Tag: Virus

Zika Virus and Chikungunya Virus CoInfections: A Series of Three Cases from a Single Center in Ecuador

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Author: Zambrano, H.; Waggoner, J.J.; Almeida, C.; Rivera, L.; Benjamin, J.Q.; Pinsky, B.A. Description: Zika virus (ZIKV) and chikungunya virus (CHIKV) cocirculate throughout much of the tropical Western Hemisphere; however, few cases of coinfection with these two pathogens have been reported. Herein, we describe three cases of ZIKV-CHIKV coinfection detected at a single center in Ecuador: a patient who developed symptoms on postoperative day 5 from an orthopedic procedure, a woman who had traveled to Ecuador for fertility treatment, and a woman who was admitted for Guillain-Barre syndrome and had…

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The origin of viruses and their possible roles in major evolutionary transitions

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Author: Forterre, Patrick Description: Viruses infecting cells from the three domains of life, Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya, share homologous features, suggesting that viruses originated very early in the evolution of life. The three current hypotheses for virus origin, e.g. the virus first, the escape and the reduction hypotheses are revisited in this new framework. Theoretical considerations suggest that RNA viruses may have originated in the nucleoprotein world by escape or reduction from RNA-cells, whereas DNA viruses (at least some of them) might have evolved directly from RNA viruses. The antiquity…

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New viruses for cancer therapy: meeting clinical needs

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Author: Miest, Tanner S.; Cattaneo, Roberto Description: Oncolytic virotherapy re-engineers and repurposes replicating viruses for the treatment of cancer. Therapeutic viruses specifically infect and spread within cancer tissue, causing cell death.  In recent years, an increasing number of viruses have been developed as cancer therapeutics. There are nine virus families that are currently used in virotherapy clinical trials. Different viruses have evolved tissue specificities that can be exploited to preferentially destroy certain tumor types. Engineering strategies to improve the therapeutic potential of oncolytic viruses include protection from neutralizing immunity, restriction…

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The good viruses: viral mutualistic symbioses

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Author: Roossinck, Marilyn J. Description: Viruses have traditionally been thought of as pathogens, but many confer a benefit to their hosts and some are essential for the host life cycle. The polydnaviruses of endoparasitoid wasps have evolved with their hosts to become essential. Many of the viral genes are now encoded in the host nucleus. Endogenous retroviruses are abundant in many genomes of higher eukaryotes, and some have been involved in the evolution of their hosts, such as placental mammals. Some mammalian viruses can protect their hosts from infection by…

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