Month: September 2022

HOST SUPPRESSION. "With infection progression a downward trend for abundance of many host cell proteins was observed. Very likely, although ribosomal proteins are in general highly abundant and are expressed constitutively, accessibility of ribosomes for translation of cellular proteins becomes restricted due to enhanced translation of virus proteins." https://lnkd.in/eRMPu_B View in LinkedIn

PERSISTENT AND FREQUENT. "Between 50 and 80 percent of people in the U.S. have been infected by HCMV by the time they reach 40. Infections are rarely serious, but the virus does not leave the body. CMV is also the most common congenital infection in the U.S., and occurs when a mother contracts CMV during pregnancy and passes the virus to her unborn child." https://lnkd.in/eW2hh6T View in LinkedIn

LATENT VIRUSES. "Not every virus wants to go viral right away -- some want to wait for the perfect opportunity to attack. So the virus has to find a way to enter the cells of the human body without tripping the alarm. It's how viruses in the herpesvirus family, like human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), do their business." https://lnkd.in/eW2hh6T View in LinkedIn

EXPROPRIATION. "In order to survive and replicate in the cell, viruses need to take control of the various cellular organelles involved in defense and immune processes. They also require energy to replicate and escape from the cell. Once inside the host cell, they modulate various cellular signal pathways and organelles, including mitochondria, and use them for their own survival and replication." https://lnkd.in/eFuy4KS View in LinkedIn

"INCREASED ATP generation in the host cell is required for efficient vaccinia virus production." Viruses cannot make or store ATP, but like every other living creature, must have this juice to fuel every cellular reaction. https://lnkd.in/ekemmeQ View in LinkedIn

VACCINA VIRUS INFECTION. "~90% of the host genes were down-regulated after VV infection, including genes involved in DNA replication, transcription, translation, apoptosis, and the proteasome-ubiquitin degradation pathway. Only a smaller fraction of host genes were up-regulated after VV infection, including WASP protein, and genes implicated in immune responses." https://lnkd.in/ekemmeQ View in LinkedIn

VIRUS DEPENDENCY ON HOST ATP. "Several viral factors of VV utilize ATP and several steps in viral multiplication of VV require ATP. ATP is also required for DNA packaging and capsid maturation of herpes simplex virus, for capsid assembly and release of type D retrovirus, for capsid assembly of human immunodeficiency virus, and for budding of influenza virus." https://lnkd.in/ekemmeQ View in LinkedIn

VIRUS HIJACKS HOST ATP GENES. "Compared to mock-infected cells, ATP production was significantly higher in host cells after virus infection. In this study, at least some of the genes involved in ATP generation were found to be up-regulated after VV infection." https://lnkd.in/ekemmeQ View in LinkedIn

VIRUS DIFFERENCES. "Our results demonstrate that increased ATP production is essential for efficient VV production. ATP is required for the budding of influenza virus. Similar up-regulation of ND4 expression after VV infection was not detected after replication of hepatitis B and C viruses or infection with influenza A virus." https://lnkd.in/ekemmeQ View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS this weekend focus on the ancient contest between viruses and their hosts to control the host cellular machinery. For millennia, viruses have devised cunning biochemical and genetic strategies to find weak spots in their host defenses, while the hosts have reacted by trying to modify their molecular machinery to resist the viruses. The cycle of genetic variation, new molecular niche, counter-adaptation continues. View in LinkedIn