Search results for "LIFE"

Viral and cellular determinants of hepatitis C virus RNA replication in cell culture.

2003

Studies on the replication of hepatitis C virus (HCV) have been facilitated by the development of selectable subgenomic replicons replicating in the human hepatoma cell line Huh-7 at a surprisingly high level. Analysis of the replicon population in selected cells revealed the occurrence of cell culture-adaptive mutations that enhance RNA replication substantially. To gain a better understanding of HCV cell culture adaptation, we characterized conserved mutations identified by sequence analysis of 26 independent replicon cell clones for their effect on RNA replication. Mutations enhancing replication were found in nearly every nonstructural (NS) protein, and they could be subdivided into at …

Rapid and sensitive detection of metapneumovirus in clinical specimens by indirect fluorescence assay using a monoclonal antibody.

2008

Human metapneumovirus, with two known genotypes named A and B, is associated with mild respiratory symptoms to severe LRTI in children, high-risk adults and the elderly. Rapid and reliable methods of hMPV detection in clinical samples are essential to implement appropriate care, to better understand the pathology of hMPV and to determine its epidemiology. Respiratory samples from 1,386 patients collected during 2 consecutive years were screened for hMPV using indirect immunofluorescence (IFA) assay with a monoclonal antibody. Forty-three patients tested positive for hMPV by the IFA method. In parallel, the samples were examined with RT-PCR on the F gene. Of these, 41 specimens were RT-PCR p…

Revolutionary Struggle for Existence: Introduction to Four Intriguing Puzzles in Virus Research

2012

Cellular life is immersed into an ocean of viruses. Virosphere forms the shadow of this cell-based tree of life: completely dependent on the tree for existence, yet, the tree is equally unable to escape its ever evolving companion. How important role has the shadow played in the evolution of life? Is it a mere ethereal partner or a constitutive factor? In this chapter four puzzles in virus research are taken under the scope in order to probe some of the intriguing ways by which viruses can help us understand life on Earth. These puzzles consider the origin of genetic information in viruses, viruses as symbiotic partners, the structural diversity of viruses and the role of viruses in the ori…

Immune responses during COVID-19 infection

2020

International audience; Over the past 16 years, three coronaviruses (CoVs), severe acute respiratory syndrome CoV (SARS-CoV) in 2002, Middle East respiratory syndrome CoV (MERS-CoV) in 2012 and 2015, and SARS-CoV-2 in 2020, have been causing severe and fatal human epidemics. The unpredictability of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) poses a major burden on health care and economic systems across the world. This is caused by the paucity of in-depth knowledge of the risk factors for severe COVID-19, insufficient diagnostic tools for the detection of SARS-CoV-2, as well as the absence of specific and effective drug treatments. While protective humoral and cellular immune responses are usually m…

Why viruses sometimes disperse in groups?

2019

AbstractMany organisms disperse in groups, yet this process is understudied in viruses. Recent work, however, has uncovered different types of collective infectious units, all of which lead to the joint delivery of multiple viral genome copies to target cells, favoring co-infections. Collective spread of viruses can occur through widely different mechanisms, including virion aggregation driven by specific extracellular components, cloaking inside lipid vesicles, encasement in protein matrices, or binding to cell surfaces. Cell-to-cell viral spread, which allows the transmission of individual virions in a confined environment, is yet another mode of clustered virus dissemination. Nevertheles…

Clathrin- and Caveolin-Independent Entry of Human Papillomavirus Type 16—Involvement of Tetraspanin-Enriched Microdomains (TEMs)

2008

BACKGROUND: Infectious entry of human papillomaviruses into their host cells is an important step in the viral life cycle. For cell binding these viruses use proteoglycans as initial attachment sites. Subsequent transfer to a secondary receptor molecule seems to be involved in virus uptake. Depending on the papillomavirus subtype, it has been reported that entry occurs by clathrin- or caveolin-mediated mechanisms. Regarding human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16), the primary etiologic agent for development of cervical cancer, clathrin-mediated endocytosis was described as infectious entry pathway. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using immunofluorescence and infection studies we show in contra…

Glie et neurones : vers un partenariat actif influençant le comportement sensoriel chez la drosophile

2014

Building a political image on Instagram: A study of the personal profile of Santiago Abascal (Vox) in 2018

2020

Due to Instagram’s growing popularity in Spain, politicians have also begun to turn to this social network increasingly more. Accordingly, this paper analyses the visual and textual discourse of 259 posts published throughout 2018 on the personal Instagram profile of Santiago Abascal, the leader of the party Vox. Insofar as he is the Spanish politician with the highest number of followers on Instagram, the aim here is to analyse how he uses this social network in order to identify possible strategies that justify his growing number of followers. In the analysis, special attention was paid to aspects that might have contributed to the (self)presentation of Abascal and the promotion of his pa…

Anatomic and functional follow-up of patients with an idiopathic epiretinal membrane and a preserved visual acuity

2013

Purpose: To determine the anatomic and functional retinal modifications in patients with an idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM) and a preserved visual acuity (VA).Methods: Monocentric, prospective study in 24 eyes of 24 patients with an ERM and a VA better than 20/25. Recorded data were best corrected VA on ETDRS scale, retinal anatomic lesions on spectral-domain OCT, retinal sensitivities on microperimetry and macular and foveal thicknesses at 0 and 6 months.Results: At inclusion, mean VA was 84 ± 5 letters, mean macular sensitivity was 14.0 ± 1.4 decibels (dB) and mean foveal sensitivity was 14,4 ± 1,5 dB. Mean macular thickness was 351 ± 34 µm and mean foveal thickness was 348 ± 66 µm. …

Motion perception in early glaucoma

2013

Purpose: The aim of our study was to underline the changes in the movement perception for early glaucoma. Our working hypothesis consisted in inquiring if the impairment of the magnocellular pathway may modify the movement perception capabilities in the visual field, more particularly in its peripheral area.Methods: We included 14 healthy subjects and 14 patients with early primary open angle glaucoma. A moving target was presented on a semicircular screen (1.8 m diameter); participants were asked to localize the Ending Point (EP) of each movement. Each stimulus consisted in a white dot (0,72° of diameter) moving horizontally with the imposed velocity profile. Two different laws of motion w…