Roles Of Host Gene And Non Coding Rna Expression In Virus Infection

This volume discusses the interactions between viruses and their host cells, and explores the roles of host and viral genes and non-coding RNAs in the virus replication cycle. During infection, viruses express a variety of genes, encoding proteins and RNAs that serve to subjugate the cell – by redirecting cellular processes to support viral replication and, at the same time, by mitigating the cellular response to infection. In this book, experts discuss these interactions in depth, and elaborate on our current understanding of virus-cell interactions for a diverse range of viruses, including positive and negative sense RNA viruses, DNA viruses, and a vector-borne virus. The roles of non-coding RNAs are also discussed. While each class of viruses has distinct replication requirements, this volume reveals unique features and commonalities in viral replication cycles. Accordingly, it represents a valuable source of information for researchers and clinicians alike.

This is the first comprehensive book on human/animal gene responses to RNA viral infections, including prevalent, emerging and re-emerging RNA viruses such as HIV, SARS-CoV, West Nile virus, influenza virus and many others. Human gene responses are reviewed by leading virologists worldwide in the following aspects: (i) the altered gene expression profiles at the transcriptional and translational levels detected with cutting-edge technologies such as cDNA microarray and proteomics; (ii) host innate and adapted immune responses to viral replication in target organs; (iii) virus-activated signal transduction pathways in cell survival, apoptosis and autophagosomal pathways; and (iv) the small interfering RNA/microRNA-mediated gene silencing pathway, a recently characterized new host defense mechanism against viral infection.

This comprehensive account of the human herpesviruses provides an encyclopedic overview of their basic virology and clinical manifestations. This group of viruses includes human simplex type 1 and 2, Epstein–Barr virus, Kaposi's Sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, cytomegalovirus, HHV6A, 6B and 7, and varicella-zoster virus. The viral diseases and cancers they cause are significant and often recurrent. Their prevalence in the developed world accounts for a major burden of disease, and as a result there is a great deal of research into the pathophysiology of infection and immunobiology. Another important area covered within this volume concerns antiviral therapy and the development of vaccines. All these aspects are covered in depth, both scientifically and in terms of clinical guidelines for patient care. The text is illustrated generously throughout and is fully referenced to the latest research and developments.

We acknowledge the initiation and support of this Research Topic by the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS). We hereby state publicly that the IUIS has had no editorial input in articles included in this Research Topic, thus ensuring that all aspects of this Research Topic are evaluated objectively, unbiased by any specific policy or opinion of the IUIS.

The Epstein-Barr virus was discovered 15 years ago. Since that time an immense body of information has been accumu lated on this agent which has come to assume great signifi cance in many different fields of biological science. Thus, the virus has very special relevance in human medicine and oncology, in tumor virology, in immunology, and in mole cular virology, since it is the cause of infectious mononu cleosis and also the first human cancer virus, etiologically related to endemic Burkitt's lymphoma and probably to nasopharyngeal carcinoma. In addition, continuous human lymphoid cell lines initiated and maintained by the transform ing function of the virus genome provide a laboratory tool with wide and ever-growing applications. Innumerable papers on the Epstein-Barr virus have ap peared over recent years and reports of work with this agent now constitute a veritable flood. The present book provides the first and only comprehensive, authoritative over-view of all aspects of the virus by authors who have been the original and major contributors in their particular disciplines. A complete and up-to-date survey of this unique and important agent is thus provided which should be of great interest to experts, teachers, and students engaged in cancer research, virology, immunology, molecular biology, epide miology, and cell culture. Where topics have been dealt with from more than one of these viewpoints, some inevitable overlap and duplication has resulted; although this has been kept to a minimum, it has been retained in some places because of positive usefulness.

Long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) were originally regarded as “noise” in the genome due to their lack of protein-encoding capacity. However, their roles are now understood to cover various biological functions like gene regulation, cell proliferation, survival, differentiation, and chromatin remodeling. As an emerging group of non-coding RNA molecules, LncRNAs are involved in diverse diseases like cancer, cardiovascular, autoimmune, hormonal disorders, neurodegeneration, and infection, among others. However, knowledge of the mechanisms by which they act is still ambiguous. As such, this book meets the essential need for a textbook dedicated to this topic and provides a comprehensive and captivating account of lncRNA research.