HTLV-I is a retrovirus now identified as the etiologic agent of two diverse disease processes: ATLL, an aggressive T-cell malignancy; and TSP/HAM, a chronic progressive myelopathy. Transmission can occur horizontally through blood transfusions, IV drug abuse and sexual intercourse. Vertical transmission may also occur. Available diagnostic modalities are serologic in nature and include the EIA ...

Viral ion channels are short auxiliary membrane proteins with a length of ca. 100 amino acids. They are found in enveloped viruses from influenza A, influenza B and influenza C (Orthomyxoviridae), and the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1, Retroviridae). The channels are called M2 (influenza A), NB (influenza B), CM2 (influenza C) and Vpu (HIV-1). Recently, in Paramecium bursaria chlor...

Enveloped viruses such as HIV-1, influenza virus, and Ebola virus express a surface glycoprotein that mediates both cell attachment and fusion of viral and cellular membranes. The membrane fusion process leads to the release of viral proteins and the RNA genome into the host cell, initiating an infectious cycle. This review focuses on the HIV-1 gp41 membrane fusion protein and discusses the str...

Background The primary goal of any recombinant protein production is to achieve successful gene transfer and expression in a target cell. There are two general categories of delivery vehicles/vectors employed in protein expression protocols. The first category includes the non-viral vectors, ranging from direct injection of DNA to complexing DNA with cationc lipds, polylysine, etc. The second c...

Equine infectious anaemia (EIA) is a persistent viral infection of equids. The causative agent, EIA virus (EIAV) is a lentivirus in the family Retroviridae, subfamily Orthoretrovirinae. Other members of the genus Lentivirus include: bovine immunodeficiency virus; caprine arthritis encephalitis virus; feline immunodeficiency virus; human immunodeficiency virus 1; human immunodeficiency virus 2; ...

Viruses that replicate in the nucleus need to pass the nuclear envelope barrier during infection. Research in recent years indicates that the nuclear envelope is a major hurdle for many viruses. This review describes strategies to overcome this obstacle developed by seven virus families: herpesviridae, adenoviridae, orthomyxoviridae, lentiviruses (which are part of retroviridae), Hepadnaviridae...

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a lentivirus, a separate genus of the Retroviridae which are RNA viruses that integrate as DNA copies into the genomes of host cells and replicate intracellularly through various RNA intermediates. Several of these RNA molecules can be targeted by ribozymes and a number of investigators, including our group, have demonstrated the ability of ribozymes to sup...

While most carriers of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) remain asymptomatic throughout their lifetime, infection is associated with the development of adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) and HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). The exact parameters that determine these outcomes are unknown but are believed to include host genetic factors that control the immun...

Reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV), a member of the Gammaretrovirus genus in the Retroviridae family, causes an immunosuppressive, oncogenic and runting-stunting syndrome in multiple avian hosts. To better understand the host interactions at the transcriptional level, microarray data analysis was performed in chicken embryo fibroblast cells at 1, 3, 5, and 7 days after infection with REV. This s...

Small ruminant lentivirus (SRLV) is a group of viruses the Retroviridae family, shared between caprine, ovine and wild ruminants. It responsible for systemic infection that can affect lungs, central nervous system, mammary gland joints, causing chronic, insidious, progressive diseases, seriously affecting animal health. Concurrently, it associated with decrease in milk production, leading to ma...