Molecules 2019, 24(3), 481; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24030481
A Spotlight on Viruses—Application of Click Chemistry to Visualize Virus-Cell Interactions
1
Department of Infectious Diseases, Virology, University Hospital Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
2
Department of Infectious Diseases, Molecular Virology, University Hospital Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
†
These authors contributed equally to the manuscript.
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Arnaud Gautier
Received: 10 December 2018 / Revised: 18 January 2019 / Accepted: 19 January 2019 / Published: 29 January 2019
(This article belongs to the Collection Advances in Click Chemistry)
Abstract
The replication of a virus within its host cell involves numerous interactions between viral and cellular factors, which have to be tightly controlled in space and time. The intricate interplay between viral exploitation of cellular pathways and the intrinsic host defense mechanisms is difficult to unravel by traditional bulk approaches. In recent years, novel fluorescence microscopy techniques and single virus tracking have transformed the investigation of dynamic virus-host interactions. A prerequisite for the application of these imaging-based methods is the attachment of a fluorescent label to the structure of interest. However, their small size, limited coding capacity and multifunctional proteins render viruses particularly challenging targets for fluorescent labeling approaches. Click chemistry in conjunction with genetic code expansion provides virologists with a novel toolbox for site-specific, minimally invasive labeling of virion components, whose potential has just recently begun to be exploited. Here, we summarize recent achievements, current developments and future challenges for the labeling of viral nucleic acids, proteins, glycoproteins or lipids using click chemistry in order to study dynamic processes in virus-cell interactions. View Full-TextKeywords:
virus; fluorescence microscopy; bioorthogonal; click chemistry; amber suppression; single virus tracking; super-resolution microscopy; nucleoside analog; genetic code expansion; non-canonical amino acid; unnatural amino acid; metabolic labeling; de novo DNA labeling; de novo RNA labeling; DNA virus; RNA virus; retrovirus; replication compartments; viral factories; inclusion bodies; reverse transcription; uncoating; EdU; EU
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Müller, T.G.; Sakin, V.; Müller, B. A Spotlight on Viruses—Application of Click Chemistry to Visualize Virus-Cell Interactions. Molecules 2019, 24, 481.
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