Virology

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major cause of liver-related morbidity and mortality worldwide and is endemic in many areas of Asia and Africa. Adequate treatment of hepatitis B with effective antiviral agents can improve disease burden. Entecavir is a potent, selective nucleoside analogue with activity against HBV....

Kaposi’s sarcoma associated herpesvirus (KSHV or human herpesvirus 8 [HHV-8]) is a gammaherpesvirus highly associated with KS, primary effusion lymphoma (PEL), and multicentric Castleman’s disease, an aggressive lymphoproliferative disorder. KSHV, like other gammaherpesvirus latently infects predominantly B-cells and endothelial cells. Infected cells retain the virus from one generation to the...

Current standard anti-HCV therapy with peginterferon/ribavirin is effective in only half of the patients and limited by side-effects that often necessitate discontinuation. Therefore, new treatments are being developed including specifically targeted antiviral therapy for HCV (STAT-C). Clinical development is most advanced for telaprevir, a HCV NS3/4A protease inhibitor. Phase 1...

Introductory Editorial by Dr Karna Dev Bardhan

Avian tumor viruses are important, economically significant pathogens in the poultry industry, and can provide scientific insight in topics that cannot be experimented in humans. The present review will present viral-induced tumors in poultry and will emphasize the specific findings that can be taken from their study, regarding (a) multiple...

Earlier studies have suggested an association between breast cancer aggressiveness and the presence of viral sequences resembling mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV). This study was to determine if inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) in the United States had a higher proportion of cases with these viral sequences than non-IBC patients and...

Thrombocytopenia is the most common hematological abnormality in patients with chronic, advanced liver disease. In these patients, the presence of severe thrombocytopenia is an obstacle to the performance of invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, and the current standard treatment for these patients is platelet transfusions, a remedy whose characteristics are...

Treatment for hepatitis B (HBV), a global disease affecting over 400 million persons, has changed over the past 15 years. Many of the current treatments are oral therapies which suppress HBV viral load and improve liver-related outcomes. However, differences exist in the currently available therapies both in terms of potency...

Emilio PalumboClinic of Paediatric, Hospital of Sondrio, Italy.AbstractActually three nucleotide/nucleoside analogues are used for chronic hepatitis B: lamivudine, adefovir dipivoxil, entecavir and telbivudine. Lamivudine and adefovir are advantageous for oral administration and safety, but they induce a sustained response after withdrawal of therapy in only a minority of patients. Telbivudine...

Prista Charuworn and Emmet B. KeeffeDivision of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, CA, U.S.A.AbstractChronic hepatitis B is a major global health problem. Fortunately there are currently a number of agents licensed in most countries to treat chronic hepatitis B, including the oral nucleos(t)ide agents...

Jongming Li1, Bijoyesh Mookerjee2, Priya Singh1 and John L Wagner1 1Department of Medical Oncology, 1024 Curtis Building, Thomas Jefferson University, 1015 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A., 19107. 21800 Concord Pike, AstraZeneca PLC, Wilmington, DE 19850–5437. Abstract Nephropathy associated with BK virus has emerged as an important cause...

P. Paskaran1, A.U. Murugananthan2, V. Manglam1, J. Arnold2 and A. Pal1 1Department of Gastroenterology, Ealing Hospital NHS Trust, London. 2Imperial College School of Medicine, London. Abstract Historically, Hepatitis E infection has been thought to follow a benign clinical course. We report a case of Acute Hepatitis E...

Jongming Li1, John L. Wagner1 and Bijoyesh Mookerjee2 1Department of Medical Oncology, 1024 Curtis Building, Thomas Jefferson University, 1015 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19107. 21800 Concord Pike, AstraZeneca PLC, Wilmington, DE 19850-5437. Abstract JC virus-specific CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes are associated with a favorable outcome in patients...

Derek Gatherer MRC Virology Unit, Institute of Virology, University of Glasgow, Church Street, Glasgow, G11 5JR, UK Abstract Within the 230138 bp of the rat cytomegalovirus (RCMV) genome, the G+C content changes abruptly at position 142644, constituting a G+C content frontier. To the left of this...

Frank J. Jenkins Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

Khalid A. Al-Anazi1, Asma M. Al-Jasser3, Amal Abdulwahab1, Entezam Sahovic1, Hadeel Almana2 and Mohammed A. Al Fadda2 1Section of Adult Hematology and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant, King Faisal Cancer Centre, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, P.O. Box: 3354, Riyadh 11211, Saudi Arabia. 2Departments of Medicine and Pathology,...

Tasha Biesinger and Jason T. Kimata Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030. U.S.A. Abstract Upon transmission, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) establishes infection of the lymphatic reservoir, leading to profound depletion of the memory CD4+T cell population despite the...

Sofia Corte-Real, Lídia Fonseca and Joao Goncalves URIA-Centro de Patogénese Molecular, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon, 1649-019 Lisbon, Portugal.

H.G.P. van Gennip, G.K.W Miedema, R.J.M. Moormann and P.A van Rijn Central Veterinary Institute of (CVI) of Wageningen UR, P.O. Box 2004, 8203 AA Lelystad, The Netherlands. Abstract An intriguing difference between the E2 glycoprotein of CSFV and the other groups of pestiviruses (nonCSFV) is a lack of...

Wei Zhao1, Bapi Pahar1,2 and Karol Sestak1,2 1Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, LA, U.S.A. 2Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, U.S.A. Abstract A non-human primate model was used to evaluate its potential for identification of rotavirus viral protein 6 (VP6)...

Antonio Olmos, Edson Bertolini, Nieves Capote, Mariano Cambra Centro de Protección Vegetal y Biotecnología, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), Carretera Moncada a Náquera km 5, 46113 Moncada, Valencia, Spain. Abstract An evidence-based approach, such as those developed in clinical and veterinary medicine, was applied to the detection...

1Robin J Prestwich, 1Fiona Errington, 2,3Kevin J. Harrington, 4Hardev S. Pandha, 1Peter Selby and 1Alan Melcher 1Cancer Research UK, St James’s University Hospital, Beckett Street, Leeds, LS9 7TF, UK. 2Targeted Therapy Laboratory, Institute of Cancer Research, Cancer Research UK. Centre for Cell and Molecular Biology, Chester Beatty Laboratories,...

Raul Rabadan1 and Harlan Robins2 1Institute for Advanced Study, Einstein Dr., Princeton, NJ 08540, U.S.A. 2Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington 98109, U.S.A. Abstract Influenza is an RNA virus that causes mild to severe respiratory symptoms in humans and other hosts. Every year approximately half a million...

Johanna Wapling1,2, Seema Srivastava1, Miranda Shehu-Xhilaga3,4 and Gilda Tachedjian1,2,3 1Molecular Interactions Group, Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health, Melbourne, Victoria, 3004, Australia. 2Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia. 3Department of Medicine, Monash University, Prahran, Victoria 3181, Australia. 4Infectious Diseases Unit, Alfred Hospital, Prahran, Victoria...

K.-C. Cheng1, Walter A. Korfmacher1, Ronald E. White1 and F. George Njoroge2 1Department of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics. 2Chemistry Department Schering-Plough Research Institute, 2015 Galloping Hill Road, Kenilworth, NJ 07033 U.S.A.Abstract: Lead optimization using drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK) parameters has become one of the primary focuses of research organizations...

Koichi Watashi and Kunitada ShimotohnoDepartment of Viral Oncology, Institute for Virus Research, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.Abstract: Cyclophilin (CyP) is a peptidyl prolyl cis/trans isomerase, catalyzing the cis-trans isomerization of proline residues in proteins. CyP plays key roles in several different aspects of cellular physiology including the immune response, transcription, mitochondrial...