Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dick Despommier In episode 43 of the podcast “This Week in Virology”, Vincent and Dick explain virus classification, and revisit the 1976 swine flu immunization campaign and Guillain-Barre syndrome. [powerpress url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/twiv/TWiV043.mp3″] Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #43 (32 MB .mp3, 46 minutes) Subscribe to TWiV …
A few weeks ago I asked readers to find the errors in the following statement concerning an experimental influenza vaccine produced by Protein Sciences which involves synthesis of the viral HA protein in insect cells. They warned that the virus could mutate during the southern hemisphere’s flu season before returning north in a more lethal form …
There are two glycoproteins embedded in the influenza viral membrane: the hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). The NA, shown in yellow in the illustration, is an enzyme that removes sialic acids from the surface of the cell, so that newly formed virions can be released. The NA protein is composed of a box-like head attached …
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dick Despommier, Alan Dove, and Delthia Ricks In episode #42 of the podcast “This Week in Virology”, Vincent, Dick, Alan, and Delthia Ricks discuss a new influenza virus-like particle vaccine, dog flu, ultrasensitive pen-sized virus detector, imported rabies in the US, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and next season’s flu vaccines. [powerpress url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/twiv/TWiV042.mp3″] Click the arrow …
The antibody response is crucial for preventing many viral infections and may also contribute to resolution of infection. When a vertebrate is infected with a virus, antibodies are produced against many epitopes on multiple virus proteins. A subset of these antibodies can block virus infection by a process that is called neutralization. Antibodies can neutralize viral infectivity …
With the looming prospect of mass immunization against influenza, it’s important to understand how vaccines work. To do this we must have a good understanding of adaptive immune defenses. Today we’ll begin a discussion of the humoral arm of the adaptive immune response – antibodies. Antibodies are large proteins produced by vertebrates that play important …
