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19 pages, 5114 KB

Open AccessReview

Rotavirus NSP2: A Master Orchestrator of Early Viral Particle Assembly

by Sarah L. Nichols, Cyril Haller, Alexander Borodavka and Sarah M. Esstman

Viruses 2024, 16(6), 814; https://doi.org/10.3390/v16060814 - 21 May 2024

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3476

Rotaviruses (RVs) are 11-segmented, double-stranded (ds) RNA viruses and important causes of acute gastroenteritis in humans and other animal species. Early RV particle assembly is a multi-step process that includes the assortment, packaging and replication of the 11 genome segments in close connection with capsid morphogenesis. This process occurs inside virally induced, cytosolic, membrane-less organelles called viroplasms. While many viral and cellular proteins play roles during early RV assembly, the octameric nonstructural protein 2 (NSP2) has emerged as a master orchestrator of this key stage of the viral replication cycle. NSP2 is critical for viroplasm biogenesis as well as for the selective RNA–RNA interactions that underpin the assortment of 11 viral genome segments. Moreover, NSP2’s associated enzymatic activities might serve to maintain nucleotide pools for use during viral genome replication, a process that is concurrent with early particle assembly. The goal of this review article is to summarize the available data about the structures, functions and interactions of RV NSP2 while also drawing attention to important unanswered questions in the field. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rotaviruses and Rotavirus Vaccines)

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24 pages, 2700 KB

Open AccessReview

The Central Role of Non-Structural Protein 1 (NS1) in Influenza Biology and Infection

by Nícia Rosário-Ferreira, António J. Preto, Rita Melo, Irina S. Moreira and Rui M. M. Brito

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(4), 1511; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21041511 - 22 Feb 2020

Cited by 54 | Viewed by 9137

Abstract

Influenza (flu) is a contagious viral disease, which targets the human respiratory tract and spreads throughout the world each year. Every year, influenza infects around 10% of the world population and between 290,000 and 650,000 people die from it according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Influenza viruses belong to the Orthomyxoviridae family and have a negative sense eight-segment single-stranded RNA genome that encodes 11 different proteins. The only control over influenza seasonal epidemic outbreaks around the world are vaccines, annually updated according to viral strains in circulation, but, because of high rates of mutation and recurrent genetic assortment, new viral strains of influenza are constantly emerging, increasing the likelihood of pandemics. Vaccination effectiveness is limited, calling for new preventive and therapeutic approaches and a better understanding of the virus–host interactions. In particular, grasping the role of influenza non-structural protein 1 (NS1) and related known interactions in the host cell is pivotal to better understand the mechanisms of virus infection and replication, and thus propose more effective antiviral approaches. In this review, we assess the structure of NS1, its dynamics, and multiple functions and interactions, to highlight the central role of this protein in viral biology and its potential use as an effective therapeutic target to tackle seasonal and pandemic influenza. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Role of Signaling Pathways in the Viral Life Cycle)

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17 pages, 2456 KB

Open AccessArticle

The First Non-LRV RNA Virus in Leishmania

by Danyil Grybchuk, Diego H. Macedo, Yulia Kleschenko, Natalya Kraeva, Alexander N. Lukashev, Paul A. Bates, Pavel Kulich, Tereza Leštinová, Petr Volf, Alexei Y. Kostygov and Vyacheslav Yurchenko

Viruses 2020, 12(2), 168; https://doi.org/10.3390/v12020168 - 2 Feb 2020

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 5267

Abstract

In this work, we describe the first Leishmania-infecting leishbunyavirus—the first virus other than Leishmania RNA virus (LRV) found in trypanosomatid parasites. Its host is Leishmania martiniquensis, a human pathogen causing infections with a wide range of manifestations from asymptomatic to severe visceral disease. This virus (LmarLBV1) possesses many characteristic features of leishbunyaviruses, such as tripartite organization of its RNA genome, with ORFs encoding RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, surface glycoprotein, and nucleoprotein on L, M, and S segments, respectively. Our phylogenetic analyses suggest that LmarLBV1 originated from leishbunyaviruses of monoxenous trypanosomatids and, probably, is a result of genomic re-assortment. The LmarLBV1 facilitates parasites’ infectivity in vitro in primary murine macrophages model. The discovery of a virus in L. martiniquensis poses the question of whether it influences pathogenicity of this parasite in vivo, similarly to the LRV in other Leishmania species. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Viruses of Plants, Fungi and Protozoa)

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