Insights into chronic gamma-herpesvirus infections

Mutagenesis by host antimicrobial peptides: insights into microbial evolution during chronic infections

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are produced by the mammalian immune system to fight invading pathogens. The best understood function of AMPs is to integrate into the membranes of microbes, thereby disrupting and killing cells. However, a recent study [PLoS Pathogens (2014) 10, e1004083] provides evidence that at subinhibitory levels, AMPs promote mutations in bacterial DNA, which enhance bacteri...

MicroRNAs: New Insights into Chronic Childhood Diseases

Chronic diseases are the major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and have shown increasing incidence rates among children in the last decades. Chronic illnesses in the pediatric population, even if well managed, affect social, psychological, and physical development and often limit education and active participation and increase the risk for health complications. The significant pediat...

Insights into Mechanisms of Chronic Neurodegeneration

Chronic neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and prion diseases are characterised by the accumulation of abnormal conformers of a host encoded protein in the central nervous system. The process leading to neurodegeneration is still poorly defined and thus development of early intervention strategies is challenging. Unique amongst these diseases ...

Herpesvirus Infections in Pregnancy

Update on herpesvirus infections.

The eight human herpesviruses (HHV) have features in common, yet are also distinct (see Tables 1 and 2). Each herpesvirus causes more than one disease by interacting in multiple ways with the host. They have also evolved multiple ways of impairing cellmediated immune responses by downregulating display of HLA molecules on the surface of infected cells. The herpesviruses are divided into three s...