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Topic Review
Phages for Africa
Livestock farming is vital to Sub Saharan Africa for food supply, source of employment, and income. However, antibiotic use in livestock farming is rampant leading to the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Because of this rise in antibiotic resistance, there is a growing need to find alternatives to antibiotics in the preventio, treatment and control of bacterial infections in livestock.An alternative that is going through a renaissance is the use of bacteriophages (phages), viruses that infect and kill bacteria, which have been used and administered as pharmaceutical agents even before the discovery of antibiotics. Phages are the most abundant and ubiquitous organisms on earth, and can be found in natural and man-made environments, especially those in which their bacterial host thrives. Phage therapy has therefore been proposed as one of the most promising alternatives for the treatment of infections in livestock contributing towards mitigation of antimicrobial resistance. 
  • 903
  • 08 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Influenza A and COVID-19
Influenza is a highly known contagious viral infection that has been responsible for the death of many people in history with pandemics. These pandemics have been occurring every 10 to 30 years in the last century. The most recent global pandemic prior to COVID-19 was the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemic. A decade ago, the H1N1 virus caused 12,500 deaths in just 19 months globally. Now, again, the world has been challenged with another pandemic. COVID-19 and influenza viruses have very similar signs, and symptoms may explain the similar origin. According to a recent World Health Organization survey, the COVID-19 attack and disease burden in children have been much lower than influenza outbreaks, and the secondary household attack rate has also been low. This is in stark contrast to reports of the virus spreading quickly in enclosed spaces like hospitals or cruise ships, as well as a high prevalence of healthcare-associated infections.
  • 901
  • 01 Jul 2021
Topic Review
MicroRNAs for Predicting Cancer Patients’ Susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease that is caused by a highly contagious and severe acute respiratory syndrome—coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This infection started to spread across the world in 2019 and rapidly turned into a global pandemic, causing an urgent necessity for treatment strategies development. The mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 can trigger an immune response, providing genetic information that allows the production of spike glycoproteins. MiRNAs play a crucial role in diverse key cellular processes, including antiviral defense. Several miRNAs are described as key factors in SARS-CoV-2 human infection through the regulation of ACE2 levels and by the inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 replication and spike expression. Consequently, these molecules have been considered as highly promising biomarkers. In numerous human malignancies, it has been recognized that miRNAs expression is dysregulated. Since miRNAs can target SARS-CoV-2-associated mRNAs, in cancer patients, the deregulation of these molecules can impair the immune response to the vaccines. 
  • 901
  • 26 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Study HuNoV in Gnotobiotic Pigs
Human noroviruses (HuNoVs) are the leading causative agents of epidemic and sporadic acute gastroenteritis that affect people of all ages worldwide. They are responsible for over 20% of all the AGE cases annually. Among susceptible individuals, it has been shown that very low inoculum doses are sufficient to generate a full course of infection with high titers of virus shed in feces. Very few dose–response studies have been carried out to determine the median infectious dose of HuNoVs. Here, we evaluated the median infectious dose (ID50) and diarrhea dose (DD50) of the GII.4/2003 variant of HuNoV (Cin-2) in the gnotobiotic pig model of HuNoV infection and disease. Using different mathematical approaches (classical, and contemporary methods), we estimated the ID50 and DD50 to be between 2400–3400 RNA copies, and 21,000–38,000 RNA copies, respectively. Contemporary dose–response models offer greater flexibility and accuracy in estimating ID50. In contrast to classical methods of endpoint estimation, dose–response modelling allows seamless analyses of data that may include inconsistent dilution factors between doses or numbers of subjects per dose group, or small numbers of subjects. Although this investigation is consistent with state-of-the-art ID50 determinations and offers an advancement in clinical data analysis, it is important to underscore that such analyses remain confounded by pathogen aggregation. Regardless, challenging virus strain ID50 determination is crucial for identifying the true infectiousness of HuNoVs and for the accurate evaluation of protective efficacies in pre-clinical studies of therapeutics, vaccines and other prophylactics using this reliable animal model.
  • 899
  • 10 Sep 2020
Topic Review
Hepatitis-B-Virus-Induced Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a global health challenge, causing 600,000 deaths each year. Infectious factors, including hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis D virus (HDV), have long been considered the major risk factors for the development and progression of HCC. These pathogens induce hepatocyte transformation through a variety of mechanisms, including insertional mutations caused by viral gene integration, epigenetic changes, and the induction of long-term immune dysfunction.
  • 899
  • 17 May 2023
Topic Review
Antibodies against EEEV or WEEV
The three encephalitic alphaviruses, namely, the Venezuelan, eastern, and western equine encephalitis viruses (VEEV, EEEV, and WEEV), are classified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as biothreat agents.
  • 898
  • 24 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Live Chimeric Vaccines against Human Metapneumovirus
Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is an important human pathogen that, along with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), is a major cause of respiratory tract infections in young infants. Recombinant chimeric viruses expressing antigens of other viruses can be generated by reverse genetics and used for simultaneous immunization against more than one pathogen. This approach can result in the development of promising vaccine candidates against HMPV, and several studies have indeed validated viral vectors expressing HMPV antigens.
  • 897
  • 28 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Host Cell Signatures within Beta-Herpes Virions
Beta-herpesviruses infect a large proportion of the human population and are associated with a variety of pathophysiological conditions. They are DNA viruses with a large genome that encodes a relatively large number of gene products for the construction of new viral progeny and the establishment of a complex series of interactions with infected cells.
  • 897
  • 22 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Gastric Cancer and Viruses
Gastric cancer (GC) is a significant health concern worldwide, with a GLOBOCAN estimate of 1.08 million novel cases in 2020. It is the leading cause of disability-adjusted life years lost to cancer, with the fourth most common cancer in males and the fifth most common cancer in females. Strategies are pursued across the globe to prevent gastric cancer progression as a significant fraction of gastric cancers have been linked to various pathogenic (bacterial and viral) infections.
  • 894
  • 12 May 2022
Topic Review
Post-COVID Complications
Millions of people suffered badly due to COVID as well as post-COVID lung infections that were hard to comprehend. It is evident from numerous case studies that many COVID-19 patients who are released from nursing homes or hospitals are more prone to developing multi-organ dysfunction than the general population. Understanding the pathophysiology of COVID-19 and its impact on various organ systems is crucial for developing effective treatment strategies and managing long-term health consequences. 
  • 893
  • 28 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Endocytic Properties of vGPCRs
Endocytosis is a fundamental process involved in trafficking of various extracellular and transmembrane molecules from the cell surface to its interior. This enables cells to communicate and respond to external environments, maintain cellular homeostasis, and transduce signals. G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) constitute a family of receptors with seven transmembrane alpha-helical domains (7TM receptors) expressed at the cell surface, where they regulate physiological and pathological cellular processes. Several herpesviruses encode receptors (vGPCRs) which benefits the virus by avoiding host immune surveillance, supporting viral dissemination, and thereby establishing widespread and lifelong infection, processes where receptor signaling and/or endocytosis seem central. vGPCRs are rising as potential drug targets as exemplified by the cytomegalovirus-encoded receptor US28, where its constitutive internalization has been exploited for selective drug delivery in virus infected cells. Therefore, studying GPCR trafficking is of great importance.
  • 893
  • 30 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Immune Response to SARS-CoV-2 Infection
In December 2019, a novel coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 was first detected in Wuhan, China, causing outbreaks of the coronavirus disease COVID-19 that has now spread globally. For this reason, The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a public health emergency in March 2020. People living with pre-existing conditions such as obesity, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes (T2D), and chronic kidney and lung diseases, are prone to develop severe forms of disease with fatal outcomes. Metabolic diseases such as obesity and T2D alter the balance of innate and adaptive responses. Both diseases share common features characterized by augmented adiposity associated with a chronic systemic low-grade inflammation, senescence, immunoglobulin glycation, and abnormalities in the number and function of adaptive immune cells. In obese and T2D patients infected by SARS-CoV-2, where immune cells are already hampered, this response appears to be stronger.
  • 892
  • 08 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Major Factors That Affect cccDNA Half-Life
Eradication of covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) is an ideal goal of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) therapy. Understanding the changes in the cccDNA pool during therapy provides a basis for developing CHB treatment strategies. Central to the description of cccDNA dynamics is a parameter called cccDNA half-life. CccDNA half-life is not an intrinsic property of cccDNA molecules, but a description of an observed phenomenon characterized by cccDNA pool decline. Since cccDNA has to be in the nuclei of host cells to function, the half-life of cccDNA is determined by the state and destiny of the host cells.
  • 892
  • 08 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Antiviral Properties of Algal Polysaccharides
Polysaccharides are a group of either similar or different saccharides that are connected with glycosidic bonds. These polysaccharide molecules inhibit viral replication by interfering in any stage of the viral life cycle, which generally takes place in phases such as the adsorption of the virus by the host cells, penetration into the host cell, uncoating of capsids, assembly and release of viral particles, or via inactivating virions before infection. The life cycle of viruses varies from species to species; thus, the action mechanisms of the algal polysaccharides also varies with the nature of the virus species.
  • 891
  • 17 Aug 2023
Topic Review
Viral Ejection Proteins
Genes encoding ejection proteins are commonly found in Podoviridae phages that infect Gram-negative bacteria, including Enterobacteriaceae, Mycobacteria, Pseudomonadaceae, and Cyanobacteria.
  • 889
  • 11 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Geminivirus–Host Interactions
In plant−virus interactions, the plant immune system and virulence strategies are under constant pressure for dominance, and the balance of these opposing selection pressures can result in disease or resistance. The naturally evolving plant antiviral immune defense consists of a multilayered perception system represented by pattern recognition receptors (PRR) and resistance (R) proteins similarly to the nonviral pathogen innate defenses. Another layer of antiviral immunity, signaling via a cell surface receptor-like kinase to inhibit host and viral mRNA translation, has been identified as a virulence target of the geminivirus nuclear shuttle protein. The Geminiviridae family comprises broad-host range viruses that cause devastating plant diseases in a large variety of relevant crops and vegetables and hence have evolved a repertoire of immune-suppressing functions.
  • 884
  • 11 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Hepatitis E Virus and Host-Cell
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is one of the major causes of acute, self-limiting viral hepatitis (AVH) which is now recognized as a global health problem in both developing and industrialized regions. According to WHO estimates in 2015, annually 20 million HEV infections cause 3.3 million symptomatic cases and account for 3.3% of the mortality due to viral hepatitis. The feco-oral route transmission of HEV through contaminated drinking water is attributed to large-scale epidemics in developing countries while zoonotic transmission through the consumption of undercooked meat, blood transfusions, and organ transplantation are considered as major sources of HEV infections in developed nations.
  • 882
  • 10 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Surveillance of Avian Influenza Viruses
The measures employed for curbing AI outbreaks and morbidities have played major roles in the journey towards global AI control. Although commendable progress has been made, more effective surveillance programmes, treatment regimens and prophylactic vaccines, which are capable of tackling the rapidly evolving AIV need to be developed. Effective control measures are the best option at preventing an AI panzootic which at present seems inevitable. To achieve this, AIV surveillance serves as an important tool for the understanding of the evolutionary patterns and epidemiology of AIVs.
  • 879
  • 23 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Delta Variant (B.1.617.2) of SARS-CoV-2
Rapid antigen tests (RATs) for COVID-19 based on lateral flow immunoassays are useful for rapid diagnosis in a variety of settings. Although many kinds of RATs are available, their respective sensitivity has not been compared. 
  • 879
  • 09 Nov 2021
Topic Review
HIV-1 Envelope
The RV144 trial represents the only vaccine trial to demonstrate any protective effect against HIV-1 infection. While the reason(s) for this protection are still being evaluated, it serves as justification for widespread efforts aimed at developing new, more effective HIV-1 vaccines. HIV-1 immunogens and host antibody responses to these immunogens are crucial to informing vaccine design. While the envelope (Env) protein is the only viral protein present on the surface of virions, it exists in a complex trimeric conformation and is decorated with an array of variable N-linked glycans, making it an important but difficult target for vaccine design.
  • 879
  • 25 Nov 2021
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