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Advances in Experimental Medicine and... 2024Poxviridae family includes several viruses that infecting humans usually causes skin lesions only, but in some cases their clinical course is complicated by viral... (Review)
Review
Poxviridae family includes several viruses that infecting humans usually causes skin lesions only, but in some cases their clinical course is complicated by viral pneumonia (with or without bacterial superinfections). Historically variola virus has been the poxviridae most frequently associated with the development of pneumonia with many large outbreaks worldwide before its eradication in 1980. It is still considered a biological threat for its potential in biological warfare and bioterrorism. Smallpox pneumonia can be severe with the onset of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and death. Vaccinia virus, used for vaccination against smallpox exceptionally, in immunocompromised patients, can induce generalized (with also lung involvement) severe disease after vaccination. MPXV virus occasionally can cause pneumonia particularly in immunocompromised patients. The pathophysiology of poxviridae pneumonia is still an area of active research; however, in animal models these viruses can cause both direct damage to the lower airways epithelium and a hyperinflammatory syndrome, like a cytokine storm. Multiple mechanisms of immune evasion have also been described. The treatment of poxviridae pneumonia is mainly based on careful supportive care. Despite the absence of randomized clinical trials in patients with poxviridae pneumonia there are antiviral drugs, such as tecovirimat, cidofovir and brincidofovir, FDA-approved for use in smallpox and also available under an expanded access protocol for treatment of MPXV. There are 2 (replication-deficient modified vaccinia Ankara and replication-competent vaccinia virus) smallpox vaccines FDA-approved with the first one also approved for prevention of MPXV in adults that are at high risk of infection.
Topics: Humans; Animals; Poxviridae Infections; Antiviral Agents; Pneumonia, Viral; Poxviridae; Vaccinia virus; Smallpox; Variola virus
PubMed: 38801579
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-57165-7_12 -
Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in... Sep 2013Poxviruses are large, enveloped viruses that replicate in the cytoplasm and encode proteins for DNA replication and gene expression. Hairpin ends link the two strands of... (Review)
Review
Poxviruses are large, enveloped viruses that replicate in the cytoplasm and encode proteins for DNA replication and gene expression. Hairpin ends link the two strands of the linear, double-stranded DNA genome. Viral proteins involved in DNA synthesis include a 117-kDa polymerase, a helicase-primase, a uracil DNA glycosylase, a processivity factor, a single-stranded DNA-binding protein, a protein kinase, and a DNA ligase. A viral FEN1 family protein participates in double-strand break repair. The DNA is replicated as long concatemers that are resolved by a viral Holliday junction endonuclease.
Topics: DNA Packaging; DNA Replication; DNA, Viral; DNA-Binding Proteins; Genome, Viral; Models, Biological; Poxviridae
PubMed: 23838441
DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a010199 -
Microbiology Spectrum Aug 2016Smallpox is considered among the most devastating of human diseases. Its spread in populations, initiated for thousands of years following a probable transmission from... (Review)
Review
Smallpox is considered among the most devastating of human diseases. Its spread in populations, initiated for thousands of years following a probable transmission from an animal host, was concomitant with movements of people across regions and continents, trade and wars. Literature permitted to retrace the occurrence of epidemics from ancient times to recent human history, smallpox having affected all levels of past society including famous monarchs. The disease was officially declared eradicated in 1979 following intensive vaccination campaigns.Paleomicrobiology dedicated to variola virus is restricted to few studies, most unsuccessful, involving ancient material. Only one recent approach allowed the identification of viral DNA fragments from lung tissue of a 300-year-old body excavated from permafrost in Eastern Siberia; phylogenetic analysis revealed that this ancient strain was distinct from those described during the 20th century.
Topics: Animals; Disease Transmission, Infectious; Epidemics; Global Health; History, 15th Century; History, 16th Century; History, 17th Century; History, 18th Century; History, 19th Century; History, 20th Century; History, Ancient; History, Medieval; Human Migration; Humans; Paleopathology; Poxviridae; Smallpox; Travel; Virology
PubMed: 27726788
DOI: 10.1128/microbiolspec.PoH-0004-2014 -
Advances in Experimental Medicine and... 2024The family Poxviridae is a large family of viruses with a ubiquitous distribution, subdivided into two subfamilies: Chordopoxvirinae (poxviruses of vertebrates) and... (Review)
Review
The family Poxviridae is a large family of viruses with a ubiquitous distribution, subdivided into two subfamilies: Chordopoxvirinae (poxviruses of vertebrates) and Entomopoxvirinae (poxviruses of insects). Only three species from the first subfamily, Orthopoxvirus (OPV), Molluscipoxvirus and Parapoxvirus, can infect the human being. In the paediatric population, viruses belonging to the first two subfamilies have the greatest importance. Following the eradication of smallpox in 1980, vaccination of the general population was discontinued after careful consideration of the risks and benefits. However, nearly all children and most of the world's population had little to no protection against OPV. The aim of this chapter is to review the current evidence on the aetiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis and management of Poxviridae infections in children.
Topics: Humans; Child; Poxviridae Infections; Poxviridae; Child, Preschool; Infant; Animals
PubMed: 38801580
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-57165-7_13 -
Oncotarget Oct 2015
Topics: Evolution, Molecular; Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; Genome, Viral; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Open Reading Frames; Poxviridae; Transcription, Genetic; Viral Proteins
PubMed: 26429864
DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.5892 -
ELife Oct 2022As long suspected, poxviruses capture host genes through a reverse-transcription process now shown to be mediated by retrotransposons.
As long suspected, poxviruses capture host genes through a reverse-transcription process now shown to be mediated by retrotransposons.
Topics: Retroelements; Poxviridae; Vaccinia virus; Virus Replication
PubMed: 36282171
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.83488 -
Viruses Dec 2023Smallpox was a highly contagious disease caused by the variola virus. The disease affected millions of people over thousands of years and variola virus ranked as one of... (Review)
Review
Smallpox was a highly contagious disease caused by the variola virus. The disease affected millions of people over thousands of years and variola virus ranked as one of the deadliest viruses in human history. The complete eradication of smallpox in 1980, a major triumph in medicine, was achieved through a global vaccination campaign using a less virulent poxvirus, vaccinia virus. Despite this success, the herd immunity established by this campaign has significantly waned, and concerns are rising about the potential reintroduction of variola virus as a biological weapon or the emergence of zoonotic poxviruses. These fears were further fueled in 2022 by a global outbreak of monkeypox virus (mpox), which spread to over 100 countries, thereby boosting interest in developing new vaccines using molecular approaches. However, poxviruses are complex and creating modern vaccines against them is challenging. This review focuses on the structural biology of the six major neutralization determinants on poxviruses (D8, H3, A27, L1, B5, and A33), the localization of epitopes targeted by neutralizing antibodies, and their application in the development of subunit vaccines.
Topics: Humans; Poxviridae; Smallpox; Vaccinia virus; Smallpox Vaccine; Variola virus
PubMed: 38140637
DOI: 10.3390/v15122396 -
Viruses Dec 2022The Salmon gill poxvirus (SGPV) has emerged in recent years as the cause of an acute respiratory disease that can lead to high mortality in farmed Atlantic salmon... (Review)
Review
The Salmon gill poxvirus (SGPV) has emerged in recent years as the cause of an acute respiratory disease that can lead to high mortality in farmed Atlantic salmon presmolts, known as Salmon gill poxvirus disease. SGPV was first identified in Norway in the 1990s, and its large DNA genome, consisting of over 206 predicted protein-coding genes, was characterized in 2015. This review summarizes current knowledge relating to disease manifestation and its effects on the host immune system and describes dissemination of the virus. It also demonstrates how newly established molecular tools can help us to understand SGPV and its pathogenesis. Finally, we conclude and ask some burning questions that should be addressed in future research.
Topics: Animals; Salmo salar; Gills; Fish Diseases; Poxviridae; Chordopoxvirinae
PubMed: 36560705
DOI: 10.3390/v14122701 -
Advances in Virus Research 1984
Review
Topics: DNA, Viral; Insect Viruses; Poxviridae; Viral Proteins
PubMed: 6397048
DOI: 10.1016/s0065-3527(08)60409-1 -
Nature Reviews. Microbiology Mar 2005Despite the success of the WHO-led smallpox eradication programme a quarter of a century ago, there remains considerable fear that variola virus, or other related... (Review)
Review
Despite the success of the WHO-led smallpox eradication programme a quarter of a century ago, there remains considerable fear that variola virus, or other related pathogenic poxviruses such as monkeypox, could re-emerge and spread disease in the human population. Even today, we are still mostly ignorant about why most poxvirus infections of vertebrate hosts show strict species specificity, or how zoonotic poxvirus infections occur when poxviruses occasionally leap into novel host species. Poxvirus tropism at the cellular level seems to be regulated by intracellular events downstream of virus binding and entry, rather than at the level of specific host receptors as is the case for many other viruses. This review summarizes our current understanding of poxvirus tropism and host range, and discusses the prospects of exploiting host-restricted poxvirus vectors for vaccines, gene therapy or tissue-targeted oncolytic viral therapies for the treatment of human cancers.
Topics: Animals; Genes, Viral; Genetic Vectors; Humans; Poxviridae; Poxviridae Infections; Viral Vaccines; Virus Replication; Zoonoses
PubMed: 15738948
DOI: 10.1038/nrmicro1099