-
Virology May 2015Viral diagnosis and discovery are receiving increasing emphasis with the recognition of their importance in addressing the challenges of emerging infectious and chronic... (Review)
Review
Viral diagnosis and discovery are receiving increasing emphasis with the recognition of their importance in addressing the challenges of emerging infectious and chronic diseases, and the advent of antiviral drugs with which to reduce the morbidity and mortality of viral infections. Here we review the status of the field including the use of molecular, proteomic and immunological assays for viral detection, social media platforms for surveillance, and public health investments that may enable enhanced situational awareness and insights into the origins of zoonotic viral diseases.
Topics: Biosensing Techniques; Communicable Diseases, Emerging; Humans; Social Media; Virology; Virus Diseases; Viruses
PubMed: 25731958
DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2015.02.006 -
Trends in Microbiology Nov 2020While conventional in vitro culture systems and animal models have been used to study the pathogenesis of viral infections and to facilitate development of vaccines and... (Review)
Review
While conventional in vitro culture systems and animal models have been used to study the pathogenesis of viral infections and to facilitate development of vaccines and therapeutics for viral diseases, models that can accurately recapitulate human responses to infection are still lacking. Human organ-on-a-chip (Organ Chip) microfluidic culture devices that recapitulate tissue-tissue interfaces, fluid flows, mechanical cues, and organ-level physiology have been developed to narrow the gap between in vitro experimental models and human pathophysiology. Here, we describe how recent developments in Organ Chips have enabled re-creation of complex pathophysiological features of human viral infections in vitro.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Microfluidics; Organ Culture Techniques; Virology; Virus Diseases; Virus Physiological Phenomena; Viruses
PubMed: 32674988
DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2020.06.005 -
Journal of Bacteriology May 2018Roger W. Hendrix was at the forefront of bacteriophage biology for nearly 50 years and was central to our understanding of both viral capsid assembly and phage genomic... (Review)
Review
Roger W. Hendrix was at the forefront of bacteriophage biology for nearly 50 years and was central to our understanding of both viral capsid assembly and phage genomic diversity and evolution. Roger's warm and gentle demeanor belied a razor-sharp mind and warmed him to numerous highly productive collaborations that amplified his scientific impact. Roger was always completely open with scientific ideas while at the same time quietly agitating with a stream of new ways of thinking about problems and nudging our communities to search for innovative solutions: a gentle but highly effective provocateur.
Topics: Bacteriophages; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; United States; Universities; Virology
PubMed: 29463602
DOI: 10.1128/JB.00058-18 -
Genetics Dec 2018RNA viruses are diverse, abundant, and rapidly evolving. Genetic data have been generated from virus populations since the late 1970s and used to understand their... (Review)
Review
RNA viruses are diverse, abundant, and rapidly evolving. Genetic data have been generated from virus populations since the late 1970s and used to understand their evolution, emergence, and spread, culminating in the generation and analysis of many thousands of viral genome sequences. Despite this wealth of data, evolutionary genetics has played a surprisingly small role in our understanding of virus evolution. Instead, studies of RNA virus evolution have been dominated by two very different perspectives, the experimental and the comparative, that have largely been conducted independently and sometimes antagonistically. Here, we review the insights that these two approaches have provided over the last 40 years. We show that experimental approaches using and laboratory models are largely focused on short-term intrahost evolutionary mechanisms, and may not always be relevant to natural systems. In contrast, the comparative approach relies on the phylogenetic analysis of natural virus populations, usually considering data collected over multiple cycles of virus-host transmission, but is divorced from the causative evolutionary processes. To truly understand RNA virus evolution it is necessary to meld experimental and comparative approaches within a single evolutionary genetic framework, and to link viral evolution at the intrahost scale with that which occurs over both epidemiological and geological timescales. We suggest that the impetus for this new synthesis may come from methodological advances in next-generation sequencing and metagenomics.
Topics: Evolution, Molecular; Genetic Variation; Genome, Viral; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; Metagenomics; Phylogeny; RNA Viruses; Virology
PubMed: 30523166
DOI: 10.1534/genetics.118.301556 -
Viruses Jun 2016The highly pathogenic Marburg virus (MARV) is a member of the Filoviridae family and belongs to the group of nonsegmented negative-strand RNA viruses. Reverse genetics... (Review)
Review
The highly pathogenic Marburg virus (MARV) is a member of the Filoviridae family and belongs to the group of nonsegmented negative-strand RNA viruses. Reverse genetics systems established for MARV have been used to study various aspects of the viral replication cycle, analyze host responses, image viral infection, and screen for antivirals. This article provides an overview of the currently established MARV reverse genetic systems based on minigenomes, infectious virus-like particles and full-length clones, and the research that has been conducted using these systems.
Topics: Marburgvirus; Reverse Genetics; Virology
PubMed: 27338448
DOI: 10.3390/v8060178 -
Viruses Dec 2023Norway is situated in a remote and sparsely inhabited part of the world with about 5 [...].
Norway is situated in a remote and sparsely inhabited part of the world with about 5 [...].
Topics: Norway; Virology
PubMed: 38140624
DOI: 10.3390/v15122383 -
Viruses May 2016Single-cell sequencing technologies, i.e., single cell analysis followed by deep sequencing investigate cellular heterogeneity in many biological settings. It was only... (Review)
Review
Single-cell sequencing technologies, i.e., single cell analysis followed by deep sequencing investigate cellular heterogeneity in many biological settings. It was only in the past year that single-cell sequencing analyses has been applied in the field of virology, providing new ways to explore viral diversity and cell response to viral infection, which are summarized in the present review.
Topics: Genomics; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Humans; Single-Cell Analysis; Virology; Viruses
PubMed: 27153082
DOI: 10.3390/v8050123 -
Mass Spectrometry Reviews Sep 2020Virology, as a branch of the life sciences, discovered mass spectrometry (MS) to be the pivotal tool around two decades ago. The technique unveiled the complex network... (Review)
Review
Virology, as a branch of the life sciences, discovered mass spectrometry (MS) to be the pivotal tool around two decades ago. The technique unveiled the complex network of interactions between the living world of pro- and eukaryotes and viruses, which delivered "a piece of bad news wrapped in protein" as defined by Peter Medawar, Nobel Prize Laureate, in 1960. However, MS is constantly evolving, and novel approaches allow for a better understanding of interactions in this micro- and nanoworld. Currently, we can investigate the interplay between the virus and the cell by analyzing proteomes, interactomes, virus-cell interactions, and search for the compounds that build viral structures. In addition, by using MS, it is possible to look at the cell from the broader perspective and determine the role of viral infection on the scale of the organism, for example, monitoring the crosstalk between infected tissues and the immune system. In such a way, MS became one of the major tools for the modern virology, allowing us to see the infection in the context of the whole cell or the organism. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Mass Spec Rev.
Topics: Capsid; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Humans; Mass Spectrometry; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Protein Processing, Post-Translational; Viral Proteins; Viral Vaccines; Virology; Virus Diseases; Viruses
PubMed: 31876329
DOI: 10.1002/mas.21617 -
International Journal of Biological... 2022The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic evoked by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has triggered a major public health... (Review)
Review
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic evoked by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has triggered a major public health problem with significant morbidity and mortality. Understanding the pathogenesis and molecular mechanisms underlying this novel virus is crucial for both fundamental research and clinical trials in order to devise effective therapies and vaccination regimens. Basic research on SARS-CoV-2 largely depends on models that allow viral invasion and replication. Organoid models are now emerging as a valuable tool to investigate viral biology and disease progression, serving as an efficient platform to investigate potential therapies for COVID-19. Here, we summarize various human stem cell-derived organoid types employed in SARS-CoV-2 studies. We highlight key findings from these models, including cell tropisms and molecular mechanisms in viral infection. We also describe their use in identifying potential therapeutic agents against SARS-CoV-2. As more and more advanced organoids emerge, they will facilitate the understanding of disease pathogenesis for drug development in this dreaded pandemic.
Topics: COVID-19; Humans; Organoids; SARS-CoV-2; Virology
PubMed: 35173525
DOI: 10.7150/ijbs.64993 -
Viruses Jul 2016Several arenaviruses cause hemorrhagic fever (HF) disease in humans and pose an important public health problem in their endemic regions. To date, no Food and Drug... (Review)
Review
Several arenaviruses cause hemorrhagic fever (HF) disease in humans and pose an important public health problem in their endemic regions. To date, no Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-licensed vaccines are available to combat human arenavirus infections, and current anti-arenaviral drug therapy is limited to an off-label use of ribavirin that is only partially effective. The development of arenavirus reverse genetic approaches has provided investigators with a novel and powerful approach for the study of arenavirus biology including virus-host interactions underlying arenavirus induced disease. The use of cell-based minigenome systems has allowed examining the cis- and trans-acting factors involved in arenavirus replication and transcription, as well as particle assembly and budding. Likewise, it is now feasible to rescue infectious arenaviruses containing predetermined mutations in their genomes to investigate virus-host interactions and mechanisms of pathogenesis. The use of reverse genetics approaches has also allowed the generation of recombinant arenaviruses expressing additional genes of interest. These advances in arenavirus molecular genetics have also facilitated the implementation of novel screens to identify anti-arenaviral drugs, and the development of novel strategies for the generation of arenavirus live-attenuated vaccines. In this review, we will summarize the current knowledge on reporter-expressing, replicating-competent arenaviruses harboring reporter genes in different locations of the viral genome and their use for studying and understanding arenavirus biology and the identification of anti-arenaviral drugs to combat these important human pathogens.
Topics: Animals; Arenavirus; Genes, Reporter; Humans; Reverse Genetics; Staining and Labeling; Virology; Virus Replication
PubMed: 27447662
DOI: 10.3390/v8070197