses a number of methods that can be employed to gain a more complete understanding of the relationship between cellular SGs and viral RNA and protein synthesis in cells infected with diverse viruses.
Topics: Host-Pathogen Interactions; Microscopy; RNA, Viral; Ribonucleoproteins; Stress, Physiological; Viral Proteins; Virology
PubMed: 25896634
DOI: 10.1016/j.ymeth.2015.04.009 -
Annales de Biologie Clinique 2016The viruses that can infect the central nervous system of humans are numerous and form a heterogeneous group with respect to their structural, functional and... (Review)
Review
The viruses that can infect the central nervous system of humans are numerous and form a heterogeneous group with respect to their structural, functional and epidemiological properties. The pathophysiological mechanisms leading to associated neurological diseases, mainly meningitis and encephalitis, also are complex and often intertwined. Overall, neurological clinical symptoms correspond either to acute viral diseases associated with primary infections or to acute, subacute or chronic diseases associated with persistent viral infections. The frequent severity of the clinical situation requires in all cases the practice of virological diagnosis for which the PCR techniques applied to cerebrospinal fluid samples occupy a prominent place. The severity of clinical manifestations justifies the use of prophylactic vaccination when available and antiviral treatment as soon as the causative virus is identified or suspected.
Topics: Antiviral Agents; Central Nervous System Diseases; Humans; Nervous System; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Vaccination; Viral Vaccines; Virology; Virus Diseases
PubMed: 26743759
DOI: 10.1684/abc.2015.1109 -
Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews.... May 2019The fields of physical, chemical, and synthetic virology work in partnership to reprogram viruses as controllable nanodevices. Physical virology provides the fundamental... (Review)
Review
The fields of physical, chemical, and synthetic virology work in partnership to reprogram viruses as controllable nanodevices. Physical virology provides the fundamental biophysical understanding of how virus capsids assemble, disassemble, display metastability, and assume various configurations. Chemical virology considers the virus capsid as a chemically addressable structure, providing chemical pathways to modify the capsid exterior, interior, and subunit interfaces. Synthetic virology takes an engineering approach, modifying the virus capsid through rational, combinatorial, and bioinformatics-driven design strategies. Advances in these three subfields of virology aim to develop virus-based materials and tools that can be applied to solve critical problems in biomedicine and biotechnology, including applications in gene therapy and drug delivery, diagnostics, and immunotherapy. Examples discussed include mammalian viruses, such as adeno-associated virus (AAV), plant viruses, such as cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV), and bacterial viruses, such as Qβ bacteriophage. Importantly, research efforts in physical, chemical, and synthetic virology have further unraveled the design principles foundational to the form and function of viruses. This article is categorized under: Diagnostic Tools > Diagnostic Nanodevices Biology-Inspired Nanomaterials > Protein and Virus-Based Structures.
Topics: Animals; Cells, Cultured; Chemical Phenomena; Dependovirus; Genetic Therapy; Humans; Mice; Nanomedicine; Nanostructures; Synthetic Biology; Virology; Viruses
PubMed: 30411529
DOI: 10.1002/wnan.1545 -
Viruses May 2016Commonly used tests based on wild-type viruses, such as immunostaining, cannot meet the demands for rapid detection of viral replication, high-throughput screening for... (Review)
Review
Commonly used tests based on wild-type viruses, such as immunostaining, cannot meet the demands for rapid detection of viral replication, high-throughput screening for antivirals, as well as for tracking viral proteins or virus transport in real time. Notably, the development of replicating-competent reporter-expressing viruses (RCREVs) has provided an excellent option to detect directly viral replication without the use of secondary labeling, which represents a significant advance in virology. This article reviews the applications of RCREVs in diagnostic and molecular virology, including rapid neutralization tests, high-throughput screening systems, identification of viral receptors and virus-host interactions, dynamics of viral infections in vitro and in vivo, vaccination approaches and others. However, there remain various challenges associated with RCREVs, including pathogenicity alterations due to the insertion of a reporter gene, instability or loss of the reporter gene expression, or attenuation of reporter signals in vivo. Despite all these limitations, RCREVs have become powerful tools for both basic and applied virology with the development of new technologies for generating RCREVs, the inventions of novel reporters and the better understanding of regulation of viral replication.
Topics: Animals; Gene Expression; Genes, Reporter; Humans; Molecular Biology; Staining and Labeling; Virology; Virus Replication; Viruses
PubMed: 27164126
DOI: 10.3390/v8050127 -
Virology May 2015The first archaeal virus was isolated over 40 years ago prior to the recognition of the three domain structure of life. In the ensuing years, our knowledge of Archaea... (Review)
Review
The first archaeal virus was isolated over 40 years ago prior to the recognition of the three domain structure of life. In the ensuing years, our knowledge of Archaea and their viruses has increased, but they still remain the most mysterious of life's three domains. Currently, over 100 archaeal viruses have been discovered, but few have been described in biochemical or structural detail. However, those that have been characterized have revealed a new world of structural, biochemical and genetic diversity. Several model systems for studying archaeal virus-host interactions have been developed, revealing evolutionary linkages between viruses infecting the three domains of life, new viral lysis systems, and unusual features of host-virus interactions. It is likely that the study of archaeal viruses will continue to provide fertile ground for fundamental discoveries in virus diversity, structure and function.
Topics: Archaea; Biodiversity; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; Host-Parasite Interactions; Virology; Virus Physiological Phenomena; Viruses
PubMed: 25866378
DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2015.03.031 -
Viruses Sep 2019Precision genome engineering by CRISPR is a game-changing technology that originates from the study of virus-host interaction and promises to revolutionize virology and...
Precision genome engineering by CRISPR is a game-changing technology that originates from the study of virus-host interaction and promises to revolutionize virology and antiviral therapy [...].
Topics: CRISPR-Cas Systems; Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats; Gene Editing; Genome, Viral; Host Microbial Interactions; Humans; Virology
PubMed: 31509984
DOI: 10.3390/v11090839 -
Current Opinion in Virology Dec 2021Meta-transcriptomic next-generation sequencing has transformed virus discovery, dramatically expanding our knowledge of the known virosphere. Nevertheless, the use of... (Review)
Review
Meta-transcriptomic next-generation sequencing has transformed virus discovery, dramatically expanding our knowledge of the known virosphere. Nevertheless, the use of meta-transcriptomics for virus discovery faces important challenges. As this technology becomes more widely adopted, the proportion of viral sequences in public databases with incorrect (e.g. mis-assignment of host) or limited information (e.g. lacking taxonomic classification) is likely to grow, limiting their utility in bioinformatic pipelines for virus discovery. In addition, we currently lack the bioinformatic tools that can accurately identify viruses showing little or no sequence similarity to database viruses or those that represent likely reagent contaminants. Herein, we outline some of the challenges to effective meta-transcriptomic virus discovery as well as their potential solutions.
Topics: Computational Biology; Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; Transcriptome; Virology; Viruses
PubMed: 34592710
DOI: 10.1016/j.coviro.2021.09.007