The viral envelope is essential for virus maturation. Virus-mediated syncytium formations are induced by viral envelope proteins that cause membrane fusion of the infected cells. Polydnaviridae (Polydnavirus) are enveloped viruses with multiple nucle...
The S2 subunit serves a crucial role in infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) infection, particularly in facilitating membrane fusion. Using reverse genetic techniques, mutant strains of the S2 locus exhibited substantially different syncytium-forming ab...
Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is an acute, severe, and highly contagious disease caused by peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV), which primarily induces tissue damage through the formation of syncytia. Therefore, elucidating the molecular mecha...
The interplay of the enteric nervous system (ENS) and SIP syncytium (smooth muscle cells–interstitial cells of Cajal–PDGFRα+ cells) plays an important role in the regulation of gastrointestinal (GI) motility. This study aimed to inv...
The interest in astrocytes, the silent brain cells that accumulate polyamines (PAs), is growing. PAs exert anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antidepressant, neuroprotective, and other beneficial effects, including increasing longevity in vivo. Unlike n...
Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) infection causes endemic bovine leukemia and lymphoma, resulting in lower carcass weight and reduced milk production by the infected cattle, leading to economic losses. Without effective measures for treatment and preventi...
Cell–cell fusion is a fundamental and complex process that occurs during reproduction, organ and tissue growth, cancer metastasis, immune response, and infection. All enveloped viruses express one or more proteins that drive the fusion of the viral e...
The water channel protein aquaporin-4 (AQP4) and the gap junction forming proteins connexin-43 (Cx43) and connexin-30 (Cx30) are astrocytic proteins critically involved in brain water and ion homeostasis. While AQP4 is mainly involved in water flux a...
The neurological basis of consciousness remains unknown despite innumerable theories proposed for over a century. The major obstacle is that empirical studies demonstrate that all sensory information is subdivided and parcellated as it is processed w...
Fusion of viral and cellular membranes is a key step during the viral life cycle. Enveloped viruses trigger this process by means of specialized viral proteins expressed on their surface, the so-called viral fusion proteins. There are multiple assays...
Syncytium formation, i.e., cell–cell fusion resulting in the formation of multinucleated cells, is a hallmark of infection by paramyxoviruses and other pathogenic viruses. This natural mechanism has historically been a diagnostic marker for paramyxov...
Nipah virus (NiV) is known to be a highly pathogenic zoonotic virus, which is included in the World Health Organization Research & Development Blueprint list of priority diseases with up to 70% mortality rate. Due to its high pathogenicity and ou...
Endosperm development in barley starts with the formation of a multinucleate syncytium, followed by cellularization in the ventral part of the syncytium generating endosperm transfer cells (ETCs) as first differentiating subdomain, whereas aleurone (...
While porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) infects and replicates in enterocytes lining villi of neonatal piglets with high efficiency, naturally isolated variants typically grow poorly in established cell lines, unless adapted by multiple passages...
Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is the causative agent of enzootic bovine leukosis, which is the most common neoplastic disease of cattle and is closely related to human T-cell leukemia viruses. We investigated the role of a new host protein, PRMT5, in B...
Members of the family Orthoherpesviridae employs two distinct transmission modes: free virion release and cell-to-cell transmission. The latter enables immune evasion through multiple mechanisms, facilitating infections in skin, mucosa, and neur...
Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is the causative agent of enzootic bovine leukosis. Polymorphism in bovine lymphocyte antigen (BoLA)-DRB3 alleles is related to susceptibility to BLV proviral load (PVL), which is a useful index for estimating disease prog...
Cyst nematodes are important herbivorous pests in agriculture that obtain nutrients through specialized root structures termed syncytia. Syncytium initiation, development, and functioning are a research focus because syncytia are the primary interfac...
Since the beginning of the HIV epidemic, lasting more than 30 years, the main goal of scientists was to develop effective methods for the prevention and treatment of HIV infection. Modern medicines have reduced the death rate from AIDS by 80%. Howeve...
The Reoviridae family is the only non-enveloped virus family with members that use syncytium formation to promote cell–cell virus transmission. Syncytiogenesis is mediated by a fusion-associated small transmembrane (FAST) protein, a novel famil...
Bladder dysfunction is characterized by urgency, frequency (pollakisuria, nocturia), and dysuria and may lead to urinary incontinence. Most of these symptoms can be attributed to disturbed bladder sensitivity. There is growing evidence that, besides...
SARS-CoV-2 infection induces non-physiological syncytia when its spike fusogenic protein on the surface of the host cells interacts with the ACE2 receptor on adjacent cells. Spike-induced syncytia are beneficial for virus replication, transmission, a...
Preeclampsia (PE) involves inadequate placental function. This can occur due to elevated pro-inflammatory tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). In other tissues, TNF-α signals via sphingosine kinase 1 (SphK1). SphK1 hinders syncytial for...
Cell fusion (fusogenesis) occurs in natural and pathological conditions in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Cells of monocyte–macrophage lineage are highly fusogenic. They create syncytial multinucleated giant cells (MGCs) such as osteoclasts (OCs),...
The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes respiratory infection and bronchiolitis, requiring hospitalization mainly in infants. The interaction between RSV, envelope glycoproteins G and F, and cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPG) is r...
Oncolytic viruses are under intense development and have earned their place among the novel class of cancer immunotherapeutics that are changing the face of cancer therapy. Their ability to specifically infect and efficiently kill tumor cells, while...
Gastrointestinal filling, distension, and contraction subject the gut wall to dynamic mechanical loads. Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) help generate electrical slow waves, but the mechanisms coupling mechanical stimuli to pacemaker activity remain...
Acanthocephalans are dioecious parasites that gain sexual maturity in the alimentary canal of their definitive hosts (gnathostome vertebrates). This initial survey by light and transmission electron microscopy was conducted on the functional organiza...
Gap junctions (GJs) formed by connexins (Cxs) play an important role in the intercellular communication within most body tissues. In this paper, we focus on GJs and Cxs present in skeletal tissues. Cx43 is the most expressed connexin, participating i...
The immature electrophysiology of human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiCMs) complicates their use for therapeutic and pharmacological purposes. An insufficient inward rectifying current (IK1) and the presence of a funny curre...
Molecular interactions between respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) fusion protein (F protein) and the cellular receptor Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and myeloid differentiation factor-2 (MD-2) protein complex are unknown. Thus, to reveal the detailed mo...
Human herpes simplex virus (HSV), a double-stranded DNA virus belonging to the Herpesviridae family and alpha herpesvirus subfamily, is one of the most epidemic pathogens in the population. Cell-to-cell spread is a special intercellular transmission...
This article presents the results of virological and genetic studies of an isolate of caprine arthritis encephalitis (CAE) virus from the republic of Mordovia, Russian Federation. The isolate was found during monitoring studies of goat blood samples...
Reactive oxygen species are a byproduct of aerobic metabolic processes but are also produced by plants in defense against pathogens. In addition, they can function as signaling molecules that control various aspects of plant life, ranging from develo...
Viruses can induce the fusion of infected and neighboring cells, leading to the formation of syncytia. Cell–cell fusion is mediated by viral fusion proteins on the plasma membrane of infected cells that interact with cellular receptors on neigh...
Trophoblast fusion into the multinucleated syncytiotrophoblast (SCT) appears as an inescapable feature of placentation in mammals and other viviparous species. The trophoblast cells underlying the syncytium are considered a reservoir for the restorat...
In light of an increasing number of vaccinated and convalescent individuals, there is a major need for the development of robust methods for the quantification of neutralizing antibodies; although, a defined correlate of protection is still missing....
Astrocyte syncytial isopotentiality is a physiological mechanism resulting from a strong electrical coupling among astrocytes. We have previously shown that syncytial isopotentiality exists as a system-wide feature that coordinates astrocytes into a...
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the novel coronavirus responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, represents a serious threat to public health. The spike (S) glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 mediates vira...
Tetraspanins are transmembrane glycoproteins that have been shown increasing interest as host factors in infectious diseases. In particular, they were implicated in the pathogenesis of both non-enveloped (human papillomavirus (HPV)) and enveloped (hu...
Sargassum fusiforme, a plant used as a medicine and food, is regarded as a marine vegetable and health supplement to improve life expectancy. Here, we demonstrate that S. fusiforme extract (SFE) has antiviral effects against respiratory syncytial vir...
Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) development depends on syncytium formation, which requires cell-wall degradation and fusion. Lignin, the main barrier in cell walls, is critical for SCN resistance. 4-Coumarate: CoA ligase (4CL) drives the phenylpropanoid...
In the course of action potential firing, all axons and neurons release K+ from the intra- cellular compartment into the interstitial space to counteract the depolarizing effect of Na+ influx, which restores the resting membrane potential. This efflu...
Coronaviruses represent current and emerging threats for many species, including humans. Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is responsible for sporadic infections in mostly Middle Eastern countries, with occasional transf...
Soybean cyst nematode (SCN, Heterodera glycine) is a serious damaging disease in soybean worldwide, thus resulting in severe yield losses. MicroRNA408 (miR408) is an ancient and highly conserved miRNA involved in regulating plant growth, development,...
Gap junctions (GJs) are intercellular junctions that allow the direct transfer of ions and small molecules between neighboring cells, and GJs between astrocytes play an important role in the development of various pathologies of the brain, including...
Novel waterfowl reoviruses (nWRVs) have been reported in several countries, but their circulation and genetic characteristics in Vietnam remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigated nWRVs in northern Vietnam through molecular detection, v...
The anti-HIV-1 activity of mangiferin was evaluated. Mangiferin can inhibit HIV-1ⅢB induced syncytium formation at non-cytotoxic concentrations, with a 50% effective concentration (EC50) at 16.90 μM and a therapeutic index (TI) above 140. Mangiferin...
Approximately one-tenth of the 10 million individuals living with human T-cell leukemia virus type-1 (HTLV-1) worldwide live in Japan. Most of these infected individuals live in the southwest region of Japan, including Okinawa prefecture; however, cu...
Retroviruses, after their genomes are integrated into the host genome, replicate through host cell replication. In this hitchhiking phase, their only way of increasing their fitness is to encourage the host cell to have unregulated, rapid cell replic...
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