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Topic Review
Proprotein Convertases and Enveloped Viruses
There are seven known human coronaviruses (CoV), which are enveloped positive-stranded RNA viruses belonging to the orderNidoviralesand are mostly responsible for upper respiratory tract infections. All these coronaviruses exhibit a “crown-like” structure composed of a trimeric spike (S) protein. The S-protein is a ~180–200 kDa type I transmembrane protein, with the N-terminus facing the extracellular space and anchored to the viral membrane via its transmembrane domain followed by a C-terminal short tail facing the cytosol.
  • 1.2K
  • 08 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Antiviral Strategies against Arthritogenic Alphaviruses
Alphaviruses are members of the Togaviridae family that are mainly transmitted by arthropods such as mosquitoes. In the last decades, several alphaviruses have re-emerged causing outbreaks worldwide. Infections with the Old World alphaviruses (e.g. CHIKV, RRV) are primarily associated with polyarthritis and myalgia that can persist for months to years. On the other hand, New World alphaviruses such as VEEV cause mainly neurological disease. Despite the worldwide (re-)emergence of these viruses, there are no antivirals or vaccines available for the treatment or prevention of infections with alphaviruses. It is therefore of utmost importance to develop antiviral strategies against these viruses. We here provide an overview of the reported antiviral strategies against arthritogenic alphaviruses. In addition, we highlight the future perspectives for the development and the proper use of such antivirals.
  • 1.2K
  • 04 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Equine Influenza Virus
Equine influenza is a highly contagious disease caused by the H3N8 equine influenza virus (EIV), which is endemically distributed throughout the world. It infects equids, and interspecies transmission to dogs has been reported. The H3N8 Florida lineage, which is divided into clades 1 and 2, is the most representative lineage in the Americas. The EIV infects the respiratory system, affecting the ciliated epithelial cells and preventing the elimination of foreign bodies and substances. Certain factors related to the disease, such as an outdated vaccination plan, age, training, and close contact with other animals, favor the presentation of equine influenza.
  • 1.2K
  • 27 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Modeling Hepatotropic Viral Infections
The hepatotropic viruses A, B, C, D, and E, are the most common causes of viral infections that can lead to liver failure. Hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and hepatitis D virus (HDV) are normally transmitted through organ transplants, transfusions, sex, and injections. The HBV genome is a double-strand DNA, and this virus is classified into the genus of Orthohepadnavirus and the family of Hepadnaviridae. 
  • 1.2K
  • 27 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Human Coronaviruses
The ongoing pandemic of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), caused by the SARS-CoV-2 human coronavirus (HCoV), has brought the international scientific community before a state of emergency that needs to be addressed with intensive research for the discovery of pharmacological agents with antiviral activity. 
  • 1.2K
  • 23 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Phage-Based Vaccines for COVID-19
Phages are highly ubiquitous biological agents, which means they are ideal tools for molecular biology and recombinant DNA technology. The development of a phage display technology was a turning point in the design of phage-based vaccines. Phages are now recognized as universal adjuvant-free nanovaccine platforms. Phages are well-suited for vaccine design owing to their high stability in harsh conditions and simple and inexpensive large-scale production. Phage vaccines induce a strong and specific humoral response by targeted phage particles carrying the epitopes of SARS-CoV-2.
  • 1.2K
  • 28 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Evolution of Non-Polio Enteroviruses
Enteroviruses (EVs) are positive-sense RNA viruses, with over 50,000 nucleotide sequences publicly available as of October 9th, 2020. While most human infections are typically associated with mild respiratory symptoms, several different EV types have also been associated with severe human disease, especially acute flaccid paralysis (AFP), particularly with endemic members of the EV-B species and two pandemic types—EV-A71 and EV-D68—that appear to be responsible for recent widespread outbreaks. Phylogenetic analysis of the EV genus shows the evolutionary relatedness of different EV types. 
  • 1.2K
  • 16 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Chikungunya Virus
Arboviruses, in general, are a global threat due to their morbidity and mortality, which results in an important social and economic impact. Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), one of the most relevant arbovirus currently known, is a re-emergent virus that causes a disease named chikungunya fever, characterized by a severe arthralgia (joint pains) that can persist for several months or years in some individuals. Until now, no vaccine or specific antiviral drug is commercially available. Nitrogen heterocyclic scaffolds are found in medications, such as aristeromycin, favipiravir, fluorouracil, 6-azauridine, thioguanine, pyrimethamine, among others. New families of natural and synthetic nitrogen analogous compounds are reported to have significant anti-CHIKV effects. In the present work, we focus on these nitrogen-based heterocyclic compounds as an important class with CHIKV antiviral activity.
  • 1.2K
  • 16 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Malarial Protozoan Parasites Infection
Malaria is an infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites of the Plasmodium genus through the bite of female Anopheles mosquitoes, affecting 228 million people and causing 415 thousand deaths in 2018. Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) are the most recommended treatment for malaria; however, the emergence of multidrug resistance has unfortunately limited their effects and challenged the field.
  • 1.2K
  • 17 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Vaccine and Variant-modified Covid-19 Trajectories
Covid-19 transmission in US and UK have diverged 1.73 times faster than predicted by recursion models after November 2020. Transmission follows a 20% infection rate compared to the previous 10% rate, attributed to a more contagious variant of covid-19. The effect of vaccination on covid-19 trajectory is analysed for US data. Modelling indicates case numbers continue to rise for some time after vaccination.
  • 1.2K
  • 26 Jan 2021
Topic Review
HIV- and HERV-Cancer Paradigm
Animal retroviruses are known for their transforming potential, and this is also true for the ones hosted by humans, which have gathered expanding attention as one of the potent causative agents in various diseases, including specific cancer types. For instance, Human T Lymphotropic virus (HTLV) is a well-studied class of oncoviruses causing T cell leukemia, while human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) leads to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), which is linked to a series of defining cancers including Kaposi sarcoma, certain types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and cervical cancer. Of note, in addition to these “modern” exogenous retroviruses, our genome harbors a staggering number of human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs). HERVs are the genetic remnants of ancient retroviral germline infection of human ancestors and are typically silenced in normal tissues due to inactivating mutations and sequence loss. While some HERV elements have been appropriated and contribute to human physiological functions, others can be reactivated through epigenetic dysregulations to express retroviral elements and promote carcinogenesis. Conversely, HERV replication intermediates or protein products can also serve as intrinsic pathogen-associated molecular patterns that cause the immune system to interpret it as an exogenous infection, thereby stimulating immune responses against tumors. As such, HERVs have also been targeted as a potential internal strategy to sensitize tumor cells for promising immunotherapies. Further studies should help promote our understanding on the dynamic role of human retroviruses in cancer development including contribution from HIV and HERVs.
  • 1.2K
  • 27 Aug 2020
Topic Review
Sphingomonas Turrisvirgatae Bacteriophage vB_StuS_MMDA13
Sphingomonas turrisvirgatae is a recently described species within the Sphingomonas genus. This species is endowed of agarolytic activity, a feature never reported before among sphingomonads. The capability of Sphingomonas sp. MCT13 to degrade agar, suggests that this strain could be potentially interesting for industrial applications in the field of complex carbohydrates degradation. Sphingomonas is a very large and heterogeneous genus, and its huge biodiversity is responsible for the challenges of obtaining a reliable identification at the species level through conventional biochemical analyses. Indeed, bacteriophages specific for S. turrisvirgatae have been looked for, both as a rapid tool to identify and collect more isolates of this species, and for obtaining hints of its ecology. vB_StuS_MMDA13 was isolated from a surface freshwater sample, obtained from a pond near Viterbo (Italy), by using the Sphingomonas turrisvirgatae MCT13T strain as host. The phage is lytic, belongs to the Siphoviridae family, and, as such, represents the first characterized lytic siphovirus able to infect a Sphingomonas species. vB_StuS_MMDA13 has a genome of ≈ 64 kb which encodes 89 potential proteins. A module for the biosynthesis of 7-deazaguanine derivatives, with a unique organization, is also present. The lysis module, which includes the endolysin, a holin/antiholin system and a Rz/Rz1 system, does not share significant similarities with other viral proteins in the databases. At the genome level vB_StuS_MMDA13 is loosely related to the Pseudomonas aeruginosa-infecting Nipunaviruses; however, both the 7-deazaguanine derivatives biosynthetic- and the lysis-modules are very different from these and other related bacteriophages. According to these features, we feel that vB_StuS_MMDA13 should be regarded as the type strain of a newly discovered genus within the Siphoviridae family, which we propose to name Ememdadecimater-like virus, after the short name of the first characterized phage of the genus.
  • 1.2K
  • 28 Aug 2020
Topic Review
Plant Immunity
In the plant immune system, according to the ‘gene-for-gene’ model, a resistance (R) gene product in the plant specifically surveils a corresponding effector protein functioning as an avirulence (Avr) gene product.
  • 1.2K
  • 02 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Bluetongue Virus Vector Vaccines
In this work, we show a deep revision of the viral vector vaccines that have been developed to counteract bluetongue virus (BTV), an arthropod-borne disease that whips domestic and wild ruminants. We analyzed the main advantages and disadvantages of every of them, as well as the immunological features and efficacy that these candidates provided in both murine models and natural hosts.
  • 1.1K
  • 08 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus
The Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV), or EMC/2012 (HCoV-EMC/2012), is a novel positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus of the genus Betacoronavirus. Initially called novel coronavirus 2012 or simply novel coronavirus, it was first reported in 2012 after genome sequencing of a virus isolated from sputum samples from a person who fell ill in a 2012 outbreak of a new flu. As of July 2015, MERS-CoV cases have been reported in over 21 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Turkey, Oman, Algeria, Bangladesh, Indonesia (none were confirmed), Austria, the United Kingdom, South Korea, the United States, Mainland China, Thailand, and the Philippines. MERS-CoV is one of several viruses identified by WHO as a likely cause of a future epidemic. They list it for urgent research and development.
  • 1.1K
  • 27 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Human Norovirus GII.3
Noroviruses (NoVs) are a group of non-enveloped RNA viruses belonging to the Norovirus genus in the Caliciviridae family, and they are the leading cause of sporadic and epidemic nonbacterial acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in humans.
  • 1.1K
  • 28 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Monkeypox Virus in Nigeria
Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease caused by monkeypox virus (MPXV), which is a member of orthopoxvirus genus. The reemergence of MPXV in 2017 (at Bayelsa state) after 39 years of no reported case in Nigeria, and the export of travelers’ monkeypox (MPX) from Nigeria to other parts of the world, in 2018 and 2019, respectively, have raised concern that MPXV may have emerged to occupy the ecological and immunological niche vacated by smallpox virus. This review X-rays the current state of knowledge pertaining the infection biology, epidemiology, and evolution of MPXV in Nigeria and worldwide, especially with regard to the human, cellular, and viral factors that modulate the virus transmission dynamics, infection, and its maintenance in nature.
  • 1.1K
  • 25 Nov 2020
Topic Review
SARS-CoV-2 spike protein
The article by Suresh & Suzuki (2021) describes the finding of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein affecting human lung vascular cells and explains how the spike protein possibly increases the incidence of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Since the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein will be administered to millions of people as vaccines, it is critical to understand the effects of this protein on human cells to ensure that it does not promote long-term adverse health consequences.
  • 1.1K
  • 06 Jan 2021
Topic Review
HIV-1 Capsid
HIV-1 capsid has been recognized to have an important role as a structural protein that holds the viral genome, together with viral proteins essential for viral life cycle, such as the reverse transcriptase (RT) and the integrase (IN). The reverse transcription process takes place between the cytoplasm and the nucleus of the host cell, thus the Reverse Transcription Complexes (RTCs)/Pre-integration Complexes (PICs) are hosted in intact or partial cores. Early biochemical assays failed to identify the viral CA associated to the RTC/PIC, possibly due to the stringent detergent conditions used to fractionate the cells or to isolate the viral complexes. More recently, it has been observed that some host partners of capsid, such as Nup153 and CPSF6, can only bind multimeric CA proteins organized in hexamers. Those host factors are mainly located in the nuclear compartment, suggesting the entrance of the viral CA as multimeric structure inside the nucleus. Recent data show CA complexes within the nucleus having a different morphology from the cytoplasmic ones, clearly highlighting the remodeling of the viral cores during nuclear translocation. Thus, the multimeric CA complexes lead the viral genome into the host nuclear compartment, piloting the intranuclear journey of HIV-1 in order to successfully replicate.
  • 1.1K
  • 26 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Ubiquitin System
Ubiquitination of proteins is a post-translational modification process with many different cellular functions, including protein stability, immune signaling, antiviral functions and virus replication. While ubiquitination of viral proteins can be used by the host as a defense mechanism by destroying the incoming pathogen, viruses have adapted to take advantage of this cellular process. The ubiquitin system can be hijacked by viruses to enhance various steps of the replication cycle and increase pathogenesis. Emerging viruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), flaviviruses like Zika and dengue, as well as highly pathogenic viruses like Ebola and Nipah, have the ability to directly use the ubiquitination process to enhance their viral-replication cycle, and evade immune responses. Some of these mechanisms are conserved among different virus families, especially early during virus entry, providing an opportunity to develop broad-spectrum antivirals.
  • 1.1K
  • 16 Jun 2021
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