Viral capsid assembly and stability in tailed, dsDNA phage and Herpesviridae are achieved by various means including chemical crosslinks (unique to HK97), or auxiliary proteins (lambda, T4, phi29, and herpesviruses). All these viruses have coat proteins (CP) with a conserved, HK97-like core structure. We used a combination of trypsin digestion, gold labeling, cryo-electron microscopy, 3D image ...

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) represent the largest family of cell surface molecules involved in signal transduction. Surprisingly, open reading frames for multiple GPCRs were hijacked in the process of coevolution between Herpesviridae family viruses and their human and mammalian hosts. Virally encoded GPCRs (vGPCRs) evolved as parts of viral genomes, and this evolution allowed the power...

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) belongs to the family Herpesviridae, which its members are able to remain latent in various cells of the human body for a long time [1]. Globally, CMV is a very common viral infection and one of the most common causes of congenital infections. There are some evidences indicating that CMV infection leads to miscarriage and stillbirth [2]. Even in infants who are asym...

Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is one of the eight viruses belonging to the Herpesviridae family to infect humans. CMV belongs to the Betaherpesvirinae subfamily of viruses characterized by a restricted host spectrum, in vitro replication in fibroblasts of the natural host species in vivo, a slow replication cycle, the induction of intranuclear and intracytoplasmic inclusions and the ability to in...

The impact of genome length on replication and genome stability was assessed for guinea pig cytomegalovirus (GPCMV), a member of the Herpesviridae. The 233-kb genome could be decreased by 15.1 kb without discernable impact on viral replication efficiency in vitro. Viruses with genomes under-length by up to 31 kb replicated with decreased efficiencies but this appeared to arise from the loss of ...

Varicella-zoster virus is a member of the Herpesviridae family. It can cause chickenpox and Herpes zoster infection (shingles). The latter is an acute, cutaneous infection caused by reactivation of a primary varicella infection upon decline in the virus-specific and cell-mediated immunity. Herpes zoster Infection is a serious infection in immune compromised patients. Predisposing factors includ...

Bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV-1) belongs to the Varicellovirus genus, Herpesviridae family and causes different respiratory, reproductive and nervous system disorders in cows, including infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR). For determination of the genetic relationship of gB and gD – two of main BHV-1 glycoprotein genes in Iran with those in other countries, DNA fragments of 671 bp corresponding...

Viral polymerases are important targets in drug discovery and development efforts. Most antiviral compounds that are currently approved for treatment of infection with members of the herpesviridae family were shown to inhibit the viral DNA polymerase. However, biochemical studies that shed light on mechanisms of drug action and resistance are hampered primarily due to technical problems associa...

Epstein-Barr virus, a member of the Herpesviridae family, is responsible for the infectious mononucleosis clinical syndrome, which mainly includes the pharyngitis, fever, and lymphadenopathy triad after incubation for 30-50 days. The liver is involved in 80-90% of patients in a self-limiting transient manner, with jaundice being much more uncommon (5%). From a hematological standpoint it may ma...

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is an important pathogenic agent that causes recurrent oral and genital lesions, blindness and encephalitis. It is a member of the family Herpesviridae, which contains three subfamilies (alpha- beta- and gammaherpesvirinae) whose members infect humans to cause a variety of ailments, from benign rashes to nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Although this review focuses on HSV, t...