The novel human coronavirus disease COVID-19 has become the fifth documented pandemic since the 1918 flu pandemic. COVID-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China, and subsequently spread worldwide. The ...coronavirus was officially named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses based on phylogenetic analysis. SARS-CoV-2 is believed to be a spillover of an animal coronavirus and later adapted the ability of human-to-human transmission. Because the virus is highly contagious, it rapidly spreads and continuously evolves in the human population. In this review article, we discuss the basic properties, potential origin, and evolution of the novel human coronavirus. These factors may be critical for studies of pathogenicity, antiviral designs, and vaccine development against the virus.
Internal ribosome entry sites (IRESs) can be found in the mRNA of many viruses as well as in cellular genes involved in the stress response, cell cycle, and apoptosis. IRES-mediated translation can ...occur when dominant cap-dependent translation is inhibited, and viruses can take advantage of this to subvert host translation machinery. In this review, we focus on the four major types of IRES identified in RNA viruses, and outline their distinct structural properties and requirements of translational factors. We further discuss auxiliary host factors known as IRES trans -acting factors (ITAFs), which are involved in the modulation of optimal IRES activity. Currently known strategies employed by viruses to harness ITAFs and regulate IRES activity are also highlighted.
Influenza is one of the most common human respiratory diseases, and represents a serious public health concern. However, the high mutability of influenza viruses has hampered vaccine development, and ...resistant strains to existing anti-viral drugs have also emerged. Novel anti-influenza therapies are urgently needed, and in this study, we describe the anti-viral properties of a Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) cold water extract. Anti-viral effects have previously been reported for extracts and specific substances derived from Spirulina, and here we show that this Spirulina cold water extract has low cellular toxicity, and is well-tolerated in animal models at one dose as high as 5,000 mg/kg, or 3,000 mg/kg/day for 14 successive days. Anti-flu efficacy studies revealed that the Spirulina extract inhibited viral plaque formation in a broad range of influenza viruses, including oseltamivir-resistant strains. Spirulina extract was found to act at an early stage of infection to reduce virus yields in cells and improve survival in influenza-infected mice, with inhibition of influenza hemagglutination identified as one of the mechanisms involved. Together, these results suggest that the cold water extract of Spirulina might serve as a safe and effective therapeutic agent to manage influenza outbreaks, and further clinical investigation may be warranted.
Real-time reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) is currently the most sensitive method to detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ...(COVID-19). However, the correlation between detectable viral RNA and culturable virus in clinical specimens remains unclear. Here, we performed virus culture for 60 specimens that were confirmed to be positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA by real-time RT-PCR. The virus could be successfully isolated from 12 throat and nine nasopharyngeal swabs and two sputum specimens. The lowest copy number required for virus isolation was determined to be 5.4, 6.0, and 5.7 log
genome copies/ml sample for detecting the
,
, and
genes, respectively. We further examined the correlation of genome copy number and virus isolation in different regions of the viral genome, demonstrating that culturable specimens are characterized by high copy numbers with a linear correlation observed between copy numbers of amplicons targeting structural and nonstructural regions. Overall, these results indicate that in addition to the copy number, the integrity of the viral genome should be considered when evaluating the infectivity of clinical SARS-CoV-2 specimens.
Enteroviruses are a group of positive-sense single stranded viruses that belong to the Picornaviridae family. Most enteroviruses infect humans from the gastrointestinal tract and cause mild symptoms. ...However, several enteroviruses can invade the central nervous system (CNS) and result in various neurological symptoms that are correlated to mortality associated with enteroviral infections. In recent years, large outbreaks of enteroviruses occurred worldwide. Therefore, these neurotropic enteroviruses have been deemed as re-emerging pathogens. Although these viruses are becoming large threats to public health, our understanding of these viruses, especially for non-polio enteroviruses, is limited. In this article, we review recent advances in the trafficking of these pathogens from the peripheral to the central nervous system, compare their cell tropism, and discuss the effects of viral infections in their host neuronal cells.
Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) is an important emerging virus posing a threat to children under five years old. EV-A71 infection in infants or young children can cause hand-foot-and-mouth disease, ...herpangina, or severe neurological complications. However, there are still no effective antivirals for treatment of these infections. In this review, we summarize the antiviral compounds developed to date based on various targets of the EV-A71 life cycle. Moreover, development of a vaccine would be the most effective approach to prevent EV-A71 infection. Therefore, we also summarize the development and clinical progress of various candidate EV-A71 vaccines, including inactivated whole virus, recombinant VP1 protein, synthetic peptides, viral-like particles, and live attenuated vaccines.
Enterovirus and Encephalitis Chen, Bo-Shiun; Lee, Hou-Chen; Lee, Kuo-Ming ...
Frontiers in microbiology,
02/2020, Volume:
11
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Enterovirus-induced infection of the central nervous system (CNS) results in acute inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) and constitutes a significant global burden to human health. These viruses ...are thought to be highly cytolytic, therefore normal brain function could be greatly compromised following enteroviral infection of the CNS. A further layer of complexity is added by evidence showing that some enteroviruses may establish a persistent infection within the CNS and eventually lead to pathogenesis of certain neurodegenerative disorders. Interestingly, enterovirus encephalitis is particularly common among young children, suggesting a potential causal link between the development of the neuroimmune system and enteroviral neuroinvasion. Although the CNS involvement in enterovirus infections is a relatively rare complication, it represents a serious underlying cause of mortality. Here we review a selection of enteroviruses that infect the CNS and discuss recent advances in the characterization of these enteroviruses with regard to their routes of CNS infection, tropism, virulence, and immune responses.
Most individuals infected with or vaccinated against COVID-19 develop antigenic neutralizing immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Although neutralizing antibodies ...are biomarkers of the adaptive immune response, their mere presence is insufficient to explain the protection afforded against the disease or its pathology. IgG exhibits other secondary effector functions that activate innate immune components, including complement, natural killer cells, and macrophages. The affinity for effector cells depends on the isotypes and glycosylation of IgG antibodies. The anti-spike IgG titer should be sufficient to provide significant Fc-mediated effects in severe COVID-19, mRNA, and protein subunit vaccinations. In combination with aberrant effector cells, pro-inflammatory afucosylated IgG1 and IgG3 may be detrimental in severe COVID-19. The antibody response of mRNA vaccines leads to higher fucosylation and a less inflammatory IgG profile, with a long-term shift to IgG4, which is correlated with protection from disease.
Picornaviruses cause several diseases, not only in humans but also in various animal hosts. For instance, human enteroviruses can cause hand-foot-and-mouth disease, herpangina, myocarditis, acute ...flaccid paralysis, acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis, severe neurological complications, including brainstem encephalitis, meningitis and poliomyelitis, and even death. The interaction between the virus and the host is important for viral replication, virulence and pathogenicity. This article reviews studies of the functions of viral and host factors that are involved in the life cycle of picornavirus. The interactions of viral capsid proteins with host cell receptors is discussed first, and the mechanisms by which the viral and host cell factors are involved in viral replication, viral translation and the switch from translation to RNA replication are then addressed. Understanding how cellular proteins interact with viral RNA or viral proteins, as well as the roles of each in viral infection, will provide insights for the design of novel antiviral agents based on these interactions.
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