Non-coding RNAs in viral myocarditis / 生物工程学报

Viral myocarditis (VMC) is a disease characterized by inflammation of myocardial cells caused by viral infection. Since the pathogenesis mechanism of VMC has not been fully elucidated, the diagnosis and treatment of this disease remains extremely challenging. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are a class of RNAs that do not encode proteins. An increasing number of studies have shown that ncRNAs are involved in regulating the occurrence and development of VMC, thus providing potential new targets for the treatment and diagnosis of VMC. This review summarizes the possible roles of ncRNAs in the pathogenesis and diagnosis of VMC revealed recently.

Immunogenetics and infectious diseases: special reference to the mayor histocompatibility complex

Many studies have tried to identify genetic markers for infectious diseases, some of them have focused on human leukocyte antigens (HLA). The products of HLA genes interact with surface-specific receptors of T lymphocytes, resulting in activation of the host's immune response. Association of bacterial, viral, parasitic and fungal infections with the host's HLA has been widely investigated. The type and strength of this association differs among distinct populations, as well as among racial and/or ethnic groups. The new molecular methods for the identification of the HLA alleles, and the resulting new nomenclature, have contributed to a better understanding of this system. Unfortunately, this information has not been adequately transmitted to clinicians, which hampers the understanding of the association between the HLA system and diseases. We revised relevant studies on the association of HLA genes with infectious diseases, demonstrating their importance in the pathogenic mechanisms, through increased susceptibility or protection against infections and their complications.

Recombinant viruses as vaccines against viral diseases

Vaccine approaches to infectious diseases are widely applied and appreciated. Amongst them, vectors based on recombinant viruses have shown great promise and play an important role in the development of new vaccines. Many viruses have been investigated for their ability to express proteins from foreign pathogens and induce specific immunological responses against these antigens in vivo. Generally, gene-based vaccines can stimulate potent humoral and cellular immune responses and viral vectors might be an effective strategy for both the delivery of antigen-encoding genes and the facilitation and enhancement of antigen presentation. In order to be utilized as a vaccine carrier, the ideal viral vector should be safe and enable efficient presentation of required pathogen-specific antigens to the immune system. It should also exhibit low intrinsic immunogenicity to allow for its re-administration in order to boost relevant specific immune responses. Furthermore, the vector system must meet criteria that enable its production on a large-scale basis. Several viral vaccine vectors have thus emerged to date, all of them having relative advantages and limits depending on the proposed application, and thus far none of them have proven to be ideal vaccine carriers. In this review we describe the potential, as well as some of the foreseeable obstacles associated with viral vaccine vectors and their use in preventive medicine.

Correlations between symptoms and DAS - ELISA values in two sources of resistance against tomato spotted wilt virus

The commercial tomato, "Lycopersicon esculentum", cultivars Ângela Gigante I-5100 and Santa Clara (tsopovirus susceptible), the Stevens cultivar, lines and experimental hybrids (tospovirus resistant), were used : a) to evaluate two sources of resistance to tospoviruses in tomato (one from "L. esculentum"/Rey de Los Tempranos, and another one from "L. peruvianum"/Stevens); and b) to verify statistically significant correlation between virus concentration determined through DAS-ELISA and symptomatology. In the Ângela GiganteI-5100 and the Santa Clara cultivars, the correlation coefficient was highly significant and the symptom average level was high, showing that in susceptible cultivars the symptom evolution is related to the virus multiplication in the plant. As for the TOM 547 and TOM 556 lines (background of Ângela Gigante I-5100 and Santa Clara, respectively), there was no statistical correlation between the symptoms and the viral particule concentration. Plants with light virus symptoms showed high absorbance values. Consequently we may assume that the resistance with 'Rey de Los Tempranos' background may be of the tolerant kind because the high virus concentration found does not necessarily relate to a high level symptoms. In the lines BPX320E 3902-01, BPX320E 3905 and BPX320F 7902 (both with Santa Clara background) only few plants showed symptoms, which can be explained by incomplete penetrance of Sw-5 gene. In the case of non-symptomatic plants, the diagnosis using DAS-ELISA revealed negative results. That outcome indicates that in some materials, where resistance is obtained from "L. peruvianum", the virus multiplication in the tissues seemed not be present.

Viral diseases and human evolution

The interaction of man with viral agents was possibly a key factor shaping human evolution, culture and civilization from its outset. Evidence of the effect of disease, since the early stages of human speciation, through pre-historical times to the present suggest that the types of viruses associated with man changed in time. As human populations progressed technologically, they grew in numbers and density. As a consequence different viruses found suitable conditions to thrive and establish long-lasting associations with man. Although not all viral agents cause disease and some may in fact be considered beneficial, the present situation of overpopulation, poverty and ecological inbalance may have devastating effects on human progress. Recently emerged diseases causing massive pandemics (e.g., HIV-1 and HCV, dengue, etc.) are becoming formidable challenges, which may have a direct impact on the fate of our species

Antivirugrama: ¿ciencia ficción o realidad? / Antivirugram: science fiction or reality?

El panorama creciente de infecciones virales severas, que amenazan la vida de los pacientes, la disponibilidad de técnicas de diagnósticos virológico rápido y los conocimientos patogénicos más acabados con biología molecular, han estimulado el desarrollo explosivo de fármacos antivirales. Como consecuencia nace la necesidad de incorporar a las decisiones clínicas la evaluación in vitro de algunos de estos medicamentos y la aparición de resistencia durante tratamientos prolongados, como ha sido el dramático caso de la infección por VIH/SIDA. Se revisan los antivirales licenciados para el uso médico y el grado de aplicación clínica de los estudios de susceptibilidad in vitro alcanzado en la actualidad

Taller de epidemiología molecuar sobre enfermedades virales / Molecular epidemiology workshop on viral diseases

Con el propósito de promover la interacción entre investigadores en epidemiología y virología se realizó un taller sobre epidemiología molecular de virus en la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México el 29 de septiembre de 1995. En este taller, en el que participaron 18 ponentes de 10 instituciones diferentes, los investigadores presentaron sus trabajos y experiencias en esta área. Durante el taller se hizo un análisis somero de la frecuencia y distribución de las enfermedades virales de importancia epidemiológica y se presentaron trabajos sobre: rotavirus, poliovirus, virus sincitial respiratorio, virus del dengue, papilomavirus, VIH virus de la rabia y virus de las hepatitis