The influenza A/Alaska/77 (H3N2) virus mutant 143-1 is temperature sensitive (ts) due to a spontaneous in-frame 36-nucleotide deletion in the nonstructural (NS) gene segment, which leads to a 12-amino-acid deletion in the NS1 protein. In addition, it has a small-plaque phenotype on MDCK cell monolayers. However, phenotypically revertant (i.e., ts+) viruses were isolated readily following replic...

All linear dsDNA viruses package their genome into a preformed procapsid via a ATP-driving motor involving two nonstructural enzymes or ATPase. This essential viral replication step has been investigated in the quest for new antiviral drugs. These DNA-packaging motors could be potential parts in nanotechnology. But both the low solubility and self-aggregation of all nonstructural enzymes have s...

Enterovirus infections, implicated in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes in a number of studies, may precipitate the symptoms of clinical diabetes and play a role in the initiation of the beta-cell damaging process. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether cellular immune responses to enterovirus antigens are abnormal in children with type 1 diabetes. Lymphocyte proliferation responses to...

OBJECTIVE Access to substance abuse treatment among historically disadvantaged communities (HDCs) in Cape Town, South Africa is limited, despite a growing demand for services. Although research has reported on structural barriers to treatment access, nonstructural factors remain largely unexplored. The aim of this paper is to describe two nonstructural influences on the use of substance abuse t...

Rubella virus nonstructural proteins, translated from input genomic RNA as a p200 polyprotein and subsequently processed into p150 and p90 by an intrinsic papain-like thiol protease, are responsible for virus replication. To examine the effect of p200 processing on virus replication and to study the roles of nonstructural proteins in viral RNA synthesis, we introduced into a rubella virus infec...

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major worldwide cause of liver disease, including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. It is estimated that more than 170 million individuals are infected with HCV, with three to four million new cases each year. The current standard of care, combination treatment with interferon and ribavirin, eradicates the virus in only about 50% of chronical...

Replication of the rotavirus genome involves two steps: (i) transcription and extrusion of transcripts and (ii) minus-strand RNA synthesis in viral complexes containing plus-strand RNA. In this study, we showed evidence for the importance of the viral nonstructural protein of rotavirus, NSP2, in the replication of viral RNAs. RNA-binding properties of NSP2 were tested by UV cross-linking in viv...

To better understand the mechanisms by which neurotropic viruses invade peripheral nerve pathways and produce CNS disease, we defined the type 3 (T3) reovirus genes that are determinants of the capacity of reovirus T3 strain Dearing (T3D) and T3 clone 9 (C9) to infect the spinal cord and kill mice after hindlimb injection. T3D and C9 viruses are both highly virulent (LD(50) < 10(1) PFU) after i...