The Open Virology Journal最新文献

Background: In the field of forensic medicine, it is very difficult to know prior to autopsy what kind of virus has infected a body.

Objective: We assessed the potential of the genome profiling (GP) method, which was developed in the field of bioengineering, to identify viruses belonging to one species.

Method: Two species in the same family, JC and BK viruses, were used in this study. Using plasmid samples, we compared the findings of molecular phylogenetic analysis using conventional genome sequencing with the results of cluster analysis using the random PCR-based GP method and discussed whether the GP method can be used to determine viral species.

Results: It was possible to distinguish these two different viral species. In addition to this, in our trial we could also detect the JC virus from a clinical sample.

Conclusion: This method does not require special reagent sets for each viral species. Though our findings are still in the trial period, the GP method may be a simple, easy, and economical tool to detect viral species in the near future.

Adenoviral vectors are now being explored as vaccine carriers to prevent infectious diseases in humans and animals. There are two strategies aimed at the expression of a vaccine antigen by adenoviral vectors. The first includes an insertion of the foreign gene expression cassette into the E1 region. The second strategy is antigen incorporation into the viral capsid proteins. To extend this methodology, we have searched for new sites at the human adenovirus serotype 5 major capsid protein hexon for a vaccine antigen insertion. To this end, we utilized sites in the hexon hypervariable region (HVR) 7, 8 and 9 to display a 15-mer peptide containing the main neutralizing epitope of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus. However, we could not rescue the viruses with the insertions of the peptide into HVR 8 and 9, consistent with the viruses being unable to tolerate insertions at these sites. In contrast, the virus with the insertion of the peptide in HVR 7 was viable - growing well in cell culture and the inserted peptide was exposed on the virion surface.

Although rotavirus vaccines are available, rotaviruses remain the major cause of childhood diarrheal disease worldwide. The Rotarix (GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals Rixensart, Belgium) and RotaTeq (Merck and Co., Inc. Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, USA) vaccines are effective for reducing the morbidity and mortality of rotavirus infection. This article aims to assess the epidemiology of rotaviral gastroenteritis and the efficacy and effectiveness of licensed rotavirus vaccines. This review concludes by presenting challenges in the field that require further exploration by and perspectives from basic and translational research in the future.

Influenza virus is associated with upper respiratory tract infections. The fourth influenza pandemic was declared in 2009. The aim of this study was to determine the genetic variability of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic virus circulating in Paraguay. Nasal swabs were collected from 181 patients with flu symptoms managed at the Hospital of the Medical School in Asunción, Paraguay, between August and October 2009. Virus detection was carried out by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, followed by sequencing of the hemagglutinin and neuraminidase genes, and phylogenetic analysis. H1N1pdm09 was detected in 14.9% (27/181) of the suspected cases. Analysis of 13 samples showed that these viruses the clustered in a single genetic group. Neither the mutation related to exacerbation of disease (D239G in hemagglutinin) nor that related to antiviral resistance (H275Y in neuraminidase), both detected in neighboring countries, were found. This genetic analysis of H1N1pdm09 will help to understand the spread of the disease.

We and others demonstrated that the contact between NS5A and the host factor CypA is critical for HCV replication. CypI, by disrupting NS5A-CypA complexes, block HCV replication both in vitro and in patients. Since NS5A also binds to PKR, a central component of the IFN response, we investigated the possibility of a relationship between CypA, NS5A and PKR in the IFN response to HCV. HCV-infected cells treated with CypI, DAAs or IFN were analyzed for the expression and activation of various components of the innate response. We found that CypI (cyclosporine A, alisporivir, NIM811 and sanglifehrins), drastically prevented the activation/phosphorylation, but not the expression of IFN-induced PKR in HCV-infected cells. CypI had no effect on the expression or phosphorylation of other components of the innate response such as eiF2, NF-kB, IRF3, IRF9, STAT1 and STAT2, suggesting a specific effect on PKR. No significant activation of IFN-induced PKR was observed in the absence of HCV. Importantly, we found that several classes of DAAs such as NS3/4A protease, NS5B polymerase and NS5A inhibitors also prevented PKR activation. Furthermore, we found that PKR activation by the dsRNA mimic poly I:C cannot be prevented by CypI or DAAs. Our findings suggest that CypI do not have a unique effect on PKR activation, but rather the suppression of HCV replication by any anti-HCV inhibitor, abrogates PKR activation induced by IFN. Moreover, they suggest that the accumulation of dsRNA intermediates allows HCV to exploit the activation of PKR to counteract the IFN response.

HIV/AIDS is an important public health problem globally. An affordable, easy-to-deliver and protective HIV vaccine is therefore required to curb the pandemic from spreading further. Recombinant Salmonella bacteria can be harnessed to vector HIV antigens or DNA vaccines to the immune system for induction of specific protective immunity. These are capable of activating the innate, humoral and cellular immune responses at both mucosal and systemic compartments. Several studies have already demonstrated the utility of live recombinant Salmonella in delivering expressed foreign antigens as well as DNA vaccines to the host immune system. This review gives an overview of the studies in which recombinant Salmonella bacteria were used to vector HIV/AIDS antigens and DNA vaccines. Most of the recombinant Salmonella-based HIV/AIDS vaccines developed so far have only been tested in animals (mainly mice) and are yet to reach human trials.

We describe a case of a severe neonatal infection by herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 acquired postnatally from his father. The delivery and the first days of life were normal. He developed liver failure and disseminated intravascular coagulation when he was 19 days old. He was treated with intravenous acyclovir and the outcome was favorable. This case underlines that prevention of post-natal transmission of HSV merits to be considered in educational pregnancy programs directed at mothers and fathers.

Adeno-associated virus 2 (AAV2) is a helpervirus-dependent parvovirus with a bi-phasic life cycle comprising latency in absence and lytic replication in presence of a helpervirus, such as adenovirus (Ad) or herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). Helpervirus-supported AAV2 replication takes place in replication compartments (RCs) in the cell nucleus where virus DNA replication and transcription occur. RCs consist of a defined set of helper virus-, AAV2-, and cellular proteins. Here we compare the profile of cellular proteins recruited into AAV2 RCs or identified in Rep78-associated complexes when either Ad or HSV-1 is the helpervirus, and we discuss the potential roles of some of these proteins in AAV2 and helpervirus infection.