Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) variants adapted to BHK-21 cells showed an expanded host-cell tropism that extended to primate and human cell lines. Virus replication in human HeLa and Jurkat cells has been documented by titration of virus infectivity, quantification of virus RNA, expression of a virus-specific non-structural antigen, and serial passage of virus in the cells. Parallel seria...

Herpesvirus entry into host cells is mediated by multiple virally encoded receptor binding and membrane fusion glycoproteins. Despite their importance in host cell tropism and associated disease pathology, the underlying and essential interactions between these viral glycoproteins remain poorly understood. For Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), gHgL/gp42 complexes bind HLA class II to activate membrane ...

Targeted gene delivery involves broadening viral tropism to infect previously nonpermissive cells, replacing viral tropism to infect a target cell exclusively, or stealthing the vector against nonspecific interactions with host cells and proteins. These approaches offer the potential advantages of enhanced therapeutic effects, reduced side effects, lowered dosages, and enhanced therapeutic econ...

The RFV strain of the Friend virus complex induces an erythroleukemia that spontaneously regresses. The tropism of regressing Friend virus complex (RFV), which is conferred by its helper MuLV component, MuLV-RF, is different from that of the conventional virus strain, CFV. RFV is NB-tropic and CFV is N-tropic. Passage of nonregressing CFV through Fv-1 incompatible Swiss/ICR mice changed the tro...

BACKGROUND Determination of HIV-1 co-receptor use is a necessity before initiation of a CCR5 antagonist but the longevity of a CCR5-use prediction remains unknown. METHODS Genotypic co-receptor tropism determination was performed in 225 newly diagnosed individuals consulting an AIDS Reference Centre. Samples were collected at diagnosis and at initiation of antiretroviral therapy or just befor...

Deep sequencing is able to generate a complete picture of the retroviral quasi-species in a patient. We demonstrate that the unprecedented power of deep sequencing in conjunction with computational data analysis has great potential for clinical diagnostics and basic research. Specifically, we analyzed longitudinal deep sequencing data from patients in a study with Vicriviroc, a drug that blocks...

The breakthrough in derivation of human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) provides an approach that may help overcome ethical and allergenic challenges posed in numerous medical applications involving human cells, including neural stem/progenitor cells (NSCs). Considering the great potential of NSCs in targeted cancer gene therapy, we investigated in this study the tumor tropism of hiPSC-...

BACKGROUND Understanding co-receptor tropism of HIV-1 strains circulating in India will provide key analytical leverage for assessing the potential usefulness of newer antiretroviral drugs such as chemokine co-receptor antagonists among Indian HIV-infected populations. The objective of this study was to determine using in silico methods, HIV-1 tropism among a large number of Indian isolates bot...

In order to characterize the biological properties of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) variants from different tissues (peripheral blood mononuclear cells [PBMC], lymph node, spleen, brain, and lung) of one patient, we have chosen long-range PCR to amplify virtually full-length HIV proviruses and to construct replication-competent viruses by adding a patient-specific 5' long terminal...

OBJECTIVE Decompressive laminectomy is one of the most commonly used surgical methods for the treatment of spinal stenosis. We retrospectively examined the risk factors that induce spinal instability, including slippage (spondylolisthesis) and/or segmental angulation after decompressive laminectomy on the lumbar spine. METHODS From January 1, 2006 to June 30, 2010, 94 consecutive patients und...