Bivalve molluscs are filter feeders and as a consequence they may bioaccumulate in their tissues viruses that infect humans and higher vertebrates. However, there have also been described mortalities of bivalve molluscs associated with viruses belonging to different families. Mass mortalities of adult Portuguese oysters, Crassostrea angulata, among French livestocks (between 1967 and 1973) were...

Hodgkin's lymphoma is a disease with a high rate of curability under classic chemo-radiotherapy regimes. Complications due to chemotherapy could include viral reactivation due to chronic lymphopenia. BK virus (BKV) is a polyoma virus belonging to the Papovaviridae family with antibody seroprevalences in healthy populations varying from 60% to 80%. Initial infections are asymptomatic usually occ...

BK virus is a polyomavirus belonging to the papovaviridae branch. In addition to BK, the human polyomavirus family includes John Cunningham virus (JCV), Washington University virus (WUV), Karolinska Institute virus (KIV) and Merkel cell viruses (Boothpur et al. 2010). BK virus is a virus without a shell and it has a double-stranded circular nonenveloped DNA. It was first discovered and isolated...

A vital constituent of a virus is its protein shell, called the viral capsid, that encapsulates and hence provides protection for the viral genome. Viral capsids are usually spherical, and for a significant number of viruses exhibit overall icosahedral symmetry. The corresponding surface lattices, that encode the locations of the capsid proteins and intersubunit bonds, can be modelled by Viral ...

Understanding the structure and life cycle of viruses is a fascinating challenge with a crucial impact on the public health sector. In the early 1960s, Caspar & Klug (Caspar & Klug 1962 Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quant. Biol. 27, 1-24) established a theory for the prediction of the surface structures of the protein shells, called viral capsids, which encapsulate and hence provide protection for t...

Progressive multifocal leucoencephalopathy (PML) has been described as a complication in various conditions which result in impaired cellular immunity—these include lymphoproliferative disorders and chronic granulomatous disorders such as sarcoidosis. Iatrogenic immunosuppression in post-transplant patients and patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy, as well as those with autoimmune disorders,...

Progressive multifocal leucoencephalopathy (PML) has been described as a complication in various conditions which result in impaired cellular immunity—these include lymphoproliferative disorders and chronic granulomatous disorders such as sarcoidosis. Iatrogenic immunosuppression in post-transplant patients and patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy, as well as those with autoimmune disorders,...