(this post is from September 1, 2011 but I didn't get it published until today... ah procrastination)
So this is the final year of my graduate studies and I'd like to write at least something about each seminar I attend. The first seminar for the Microbiology and Immunology department was today. Woot! It is presented by Duncan Wilson from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The title was "Studying Herpes Simplex Virus Microtubule-traffic using an in vitro System."
Dr. Wilson is known for determining where the virus gets its final membrane, which is not as straight forward a question as it might seem. That was more than 20 years ago and today he is working on answering questions regarding how the virus gets around inside a cell and from one cell to another within the nervous system.
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is in a family of viruses that are enveloped and use linear double-stranded DNA, which is encased in a capsid. The capsid is surrounded by a tegument of unknown function and the whole thing is wrapped in a membrane derived (as Dr. Wilson's lab showed) from the trans-golgi network (image above).
HSV infects neurons and in order to move to the nuclear pore for replication, as well as to get from one neuron to the next, they use motor proteins that the cells normally use for trafficking cellular molecules along microtubules (left image). It isn't currently clear whether the whole virus travels along microtubules or if just the capsid with the DNA traverses the cells. This has lead to two models being hypothesized, the separate model (capsid without envelope) and the married model (complete virus). This is an important question not only for the sake of understanding HSV biology but has implications for drug development strategies.
In order to address this question many researchers are looking at the proteins involved in the process to get an idea of what is going on. Dr. Wilson's lab has identified a large tegument protein that is involved in anterograde trafficking. Because of it's location in the tegument and not on the envelope of the virus, this seems to support the hypothesis that the capsid is responsible for trafficking of the virus. However, some of the electron microscopy data show a capsid that is partially enveloped, suggesting that perhaps a model that is a bit of a hybrid of the separate and married models is actually represent what is going on in the cells.
So this is the final year of my graduate studies and I'd like to write at least something about each seminar I attend. The first seminar for the Microbiology and Immunology department was today. Woot! It is presented by Duncan Wilson from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The title was "Studying Herpes Simplex Virus Microtubule-traffic using an in vitro System."
Dr. Wilson is known for determining where the virus gets its final membrane, which is not as straight forward a question as it might seem. That was more than 20 years ago and today he is working on answering questions regarding how the virus gets around inside a cell and from one cell to another within the nervous system.Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is in a family of viruses that are enveloped and use linear double-stranded DNA, which is encased in a capsid. The capsid is surrounded by a tegument of unknown function and the whole thing is wrapped in a membrane derived (as Dr. Wilson's lab showed) from the trans-golgi network (image above).
HSV infects neurons and in order to move to the nuclear pore for replication, as well as to get from one neuron to the next, they use motor proteins that the cells normally use for trafficking cellular molecules along microtubules (left image). It isn't currently clear whether the whole virus travels along microtubules or if just the capsid with the DNA traverses the cells. This has lead to two models being hypothesized, the separate model (capsid without envelope) and the married model (complete virus). This is an important question not only for the sake of understanding HSV biology but has implications for drug development strategies. In order to address this question many researchers are looking at the proteins involved in the process to get an idea of what is going on. Dr. Wilson's lab has identified a large tegument protein that is involved in anterograde trafficking. Because of it's location in the tegument and not on the envelope of the virus, this seems to support the hypothesis that the capsid is responsible for trafficking of the virus. However, some of the electron microscopy data show a capsid that is partially enveloped, suggesting that perhaps a model that is a bit of a hybrid of the separate and married models is actually represent what is going on in the cells.
What does having a herpe in your neuron do to neuron function? Could herpes be having an effect on thought processes or emotions or something?
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