Host Susceptibility to endogenous viruses: defective, glycoprotein-expressing proviruses interfere with infections

Endogenous MMTV Proviruses Induce Susceptibility to Both Viral and Bacterial Pathogens

Most inbred mice carry germline proviruses of the retrovirus, mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) (called Mtvs), which have multiple replication defects. A BALB/c congenic mouse strain lacking all endogenous Mtvs (Mtv-null) was resistant to MMTV oral and intraperitoneal infection and tumorigenesis compared to wild-type BALB/c mice. Infection of Mtv-null mice with an MMTV-related retrovirus, type B...

Within-host spatial dynamics of viruses and defective interfering particles.

Defective-interfering (DI) viruses arise spontaneously by deletion mutations. The shortened genomes of the DI particles cannot replicate unless they coinfect a cell with a wild-type virus. Upon coinfection, the DI genome replicates more quickly and outcompetes the wild type. The coinfected cell produces mostly DI viruses. At the population level, the abundances of DI and wild-type viruses fluct...

Susceptibility to Immune-Mediated Diseases Helminth Infections Decrease Host

Host Susceptibility Factors to Bacterial Infections in Type 2 Diabetes

Globally, the number of people with Type 2 diabetes (T2D) or diabetes mellitus is projected to grow to 366–440 million by 2030, with three quarters of the increase in lowto middle-income countries [1]. The burden of communicable diseases is concentrated in low-income and resource-strapped regions, and one could predict that diabetes-related infections will rise significantly in these areas. Giv...

Chlorella viruses prevent multiple infections by depolarizing the host membrane.

Previous experiments established that when the unicellular green alga Chlorella NC64A is inoculated with two viruses, usually only one virus replicates in a single cell. That is, the viruses mutually exclude one another. In the current study, we explore the possibility that virus-induced host membrane depolarization, at least partially caused by a virus-encoded K(+) channel (Kcv), is involved i...