205 posts · 181,092 views
virology blog is about viruses and viral disease. The aim is to discuss the latest research on viruses and viral pathogenesis, by drawing upon the primary literature. We also clarify, comment on, and explore viruses in the news.
Vincent Racaniello
25 posts
Mohamed El Zowalaty
0 posts
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- February 20, 2009
- 05:00 AM
- 1,471 views
Did smallpox lead to HIV-1 resistance?
by vrr in virology blog
The entry of HIV-1 into lymphocytes requires two cellular proteins, the receptor CD4, and a co-receptor, either CXCR4 or CCR5. Individuals who carry a mutation in the gene encoding CCR5, called delta 32, are resistant to HIV-1 infection. This observation was the basis for giving an AIDS patient a bone marrow transplant from a donor [...]... Read more »
A. S. Lalani. (1999) Use of Chemokine Receptors by Poxviruses. Science, 286(5446), 1968-1971. DOI: 10.1126/science.286.5446.1968
- February 27, 2009
- 09:00 AM
- 1,420 views
A plethora of papillomaviruses
by vrr in virology blog
When Harald zur Hausen identified the first human papillomavirus (HPV-16) in 1983 in women with cervical cancer, little did he know he would receive the Nobel Prize in Medicine for this discovery 25 years later. He probably also did not know how difficult it would be to propagate these viruses in a way that would allow [...]... Read more »
H.-K. Wang, A. A. Duffy, T. R. Broker, & L. T. Chow. (2009) Robust production and passaging of infectious HPV in squamous epithelium of primary human keratinocytes. Genes , 23(2), 181-194. DOI: 10.1101/gad.1735109
D. A. Galloway. (2009) Human papillomaviruses: a growing field. Genes , 23(2), 138-142. DOI: 10.1101/gad.1765809
- February 19, 2009
- 05:00 AM
- 1,391 views
Seasonality of influenza revisited
by vrr in virology blog
The cute guinea pig returns for another installment on why influenza is prevalent during winter months in temperate climates.
We previously discussed work by Palese and colleagues in which a guinea pig model for influenza virus transmission was used to conclude that spread of influenza virus in aerosols is dependent upon temperature and relative humidity. They found that [...]... Read more »
J. Shaman, & M. Kohn. (2009) Absolute humidity modulates influenza survival, transmission, and seasonality. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0806852106
- January 22, 2009
- 08:00 AM
- 1,362 views
Hantavirus protein replaces eIF4F
by Vincent Racaniello in virology blog
The cellular translation machinery is frequently modified in virus-infected cells. Antiviral defense systems or stress responses may be initiated to inhibit protein synthesis and restrict virus replication. On the other hand, many viral genomes encode proteins that modify the cellular translation apparatus to favor the production of viral proteins over those of the cell. One [...]... Read more »
Mohammad A Mir, & Antonito T Panganiban. (2008) A protein that replaces the entire cellular eIF4F complex. The EMBO Journal, 27(23), 3129-3139. DOI: 10.1038/emboj.2008.228
- January 23, 2009
- 05:40 PM
- 1,340 views
Immunopathology: Too much of a good thing
by Vincent Racaniello in virology blog
In many viral infections, clinical symptoms such as fever, tissue damage, pain, and nausea are a consequence of the immune response. Damage caused by the immune system is known as immunopathology. For some viruses that do not directly kill cells (non-cytolytic viruses) the immune response is the main cause of disease. Immunopathology may be caused [...]... Read more »
D. Marsolais, B. Hahm, K. B. Walsh, K. H. Edelmann, D. McGavern, Y. Hatta, Y. Kawaoka, H. Rosen, & M. B. A. Oldstone. (2009) A critical role for the sphingosine analog AAL-R in dampening the cytokine response during influenza virus infection. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0812689106
- April 2, 2009
- 10:00 AM
- 1,311 views
Hand, foot, and mouth disease outbreak in China
by vrr in virology blog
An outbreak of hand, foot, and mouth disease in China has lead to 41,000 infections and 18 deaths this year. What is this disease and what causes it?
Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a rather common viral infection of children. There were 80,000 recorded cases of the disease just in China for 2007. The [...]... Read more »
Zhang, Y., Tan, X., Wang, H., Yan, D., Zhu, S., Wang, D., Ji, F., Wang, X., Gao, Y., & Chen, L. (2009) An outbreak of hand, foot, and mouth disease associated with subgenotype C4 of human enterovirus 71 in Shandong, China. Journal of Clinical Virology, 44(4), 262-267. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcv.2009.02.002
QIU, J. (2008) Enterovirus 71 infection: a new threat to global public health?. The Lancet Neurology, 7(10), 868-869. DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(08)70207-2
Arita, M., Wakita, T., & Shimizu, H. (2008) Characterization of pharmacologically active compounds that inhibit poliovirus and enterovirus 71 infectivity. Journal of General Virology, 89(10), 2518-2530. DOI: 10.1099/vir.0.2008/002915-0
- April 17, 2009
- 09:00 AM
- 1,309 views
Polio returns to Minnesota
by vrr in virology blog
Poliovirus has been isolated from a patient who died last month in Minnesota. Is this incident related to the outbreak of polio in an Amish community in the same state four years ago?
Here are the facts about this case that have been released by the Minnesota Department of Health: the patient, an adult, had paralytic [...]... Read more »
Odoom, J., Yunus, Z., Dunn, G., Minor, P., & Martin, J. (2008) Changes in Population Dynamics during Long-Term Evolution of Sabin Type 1 Poliovirus in an Immunodeficient Patient. Journal of Virology, 82(18), 9179-9190. DOI: 10.1128/JVI.00468-08
- September 10, 2009
- 10:00 PM
- 1,303 views
Single dose of 2009 H1N1 vaccine immunogenic in adults
by Vincent Racaniello in virology blog
An Australian group has reported results of a clinical trial to determine the safety and immunogenicity of a 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus vaccine.... Read more »
Michael E. Greenberg, M.D., M.P.H., Michael H. Lai, B.Med.Sc., M.B., B.S., M.Med.Sc., Gunter F. Hartel, M.S., Ph.D., Christine H. Wichems, Ph.D., Charmaine Gittleson, B.Sc., M.B., B.Ch., Jillian Bennet, M.Sc., M.P.H., Gail Dawson, B.Pharm., Wilson Hu, M.D. (2009) Response after One Dose of a Monovalent Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Vaccine. New England Journal of Medicine. info:/10.1056/NEJMoa0907413
- September 15, 2009
- 08:00 AM
- 1,301 views
What if influenza virus did not reassort?
by Vincent Racaniello in virology blog
Would influenza virus be the same pathogen if it could not undergo reassortment of its segmented RNA genome? This is the question being asked in the wake of the development of a method to prevent the free assortment of influenza viral RNAs.... Read more »
Gao, Q., & Palese, P. (2009) Rewiring the RNAs of influenza virus to prevent reassortment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0908897106
- February 24, 2009
- 05:00 AM
- 1,292 views
Anti-HIV ribozyme: an alternative to HAART?
by vrr in virology blog
The treatment of AIDS patients with a combination of three or four antiviral drugs is known as HAART, or highly active antiretroviral therapy. Combination therapy has been effective for long-term control of infection, and represents one of the high points in AIDS research. The downside of HAART is that strict adherence to daily therapy must [...]... Read more »
Ronald T Mitsuyasu, Thomas C Merigan, Andrew Carr, Jerome A Zack, Mark A Winters, Cassy Workman, Mark Bloch, Jacob Lalezari, Stephen Becker, Lorna Thornton.... (2009) Phase 2 gene therapy trial of an anti-HIV ribozyme in autologous CD34 cells. Nature Medicine. DOI: 10.1038/nm.1932
- June 15, 2009
- 02:52 PM
- 1,281 views
A viral protease interferes with interferon
by Vincent Racaniello in virology blog
Viruses are known to evade the early, or innate, host defenses by interfering with the sensing of infection, production of IFN, and synthesis and activity of ISGs. Today we’ll examine the evidence that the function of one or more ISGs is blocked in poliovirus-infected cells.
When IFN is added to the medium of cultured cells, hundreds of ISGs [...]... Read more »
Morrison, J., & Racaniello, V. (2009) Proteinase 2Apro Is Essential for Enterovirus Replication in Type I Interferon-Treated Cells. Journal of Virology, 83(9), 4412-4422. DOI: 10.1128/JVI.02177-08
- April 1, 2009
- 10:00 AM
- 1,263 views
Negri bodies and rabies
by vrr in virology blog
Viral replication frequently leads to the accumulation of intracellular masses of virions or unassembled viral components in the cytoplasm or nucleus of the cell. These inclusion bodies often bear the name of the individual who discovered them - such as Guarnieri bodies in the cytoplasm of poxvirus infected cells, intranuclear Cowdry bodies in herpesvirus infected [...]... Read more »
Ménager, P., Roux, P., Mégret, F., Bourgeois, J., Le Sourd, A., Danckaert, A., Lafage, M., Préhaud, C., & Lafon, M. (2009) Toll-Like Receptor 3 (TLR3) Plays a Major Role in the Formation of Rabies Virus Negri Bodies. PLoS Pathogens, 5(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1000315
- April 3, 2009
- 10:00 AM
- 1,251 views
How herpes simplex virus exits latency
by vrr in virology blog
Many of us have experienced herpesvirus reactivation from latency. Suddenly a sore erupts on the lip, festers for a week, then subsides. Years later, for no apparent reason, it happens again. Did you ever wonder what causes these recurrent blisters?
Herpes simplex viruses are associated with latent infections, a type of persistent viral infection that lasts [...]... Read more »
Thompson, R., Preston, C., & Sawtell, N. (2009) De Novo Synthesis of VP16 Coordinates the Exit from HSV Latency In Vivo. PLoS Pathogens, 5(3). DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1000352
- September 18, 2009
- 08:00 AM
- 1,241 views
Interfering with interferon
by Vincent Racaniello in virology blog
During a discussion about blogging on the Coast to Coast Bio Podcast, it was suggested that science professors should spend more time writing about their research – by explaining what problems they are trying to solve, how they approach them, and why they are interesting. My goal here at virology blog is mainly to teach virology. But explaining what we do in my virology laboratory can be an effective instructional tool.... Read more »
Drahos J, & Racaniello VR. (2009) Cleavage of IPS-1 in cells infected with human rhinovirus. Journal of virology. PMID: 19740998
Barral, P., Sarkar, D., Fisher, P., & Racaniello, V. (2009) RIG-I is cleaved during picornavirus infection. Virology, 391(2), 171-176. DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2009.06.045
Barral, P., Morrison, J., Drahos, J., Gupta, P., Sarkar, D., Fisher, P., & Racaniello, V. (2007) MDA-5 Is Cleaved in Poliovirus-Infected Cells. Journal of Virology, 81(8), 3677-3684. DOI: 10.1128/JVI.01360-06
Papon L, Oteiza A, Imaizumi T, Kato H, Brocchi E, Lawson TG, Akira S, & Mechti N. (2009) The viral RNA recognition sensor RIG-I is degraded during encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) infection. Virology. PMID: 19733381
- March 18, 2009
- 10:00 AM
- 1,237 views
Chikungunya: An exotic virus on the move
by vrr in virology blog
I recall learning about chikungunya1 virus when I was a Ph.D. student in the late 1970s - only because its exotic name made an impression on me. The virus, first identified in Tanzania in 1953, causes severe rashes and joint pains, but is rarely fatal, and the infection was considered benign. The outbreaks were massive, [...]... Read more »
Enserink, M. (2007) INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Chikungunya: No Longer a Third World Disease. Science, 318(5858), 1860-1861. DOI: 10.1126/science.318.5858.1860
Vazeille, M., Moutailler, S., Coudrier, D., Rousseaux, C., Khun, H., Huerre, M., Thiria, J., Dehecq, J., Fontenille, D., Schuffenecker, I.... (2007) Two Chikungunya Isolates from the Outbreak of La Reunion (Indian Ocean) Exhibit Different Patterns of Infection in the Mosquito, Aedes albopictus. PLoS ONE, 2(11). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0001168
Tsetsarkin, K., Vanlandingham, D., McGee, C., & Higgs, S. (2007) A Single Mutation in Chikungunya Virus Affects Vector Specificity and Epidemic Potential. PLoS Pathogens, 3(12). DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.0030201
- April 24, 2009
- 09:00 AM
- 1,223 views
New swine influenza viruses in humans
by vrr in virology blog
A new strain of swine influenza virus has been recently isolated from seven persons in the US. Is it time to break out the swine flu vaccine of 1976?
Last week the CDC reported that swine influenza virus had been isolated from two children with respiratory illness in California. The cases were not linked and the [...]... Read more »
Weingartl, H., Albrecht, R., Lager, K., Babiuk, S., Marszal, P., Neufeld, J., Embury-Hyatt, C., Lekcharoensuk, P., Tumpey, T., Garcia-Sastre, A.... (2009) Experimental Infection of Pigs with the Human 1918 Pandemic Influenza Virus. Journal of Virology, 83(9), 4287-4296. DOI: 10.1128/JVI.02399-08
de Jong, J., Smith, D., Lapedes, A., Donatelli, I., Campitelli, L., Barigazzi, G., Van Reeth, K., Jones, T., Rimmelzwaan, G., Osterhaus, A.... (2007) Antigenic and Genetic Evolution of Swine Influenza A (H3N2) Viruses in Europe. Journal of Virology, 81(8), 4315-4322. DOI: 10.1128/JVI.02458-06
Van Reeth, K. (2007) Avian and swine influenza viruses: our current understanding of the zoonotic risk. Veterinary Research, 38(2), 243-260. DOI: 10.1051/vetres:2006062
- February 12, 2009
- 05:00 AM
- 1,219 views
Infectious DNA clones
by vrr in virology blog
The development of recombinant DNA methods by Cohen and Boyer in 1973, together with the discovery of reverse transcriptase by Temin and Baltimore in 1970, made it possible to introduce a mutation at any location in a viral genome. The essential reagent is an infectious DNA clone, a double-stranded DNA copy of the viral genome [...]... Read more »
Taniguchi T, Palmieri M, & Weissmann C. (1978) A Qbeta DNA-containing hybrid plasmid giving rise to Qbeta phage formation in the bacterial host [proceedings]. Annales de microbiologie, 129 B(4), 535-6. PMID: 754572
Lowy DR, Rands E, Chattopadhyay SK, Garon CF, & Hager GL. (1980) Molecular cloning of infectious integrated murine leukemia virus DNA from infected mouse cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 77(1), 614-8. PMID: 6244569
Racaniello, V., & Baltimore, D. (1981) Cloned poliovirus complementary DNA is infectious in mammalian cells. Science, 214(4523), 916-919. DOI: 10.1126/science.6272391
Schnell MJ, Mebatsion T, & Conzelmann KK. (1994) Infectious rabies viruses from cloned cDNA. The EMBO journal, 13(18), 4195-203. PMID: 7925265
KOBAYASHI, T., ANTAR, A., BOEHME, K., DANTHI, P., EBY, E., GUGLIELMI, K., HOLM, G., JOHNSON, E., MAGINNIS, M., & NAIK, S. (2007) A Plasmid-Based Reverse Genetics System for Animal Double-Stranded RNA Viruses. Cell Host , 1(2), 147-157. DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2007.03.003
- April 28, 2009
- 08:44 PM
- 1,218 views
Swine influenza, seasonality, and the northern hemisphere
by vrr in virology blog
I have received several questions about my assertion that the northern hemisphere is safe, at least until the fall, from an epidemic of A/California/09/2009 influenza virus. Here are two representative questions:
If I recall correctly, Spanish flu hit hardest during the summer and fall.
As for the swine flu, is it impossible (and why?) to see the [...]... Read more »
Viboud, C., Grais, R., Lafont, B., Miller, M., Simonsen, L., & , . (2005) Multinational Impact of the 1968 Hong Kong Influenza Pandemic: Evidence for a Smoldering Pandemic. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 192(2), 233-248. DOI: 10.1086/431150
- March 27, 2009
- 01:57 PM
- 1,210 views
Prevalence of human polyomaviruses
by vrr in virology blog
While immunosuppressive therapy can ameliorate a variety of diseases, one unfortunate side effect of the treatment is that it may lead to pathogenic infections by viruses which would otherwise be benign. An example is the brain infection PML which occurs when immunosuppression leads to replication of the polyomavirus JC. How many polyomaviruses do we have [...]... Read more »
Kean, J., Rao, S., Wang, M., & Garcea, R. (2009) Seroepidemiology of Human Polyomaviruses. PLoS Pathogens, 5(3). DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1000363
- June 2, 2009
- 12:09 PM
- 1,198 views
Pathogenesis of influenza in humans
by Vincent Racaniello in virology blog
When influenza virus is introduced into the respiratory tract, by aerosol or by contact with saliva or other respiratory secretions from an infected individual, it attaches to and replicates in epithelial cells. The virus replicates in cells of both the upper and lower respiratory tract. Viral replication combined with the immune response to infection (which [...]... Read more »
Carrat, F., Vergu, E., Ferguson, N., Lemaitre, M., Cauchemez, S., Leach, S., & Valleron, A. (2008) Time Lines of Infection and Disease in Human Influenza: A Review of Volunteer Challenge Studies. American Journal of Epidemiology, 167(7), 775-785. DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwm375
Stegemann, S., Dahlberg, S., Kröger, A., Gereke, M., Bruder, D., Henriques-Normark, B., & Gunzer, M. (2009) Increased Susceptibility for Superinfection with Streptococcus pneumoniae during Influenza Virus Infection Is Not Caused by TLR7-Mediated Lymphopenia. PLoS ONE, 4(3). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0004840
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