In this continuing series of blog posts, the Editor-in-Chief of Virology, Michael Emerman, recommends books chosen for their descriptions of the roles of viruses and viral disease in the broader contexts of human health, society and history. Here’s part 2, with a book about polio and another on influenza. Polio: An American Story – David…
Estimating the fraction of progeny virions that must incorporate APOBEC3G for suppression of productive HIV-1 infection Read the full article on ScienceDirect. The interaction between the human protein APOBEC3G (A3G) and the HIV protein Vif is a remarkable example of the evolutionary arms race between viruses and their hosts. A3G expressed in HIV infected cells…
Turnip crinkle virus coat protein inhibits the basal immune response to virus invasion in Arabidopsis by binding to the NAC transcription factor TIP Read the full article on ScienceDirect. The innate immune system used in any organism against a pathogen is a complicated dance of gene expression and protein interaction. Therefore a major challenge in…
Differential cleavage of IRES trans-acting factors (ITAFs) in cells infected by human rhinovirus Read the full article on ScienceDirect. Human rhinovirus (HRV) is a major causative agent of the common cold and has important health implications, especially for individuals suffering from asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Understanding HRV RNA replication and how it interacts…
In this new series of blog posts on Virology Highlights, the Editor-in-Chief of Virology, Michael Emerman, recommends reading material for virologists and others interested in viruses and their impacts. These are not textbooks or reference books, but rather books chosen for their descriptions of the roles of viruses and viral disease in the broader contexts…
Pandemic H1N1 influenza A directly induces a robust and acute inflammatory gene signature in primary human bronchial epithelial cells downstream of membrane fusion Read the full article on ScienceDirect. When the pandemic H1N1 flu virus emerged in 2009 (H1N1pdm) it was clear that infection in humans led to significant lung damage where disease was strikingly…
Methylation of translation elongation factor 1A by the METTL10-like See1 methyltransferase facilitates tombusvirus replication in yeast and plants Read the full article on ScienceDirect. Viruses are intracellular parasites that take advantage of the host cell’s resources, including subcellular membranes and host proteins for their replication. The multiplication of the viral RNA for the plant-infecting tombusviruses…
Metadata-driven comparative analysis tool for sequences (meta-CATS): An automated process for identifying significant sequence variations that correlate with virus attributes Read the full article on ScienceDirect. Interview with corresponding author Richard H. Scheuermann What problem does this method address? Viruses, especially those with RNA as their genetic material, evolve rapidly due to their high rates…
Specific sequences commonly found in the V3 domain of HIV-1 subtype C isolates affect the overall conformation of native Env and induce a neutralization-resistant phenotype independent of V1/V2 masking Read the full article on ScienceDirect. HIV-1 exists as multiple subtypes which vary by sequence and geographical distribution, with subtype C accounting for most of the…
Mitigation of variation observed in a peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) based HIV-1 neutralization assay by donor cell pooling Read the full article on ScienceDirect. Interview with first author Lindsay Wieczorek What problem does this method address? In this study, we pool peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from healthy donors to use as assay targets…
Modeling of the human rhinovirus C capsid suggests a novel topography with insights on receptor preference and immunogenicity Read the full article on ScienceDirect. Rhinoviruses (RV), the major causative agents of the common cold, fall into three species: A, B or C. The C species viruses eluded detection until 2006, despite causing up to half…
Dynamic changes in viral population structure and compartmentalization during chronic hepatitis C virus infection in children Read the full article on ScienceDirect. During chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, dynamic changes in viral population size and composition occur, thus facilitating viral escape to the host’s immune response and establishment of persistence. Although HCV replicates primarily…
The spread of Type 2 Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV) in North America: A phylogeographic approach Read the full article on ScienceDirect. We have witnessed in recent years a proliferation of phylogeny-based tools tailor-made for the study of viruses, which incorporate temporal, geographic, and genetic information to reveal their epidemiological history and dynamics.…
Cascade regulation of vaccinia virus gene expression is modulated by multistage promoters Read the full article on ScienceDirect. Poxviruses are DNA viruses noted for their ability to replicate in the cytoplasm, their medical importance and their usefulness as vaccine vectors. Replication outside the nucleus relies on poxvirus-encoded proteins for genome replication and transcription. Transcription mapping…
Chemical cross-linking of HIV-1 Env for direct TLR7/8 ligand conjugation compromises recognition of conserved antigenic determinants Read the full article on ScienceDirect. Attaching compounds that stimulate the immune system to protein antigens of viruses could potentially be a way to produce non-replicating subunit vaccines that act as their own adjuvants. Part of the surface spikes…