BACKGROUND Plaque size is a common feature of viral characterization. Small plaque size is used as a marker of attenuation for live-attenuated vaccine development. OBJECTIVE To investigate whether the naturally occurring plaque size variation reflects virulence of the variants of chikungunya virus (CHIKV). METHODS We selected and purified a variant with small plaque size from the primary is...

Limited structural information of drug targets, cellular toxicity possessed by lead compounds, and large amounts of potential leads are the major issues facing the design-oriented approach of discovering new leads. In an attempt to tackle these issues, we have developed a process of virtual screening based on the observation that conformational rearrangements of the dengue virus envelope protei...

4-GU-DANA (zanamivir) (as well as DANA and 4-AM-DANA) was found to inhibit the neuraminidase activity of human parainfluenza virus type 3 (HPF3). The viral neuraminidase activity is attributable to hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN), an envelope protein essential for viral attachment and for fusion mediated by the other envelope protein, F. While there is no evidence that HN's neuraminidase activ...

Shuang-Huang-Lian injectable powder (SHL)-a classical purified herbal preparation extracted from Scutellaria baicalensis, Lonicera japonica, and Forsythia suspense-has been used against human adenovirus III (HAdV₃) for many years. The combination herb and its major bioactive compounds, including chlorogenic acid, baicalin, and forsythia glycosides A, are effective inhibitors of the virus. Howev...

Background: GABAergic interneurons in the hippocampal CA1 area are mutually communicated by gap junctions (GJs) composed of connexin36 (Cx36). We examined the role of Cx36 in CA1 in manifestation of kindled seizures and hippocampal kindling in rats. Methods: Quinine, as the specific blocker of Cx36, was injected into CA1, and kindled seizures severity was examined 10 min afterward. Moreover, qu...

On behalf of my coauthors, I thank Dr. Drayman for his interest in our recent paper in which we examined whether plaques can contain more than one parental virus (1). We found that a small percentage of plaques (5 to 7%) contain multiple parental viruses, and we concluded that virion aggregation contributes to chimeric plaque formation. In a distinct flow cytometry-based assay that used a highe...

background: gabaergic interneurons in the hippocampal ca1 area are mutually communicated by gap junctions (gjs) composed of connexin36 (cx36). we examined the role of cx36 in ca1 in manifestation of kindled seizures and hippocampal kindling in rats. methods: quinine, as the specific blocker of cx36, was injected into ca1, and kindled seizures severity was examined 10 min afterward. moreover, qu...

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is a common infection in adults (seropositive 60-99% globally), and is associated with cardiovascular diseases, in line with risk factors such as hypertension and atherosclerosis. Several viral infections are linked to hypertension, including human herpes virus 8 (HHV-8) and HIV-1. The mechanisms of how viral infection contributes to hypertension or increased blo...

In vitro, nitric oxide (NO) has been shown to have antimicrobial activity against a wide range of viruses, including influenza A virus. Therefore, we hypothesized that inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) would increase survival in vivo by reducing the viral load in C57Bl/6 mice infected with a lethal dose of influenza A/WSN/33 (H1N1; WSN/33) virus. NO was delivered to influenza-infected mice either cont...