Article history: Received on: 19/08/2015 Revised on: 03/09/2015 Accepted on: 30/09/2015 Available online: 27/11/2015 Non structural protein 4 (NSP4) gene of Rotavirus encodes a multifunctional protein which has significant role in viral multiplication and pathogenesis of acute watery diarrhoea associated with rotaviral gastroenteritis. It is known as the first viral enterotoxin and mutations of...

Article history: Received on: 06/05/2015 Revised on: 24/05/2015 Accepted on: 14/07/2015 Available online: 27/07/2015 Nonstructural protein 4 (NSP4) of Rotavirus has been designated as the first viral enterotoxin. Its role in viral replication is already well known. Intensive research over the past decade has shown the involvement of this protein in many cellular activities both in ‘expressed’ a...

NSP4-encoding genes of 78 human rotavirus strains of common or reassortant genotypes were characterized by reverse transcription-PCR followed by sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. It was found that all the human strains characterized clustered into only two of the five known NSP4 genotypes. Linkage between NSP4 genotypes and VP6 subgroups was 100%, NSP4 genotype A being linked to VP6 of subg...

Rotavirus infection of cells in culture induces major changes in Ca(2+) homeostasis. These changes include increases in plasma membrane Ca(2+) permeability, cytosolic Ca(2+) concentration, and total cell Ca(2+) content and a reduction in the amount of Ca(2+) released from intracellular pools sensitive to agonists. Various lines of evidence suggest that the nonstructural glycoprotein NSP4 and po...

Rotavirus NSP4 is a multifunctional endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident nonstructural protein with the N terminus anchored in the ER and about 131 amino acids (aa) of the C-terminal tail (CT) oriented in the cytoplasm. Previous studies showed a peptide spanning aa 114 to 135 to induce diarrhea in newborn mouse pups with the 50% diarrheal dose approximately 100-fold higher than that for the full...

Rotavirus (RV) NSP4, the first described viral enterotoxin, is a multifunctional glycoprotein that contributes to viral pathogenesis, morphogenesis, and replication. NSP4 binds both termini of caveolin-1 and is isolated from caveolae fractions that are rich in anionic phospholipids and cholesterol. These interactions indicate that cholesterol/caveolin-1 plays a role in NSP4 transport to the cel...

Rotavirus NSP4 is a viral enterotoxin capable of causing diarrhea in neonatal mice. This process is initiated by the binding of extracellular NSP4 to target molecule(s) on the cell surface that triggers a signaling cascade leading to diarrhea. We now report that the integrins alpha1beta1 and alpha2beta1 are receptors for NSP4. NSP4 specifically binds to the alpha1 and alpha2 I domains with appa...

Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe diarrheal disease among newborns. Plant-based rotavirus vaccines have been developed in recent years and have been proven to be effective in animal models. In the present study, we report a bivalent vaccine candidate expressing rotavirus subunits VP6 and NSP4 fused with the adjuvant subunit B of E. coli heat-labile enterotoxin (LTB) in maize seeds. The R...

Infection by most viruses triggers apoptosis in host cells, and viruses manipulate this cell response to promote viral replication, virus spread, and cell killing. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) has been shown to induce apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo, while the regulatory roles of PRRSV-encoded products in apoptosis are not fully understood. In the present stud...

Rotavirus NSP4, initially characterized as an endoplasmic reticulum intracellular receptor, is a multifunctional viral enterotoxin that induces diarrhea in murine pups. There have been recent reports of the secretion of a cleaved NSP4 fragment (residues 112 to 175) and of the association of NSP4 with LC3-positive autophagosomes, raft membranes, and microtubules. To determine if NSP4 traffics to...