Special Issue "Viral Manipulation of Host Cytoskeletal Networks"

A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Viruses".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2022.

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Don Gammon
E-Mail
Guest Editor
Department of Microbiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The aim of this Special Issue is to highlight new examples of the diverse mechanisms by which viral pathogens manipulate the host cytoskeleton during infection.

The cytoskeleton comprises several proteinaceous filaments: actin microfilaments, intermediate filaments, microtubules, and septins, which function in various aspects of cellular biology including the maintenance of cell morphology, regulation of cell motility and division, endocytosis, and intracellular transport of organelles, vesicles, and protein cargo. Moreover, growing evidence suggests that the cytoskeleton also plays critical roles in the immunological response to pathogen infection.

Given the wide variety of cellular functions that could be manipulated by viral interaction with the host cytoskeleton, it is perhaps not surprising that examples of viral manipulation of the host cytoskeleton can be found at virtually all stages of the viral life cycle. From usurping actin-dependent endocytic routes for viral entry to the hijacking of microtubule motor proteins for viral trafficking to and from replication sites, it has become clear that disparate viruses have acquired both unique and common mechanisms to manipulate the host cytoskeleton to facilitate their replication. Understanding the key roles played by the cytoskeleton in the viral life cycle may reveal new therapeutic strategies to prevent or treat viral disease. At the same time, viruses could also reveal basic cellular mechanisms and pathways controlling cytoskeleton-dependent processes within the cell.

All researchers working in the field are encouraged to contribute original research papers to this Special Issue of Viruses that feature new examples of viruses usurping, manipulating, or regulating components of the cytoskeleton to facilitate viral replication and/or immune evasion.

Dr. Don Gammon
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Viruses is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • virus
  • virus-host interactions
  • cytoskeleton
  • microtubules
  • intermediate filaments
  • septins
  • viral trafficking
  • microtubule-associated proteins
  • nucleation
  • motor proteins

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

Review
Cross Talk between Viruses and Insect Cells Cytoskeleton
Viruses 2021, 13(8), 1658; https://doi.org/10.3390/v13081658 - 20 Aug 2021
Viewed by 336
Abstract
Viruses are excellent manipulators of host cellular machinery, behavior, and life cycle, with the host cell cytoskeleton being a primordial viral target. Viruses infecting insects generally enter host cells through clathrin-mediated endocytosis or membrane fusion mechanisms followed by transport of the viral particles [...] Read more.
Viruses are excellent manipulators of host cellular machinery, behavior, and life cycle, with the host cell cytoskeleton being a primordial viral target. Viruses infecting insects generally enter host cells through clathrin-mediated endocytosis or membrane fusion mechanisms followed by transport of the viral particles to the corresponding replication sites. After viral replication, the viral progeny egresses toward adjacent cells and reaches the different target tissues. Throughout all these steps, actin and tubulin re-arrangements are driven by viruses. The mechanisms used by viruses to manipulate the insect host cytoskeleton are well documented in the case of alphabaculoviruses infecting Lepidoptera hosts and plant viruses infecting Hemiptera vectors, but they are not well studied in case of other insect–virus systems such as arboviruses–mosquito vectors. Here, we summarize the available knowledge on how viruses manipulate the insect host cell cytoskeleton, and we emphasize the primordial role of cytoskeleton components in insect virus motility and the need to expand the study of this interaction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Viral Manipulation of Host Cytoskeletal Networks)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

1. Title: Utilization and Regulation of Microtubule-Dependent Transport During Viral Infection

Authors: Dr. Seo and Dr. Gammon

Abstract: The strong selective pressure on viruses to efficiently enter, navigate through, and exit the complex environment of the host cell has resulted in viral adaptations that allow these pathogens to utilize cytoskeletal networks for proficient and directed virion transport. Most commonly, the microtubule (MT) network is hijacked by viruses to traffic to sites of replication and to promote egress from the cell. Central to viral hijacking of MT-dependent transport is the interaction of viral capsid proteins with MT motor proteins, dynein and kinesin. Mounting evidence suggests that non-motile microtubule associated proteins (MAPs) encoded by host cells play key roles in positively and negatively regulating both interaction of virus particles with MT motors and virion transport along MTs. Through direct interactions with the MT lattice, cellular MAPs can alter MT dynamics to promote stabilized MT tracks that recruit MT motors, thereby creating specialized MT tracks for viral cargo. However, other MAPs negatively regulate MT-dependent transport by blocking either motor binding to MTs and/or motor movement along MT tracks. Recent studies suggest that some viruses encode viral MAPs that can mimic the function of cellular MAPs in terms of regulating MT dynamics and MT-dependent transport. In this review, we will focus on examining how viruses utilize MT networks for their transport and the role of cellular and viral MAPs in the regulation of this transport.

Keywords: virus, cytoskeleton, microtubule, dynein, kinesin, microtubule-associated protein, microtubule-dependent transport

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