Uirusu最新文献

Cervical cancer is primarily caused by infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV) and has become a disease that can be effectively prevented through vaccination and cervical screening. This review briefly summarises the virological background, development process, and actual implementation of HPV prophylactic vaccines, which are a key pillar of prevention. With prophylactic HPV vaccination and cervical screening, the incidence of HPV-related cancers is expected to decrease significantly. The ultimate goal is to achieve a society with "One Less Worry" about HPV infections and the cancers they cause.

The negative-strand RNA viruses are a group that includes many important pathogens. They share the common mechanism of genome replication and mRNA transcription. The viruses possess multifunctional RNA-dependent RNA polymerase that is responsible for all RNA synthesis activity, and the genome RNA is entirely covered with viral nucleoprotein. We aimed to understand these viruses in general by identifying the similarities and differences among each virus group. The viruses belonging to the family Paramyxoviridae in the order Mononegavirales is known to follow the "Rule of Six", which states that the number of nucleotides in the genome must be a multiple of six to be replicated. We have succeeded in generating a paramyxovirus that does not follow the Rule of Six and challenged to elucidate the significance of the Rule of Six using this recombinant virus. We also performed functional analysis of the promoter structure at the end of the genome of the viruses belonging to the order Bunyavirales and revealed unique features of RNA synthesis that differ from other segmented RNA viruses in the family Nairoviridae. Furthermore, we elucidated the unique mechanism of the Borna disease virus to establish persistent infection in the nucleus that is an exceptional property among RNA viruses.

In Japan, around 3,000 females have died of cervical cancer annually. Cervical cancer is caused by sexually transmitted infections of the human papillomavirus (HPV); it is preventable by vaccinations against oncogenic HPV types, such as types 16 and 18. In Japan, the proactive recommendations for HPV vaccinations were suspended in June 2013 due to public concerns about neuropsychological "diverse symptoms" following HPV vaccinations. The suspension resulted in the vaccination rate less than 1% among the eligible population. In April 2022, the Japanese government resumed the proactive HPV vaccination recommendations after 9 years of the suspension. Many Japanese people, however, still have concerns about the "diverse symptoms" as adverse reactions following HPV vaccinations. In this article, we critically evaluated the manuscripts cited in the HPV vaccine lawsuits in Japan, including computational and animal studies, which have been used as the theoretical basis for how HPV vaccinations could induce the "diverse symptoms." We concluded that all the manuscripts had scientific flaws, which should not be used to prove that HPV vaccinations could induce the adverse reactions. We wish that our current evaluation would contribute to eliminating baseless concerns about HPV vaccines, eventually increasing the rate of HPV vaccinations in Japan.

Rabies is a viral infectious disease affecting the central nervous system that is generally transmitted from mammals such as dogs. This disease is characterized by a long incubation period (a few months on average) and a high mortality rate of almost 100%. While there are highly effective rabies vaccines, no reliable treatment has been established to date. In Japan, the disease was successfully eradicated in 1957 as a result of exhaustive control measures including vaccination of dogs in accordance with the Rabies Prevention Law. Since then, Japan has continued to take rabies control measures based on this law, which are stricter than international standards. On the other hand, there have been a total of four imported human rabies cases found in Japan. The fourth imported case confirmed in Toyohashi City in May 2020 is still fresh in our minds. In April 2022, special measures were taken to quarantine dogs brought by evacuees from Ukraine to Japan, and many people expressed concern about the introduction of rabies into Japan. More recently, in February 2024, a dog that bit several people in Gunma Prefecture did not receive the shots required by the Rabies Prevention Law, and there was strong concern about rabies and the risk of its occurrence. In this article, we focus on rabies, which has recently attracted a great deal of attention, and describe the nature of this infectious disease. We also outline the current situations of rabies control and medical care in Japan and other countries and discuss the future issues.

Advanced cell culture systems including human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells and organoids enable the generation of intricate structural and functional organ models in vitro. Application of these advanced cell culture systems to research on a wide range of diseases including infectious diseases is underway. Due to the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, advanced cell culture systems in the virus research field are rapidly becoming popular. Respiratory models generated using human iPS cells and organoid technology are useful for analyzing respiratory cell responses caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. However, there is still room for the development of an apical-out model, which is essential for simple virus infection experiments, and a model that can analyze host responses in the alveoli and airways. In this study, we developed human iPS cell-derived alveolar and airway models with an apical-out structure by using a micropatterning plate. In the alveolar model, we confirmed that this model contains abundant type II alveolar epithelial (AT2) cells, which are the target cells of SARS-CoV-2 in the alveoli. In the airway model, we confirmed that this model contains abundant ciliated cells, which are the target cells of SARS-CoV-2 in the airway. Using our alveolar and airway models, we can analyze the differences in infection efficiency and host response of each SARS-CoV-2 variant. We hope that the human iPS cell-derived alveolar and airway models generated using a micropatterning plate will be used to analyze not only SARS-CoV-2 but also a wide range of respiratory viruses.

The era of big data has begun in life sciences, and virology is no exception. Especially since COVID-19, virology has become one of the most genome data-rich fields in life sciences. In this article, I will introduce the new paradigm of "understanding and predicting viral epidemics and evolution, " made possible by the emergence of vast amounts of genome data, focusing on my research to date. Additionally, I would like to introduce our efforts toward advancing the field of viral informatics.

In the first quarter of the 21st century, infectious diseases caused by RNA viruses such as SARS, pandemic influenza viruses, MERS, Zika virus, and SARS-CoV-2 have spread. When such emerging and re-emerging viruses occur and spread, it is important for public health to quickly analyze the characteristics of these viruses and develop preventive measures. We found that the Zika virus causes damage to the testes, leading to testicular atrophy; that a vaccine based on mosquito salivary gland proteins suppresses mosquito-borne Zika virus transmission/infection; that the pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants BA.2, BA.4, and BA.5 isolated from patients is comparable to that of Omicron BA.1; and that a strategy targeting regulatory T cells to enhance vaccine efficacy is effective. Here, I would like to briefly discuss these findings.