Novel Virostatic Agents against Bluetongue Virus

Bluetongue virus (BTV), a member in the family Reoviridae, is a re-emerging animal disease infecting cattle and sheep. With its recent outbreaks in Europe, there is a pressing need for efficacious antivirals. Authors presented here the identification and characterization of a novel virostatic molecule against BTV, an aminothiophenecarboxylic acid derivative named compound 003 (C003). The virostatic efficacy of C003 could be improved via chemical modification, leading to a de novo synthesized compound 052 (C052). The 50% effective concentrations (EC50) of C003 and C052 were determined at 1.76±0.73 µM and 0.27±0.12 µM, respectively. The 50% cytotoxicity concentration (CC50) of C003 was over 100 µM and the CC50 of C052 was at 82.69 µM. Accordingly, the 50% selective index (SI50) of C003 and C052 against BTV was over 57 and 306, respectively. The inhibitory effect of C003/C052 on BTV-induced apoptosis was also confirmed via the inhibition of caspase-3/-7 activation post BTV infection. C003/C052 could inhibit BTV induced CPE even when added as late as 24 h.p.i., indicating that they might act at late stage of viral life-cycle. C003/C052 could reduce over two-logs of both the progeny virus production and the number of genomic viral RNA copies. Interestingly, both the activation of host autophagy and viral protein expression were inhibited post BTV infection when cells were treated with C003 and C052, suggesting that C003/C052 might act as virostatic agents via inhibiting host autophagy activation. Although further investigations might be needed to pin down the exact mechanism of C003/C052, this results suggested that these compounds might be potent lead compounds with potential novel mechanism of action against BTV.

Original Source:

Association between Human Papillomavirus and Human T-Lymphotropic Virus in Indigenous Women from the Peruvian Amazon

No association between the Human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV), an oncogenic virus that alters host immunity, and the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) has previously been reported. Examining the association between these two viruses may permit the identification of a population at increased risk for developing cervical cancer.

Antiviral therapy: old and current issues

Many antiviral drugs are currently approved and formally licensed for clinical use in the treatment of viral infections caused by human immunodeficiency virus, herpes simplex viruses, varicella–zoster virus, respiratory syncytial virus, cytomegalovirus, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus or influenza virus. Recent decades have seen major advances in our knowledge of the natural history and pathogenesis of viral diseases as well as ongoing developments and improvements in antiviral therapy. However, research is far from complete and indeed previously unknown and unexpected issues are currently arising. This review aims to discuss some of these issues in the belief that they should be carefully addressed to enhance the management of patients with viral infections.

Original Source:
http://www.ijaaonline.com/article/S0924-8579(12)00163-X/abstract

Dengue virus turns on mosquito genes that make them hungrier

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have, for the first time, shown that infection with dengue virus turns on mosquito genes that makes them hungrier and better feeders, and therefore possibly more likely to spread the disease to humans. Specifically, they found that dengue virus infection of the mosquito's salivary gland triggered a response that involved genes of the insect's immune system, feeding behavior and the mosquito's ability to sense odors. The researchers findings are published in the March 29 edition of PLoS Pathogens.