Month: September 2022

DEAD ANCESTORS. "The exogenous viral counterparts of HERVs have most likely been extinct for many millions of years, but it is clear that these elements have expanded in copy number significantly throughout the course of primate evolution, perhaps through intracellular retrotransposition mechanisms." https://lnkd.in/eW3mbzE View in LinkedIn

RETROVIRAL GENES. "The integrated retroviral genes have been demonstrated to play critical role in mammalian reproduction." http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/11/276/ View in LinkedIn

NEW METHODS, NEW VIEWS. "Until DNA cloning and sequencing were developed in the late 1970s, inferences about the organization of the retroviral genome were hard won. Because of the very high rate of recombination, typically yielding more than one crossover per recombinant genome, classical genetic experiments were difficult to interpret." https://lnkd.in/eU8gmtJ View in LinkedIn

THREE FLIES IN THE OINTMENT. "The fact that there is a direct relationship between the structure of the complex macromolecules involved in retroviral replication and their function has long been clear. Three factors complicate the correlation of retroviral nucleic acid sequence with their encoded proteins: ribosomal frameshifting, readthrough suppression of termination codons, and splicing, which is, in some cases, quite complex." https://lnkd.in/eBisbvi View in LinkedIn

VIRAL PROTEINS. "It is difficult not only to discern from nucleic acid sequences how retroviral polyproteins are made, but also to recognize that complex patterns of proteolytic cleavage are required to produce the mature proteins found in mature virions." https://lnkd.in/eBisbvi View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE continues from last weekend about the battle between virus and its host for control of the host's cellular machinery, which is obligatory to allow the virus to enter, replicate, and thrive. The sophistication of the molecular strategies employed by viruses to evade host defenses is evidence of a vibrant adaptive response by the virus, forever probing endless new possibilities via intense genetic variation. View in LinkedIn

INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP. "Perhaps nowhere in nature is a parasitic relationship as well defined as that which occurs between a virus and its host cell. Viruses rely on the host cell for propagation, utilizing cellular machinery for the replication and assembly of viral components and the release of progeny virions." https://lnkd.in/esrit55 View in LinkedIn

OXIDATIVE STRESS. "A number of viruses cause oxidative stress to the host cells, which directly or indirectly helps them to survive. Many viral proteins alter mitochondrial ion permeability and/or membrane potential for their survival in the cell." https://lnkd.in/eFuy4KS View in LinkedIn

TOXIC REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES (ROS). "The mitochondrial respiratory chain is the main and most significant source of reactive oxygen species (RO) in the cell. Superoxide is the primary ROS produced by mitochondria. In the normal state, there is little or no leakage of electrons between the complexes of the electron transport chain." https://lnkd.in/eFuy4KS View in LinkedIn

STRESS AND MITOCHONDRIA. "During stress conditions, a small fraction of electrons leave complex III and reach complex IV. This premature electron leakage to oxygen results in the formation of two types of superoxides, namely, in its anionic form, and in its protonated form." https://lnkd.in/eFuy4KS View in LinkedIn