The innate response to virus infection is a marvel: when confronted with an invading microbe, it responds rapidly by producing interferons and other cytokines which establish an antiviral state. Its effectiveness is underscored by the fact that every viral genome must encode countermeasures that modulate its activity. A recent paper in PNAS adds another mechanism …
On This Week in Virology #18, Vincent, Dick, and Alan discuss adenovirus type 36 and obesity, new influenza antiviral drugs, viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus of fish, and Ebola virus in pigs and pig farmers in the Phillipines. Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #18
The past week brought an animated discussion triggered by an article in Obesity which reported the adipogenic effect of adenovirus type 36 infection in cultured cells. The press had a field day with headlines like ‘Can a common cold virus really make you fat’?. Reactions on Twitter and blogs ranged from disbelief to outrage to …
The innate immune system responds within minutes of infection to produce type I interferons and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Interferons induce the synthesis of cell proteins with antiviral activity, and also shape the adaptive immune response by priming T cells. Despite the discovery of interferons over 50 years ago, only recently have we begun to understand how …
The success in treating AIDS with multiple combinations of three antiviral drugs is a model for the successful management of viral resistance. Can we expect that a deep arsenal of anti-influenza virus drugs will be developed? So far we have three antiviral drugs against influenza viruses. Most H3N2 strains are resistant to rimantidine, which targets …
Here is my favorite poem about science. I found it stuck on the wall in my empty lab when I first came to Columbia in the fall of 1982. It is still tacked to my corkboard, yellowing and frayed. V.B. Nimble, V.B. Quick (inspired by V.B. Wigglesworth, F.R.S., Quick Professor of Biology at the University …
