This document provides an overview of virology and viral replication. It begins with an outline of topics to be covered, including the structure and classification of viruses, basic virology, and clinical virology. It then discusses viral structure, noting there are five basic types. Viral replication is summarized in seven steps: adsorption, entry, uncoating, transcription, synthesis of viral components, assembly, and release. Control methods involve knowledge of reservoirs, transmission, inactivation methods, vaccines, antiviral drugs, and drug resistance. Emerging viral diseases and some examples are also mentioned.
4. In VIROLOGY we notice:
different structure
different method of replication
implications for
diagnosis
treatment
prevention
4
5. CONTROL METHODS
INVOLVE KNOWLEDGE OF:
RESERVOIRS
MODE OF TRANSMISSION
METHODS TO INACTIVATE VIRUS OF INTEREST
VACCINES
ANTI-VIRAL DRUGS
DEVELOPMENT OF DRUG RESISTANCE
5
6. EMERGING VIRAL DISEASES
Some new global examples:
HIV/AIDS
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS)
West Nile encephalitis (WNV)
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
Monkey pox
Human metapneumovirus
Ebola hemorrhagic disease
6
7. Consequences of viral infections
50% of all absenteeism
Children:
7 or more viral infections per year that
involve a visit to a physician
7
8. Consequences of viral infections
Suffering, followed by recovery
Persistent disease
Fatal disease
Congenital disease
Contributory factor in cancer
Contributory factor in other diseases
8
12. WHAT ARE VIRUSES?
NUCLEIC ACID GENOME:
DNA OR RNA
PROTEIN COAT
PROTECTION, ENTRY
LIPID ENVELOPE IN SOME VIRUSES
SMALL
(20-400nm)
OBLIGATE INTRACELLULAR PARASITES
12
14. 14Koneman et al. Color Atlas and Textbook of Microbiology 5th Ed. 1997
15. Virus versus Virion
Virus is a broad general term for any aspect
of the infectious agent and includes:
• the infectious or inactivated virus particle
• viral nucleic acid and protein in the
infected cell
Virion is the physical particle in the extra-
cellular phase which is able to spread to new
host cells; complete intact virus particle
20. FACTORS AFFECTING HOST RANGE
CELL SURFACE RECEPTORS
20
• AVAILABILITY OF REPLICATION
MACHINERY
• ABILITY TO GET OUT OF CELL AND
SPREAD
• HOST ANTI-VIRAL RESPONSE
21. VIRAL STRUCTURE : SOME
TERMINOLOGY
virus particle = virion
protein which coats the genome = capsid
capsid usually symmetrical
capsid + genome = nucleocapsid
may have an envelope
21
45. ENVELOPE
OBTAINED BY BUDDING THROUGH A CELLULAR
MEMBRANE (except poxviruses)
POSSIBILITY OF EXITING CELL WITHOUT KILLING IT
CONTAINS AT LEAST ONE VIRALLY CODED PROTEIN
45
47. ENVELOPE
OBTAINED BY BUDDING THROUGH A
CELLULAR MEMBRANE (except
poxviruses)
POSSIBILITY OF EXITING CELL
WITHOUT KILLING IT
CONTAINS AT LEAST ONE VIRALLY
CODED PROTEIN
ATTACHMENT PROTEIN
LOSS OF ENVELOPE RESULTS IN LOSS
OF INFECTIVITY
47
49. 5 BASIC TYPES OF VIRAL STRUCTURE
49
HELICAL ENVELOPED HELICAL
ENVELOPED ICOSAHEDRAL
COMPLEX
ICOSAHEDRAL
Adapted from Schaechter et al., Mechanisms of Microbial Disease
nucleocapsidicosahedral nucleocapsid
nucleocapsid
helical nucleocapsid
lipid bilayer
lipid bilayer
glycoprotein spikes
= peplomers
50. UNCONVENTIONAL AGENTS
VIROIDS
RNA only
Small genome
Do not code for protein
So far, only known viroids are in plants
50
• hepatitis delta agent
- some viroid, some virus features
53. CLASSIFICATION
BASIC STRUCTURE AND MOLECULAR
BIOLOGY
particularly important as diagnostic and
therapeutic abilities expand
past schemes
host range
tissue infected
type of cell infected
mode of transmission
disease caused
53
Arboviruses
(arthropod borne)
55. CLASSIFICATION
NUCLEIC ACID
RNA or DNA
segmented or non-segmented
linear or circular
single-stranded or double-stranded
if single-stranded
is genome mRNA (+) sense or complementary to mRNA (-)
sense
55
56. symmetry
icosahedral, helical, complex
enveloped or non-enveloped
number of capsomers
56
CLASSIFICATION
CAPSID
64. Virus Classification
Historically based on:
Host preference: Plant, insect, animal, human
Target organ: respiratory, hepatic, enteric, etc.
Vector: arboviruses
Overlapping, inconsistent
Currently based on molecular biology of genome and biophysical
structure
65. Virus Classification
Viruses with similar structural, genomic &
replication properties are grouped into
families (suffix: viridae) e.g. Herpesviridae
Families subdivided into genera (suffix:
virus) e.g. Herpes simplex virus,
Cytomegalovirus, Varicella zoster virus
Subtypes based on nucleotide sequence
and antigenic reactivities e.g. Herpes
simplex virus type 1, Herpes simplex virus
type 2
67. Classification of Some Common Viruses
Family Viruses
Type of
Nucleic Acid Envelope
Capsid
Symmetry
Picornaviridae Enteroviruses,
polio, hep. A
ss (+) RNA No I
Caliciviridae Norwalk virus ss (+) RNA No I
Togaviridae Rubella ss (+) RNA Yes I
Rhabodoviridae Rabies ss (+) RNA Yes H
Paramyxoviridae Parainfluenza,
RSV, measles,
mumps
ss (-) RNA Yes H
Orthomyxoviridae Influenza ss (-) RNA Yes H
Retroviridae HIV 1,2, HTL I,II ss (+) RNA Yes I
Hepadnaviridae Hepatitis B ds DNA Yes Unknown
Parvoviridae Parovirus B - 19 ss (+) or (-) DNA No I
Adenoviridae Adenovirus ds DNA No I
Herpesviridae HSV, CMV, EBV,
VZV, HHV6 ds DNA Yes I
I = icosahedral, H = helical
68. Virus Classification
(Common)
DNA RNA
Hepatitis B
Human Papilloma Virus
Parvovirus B19
Adenovirus
Herpesviridae
Polyomaviruses
Influenza
RSV
Parainfluenza
Hepatitis A, C, D, E
Enteroviruses
Encephalitis viruses
Measles, Mumps, Rubella
Norwalk, Rotavirus
Virtually all others
69. BASIC STEPS IN VIRAL LIFE
CYCLE
ADSORPTION
PENETRATION
UNCOATING AND ECLIPSE
SYNTHESIS OF VIRAL NUCLEIC ACID AND PROTEIN
ASSEMBLY (maturation)
RELEASE
69
82. UNCOATING
NEED TO MAKE GENOME AVAILABLE
ONCE UNCOATING OCCURS, ENTER ECLIPSE PHASE
ECLIPSE PHASE LASTS UNTIL FIRST NEW VIRUS PARTICLE FORMED
82
83. SYNTHESIS OF VIRAL NUCLEIC
ACID AND PROTEIN
MANY STRATEGIES
NUCLEIC ACID MAY BE MADE IN NUCLEUS OR CYTOPLASM
PROTEIN SYNTHESIS IS ALWAYS IN THE CYTOPLASM
83
85. smallpox virus cytoplasmic
assembly and maturation
85
F. A. Murphy, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis.
http://www.vetnet.ucdavis.edu/fam_graphics/download.html
90. Viral Replication
i) Adsorption (attachment):
random collision
interaction between specific proteins on viral
surface and specific receptors on target cell
membrane (tropism)
not all cells carrying a receptor for a particular
virus can be productively infected by that
virus
91. Viral Replication
i) Adsorption (attachment):
some viruses may use more
than one host cell receptor (e.g.
HIV)
able to infect a limited spectrum
of cell types (host range)
most neutralizing antibodies are
specific for virion attachment
proteins
92. Viral Replication
ii) Entry (penetration):
2 mechanisms - endocytosis -
fusion of virus envelope with cell
membrane
iii) Uncoating:
release of viral genome
cell enzymes (lysosomes) strip off the
virus protein coat
virion can no longer be detected; known
as the “eclipse period”
93. Viral Replication
iv) Transcription/Translation/Synthesis:
a) DNA viruses:
• replicate their DNA in host cell nucleus mediated
by viral enzymes
• synthesize capsid and other proteins in cytoplasm
using host cell enzymes
• new viral proteins move to nucleus where they
combine with new DNA to form new viruses
• Exception - Poxviruses synthesize their parts in
host cell’s cytoplasm
95. Viral Replication
iv) Transcription/Translation/Synthesis:
• Retroviridae (e.g. HIV)
• Contain enzyme “Reverse
transcriptase”
• “+” sense Viral RNA cDNA integrated into host cell
chromosome
• mRNA (for viral proteins) and progeny
virion RNA are synthesized from
integrated viral DNA by host cell
enzymes (RNA polymerases)
96. Viral Replication
v) Synthesis:
Protein synthesis - 2 types
• structural
• non-structural (enzymes for replication)
Nucleic acid synthesis
• new virus genome
• most often by a virus - coded
polymerase or replicase; with some
DNA viruses a cell enzyme carries this
out
97. Viral Replication
vi) Assembly:
may take place in cell nucleus,
cytoplasm or (with most enveloped
viruses) at the plasma membrane
vii) Release:
sudden rupture of cell
gradual extrusion (budding) of
enveloped viruses through the cell
membrane
may occur together with assembly
100. Outcome of Viral Infections
Virus-host cell interaction may result in:
1. Cell death (lytic) - due to cytopathic
effect of virus
2. Cell transformation - cell converted to
malignant or cancerous cell
3. Latent infection (occult) - persistent
infection in quiescent state which may
reactive anytime to produce disease;
continuous or intermittent shedding
4. Cell fusion to form multinucleated cells
101. Persistent Viral Infections
3 types of persistent viral infection (some
overlap):
1. Chronic carrier - eg. Hepatitis B; results
in chronic illness
2. Latent infection - eg. Herpesviridae;
result in symptomatic or asymptomatic
shedding
3. Slow virus infections - due to prolonged
incubation period (eg. Measles virus and
SSPE)
102. Host - Organism Relationship
• Interaction between host and organism
affecting the development and outcome of
an infection includes:
– Host’s primary physical barriers
– Host’s immunologic ability to control and eliminate the
invading organisms
– Organism’s ability to evade, destruction/virulence
– Ability of organism to spread in the body
103. Virulence of Viruses & Evasion of the
Immune Response
Poorly understood processes:
Antigenic variation
Some viruses encode receptors for various
mediators of immunity (eg. IL1 & TNF) thus
blocking their ability to interact with receptors on
their intended targets
Some viruses (eg. HIV) reduce expression of class
I MHC proteins, thus reducing ability of cytotoxic T
cells to kill the virus-infected cells
Direct cell-to-cell propagation
Attenuated viruses (eg. Vaccine strains)
104. Definitions
Exposure: contact with a potentially
infectious agent
Infection: persistence on or within another
living organism
Disease: end product (damage) resulting
from an infectious process
Incubation: time from infection to
development of symptoms /
disease
105. Virus: Incubation Times
Hours to 1-2 days:
Respiratory viruses
GI viruses
1 to 3 weeks:
Measles/Mumps/Rubel
la
VZV, HSV
Chlamydia
Enteroviruses, Polio
WNV
Weeks to months:
• Hepatitis viruses
• HIV
• EBV
• Rabies
Months to years:
• Prions
109. Viruses - Transmission
Can occur - with or without disease
- during asymptomatic
shedding
- during incubation period
Transmission results in primary infection disease;
reactivation results in secondary disease
110. Viruses - Epidemiology
mode of transmission
age
gender
ethnic background / country of origin
travel history
occupation
season
underlying medical condition(s)
111. DEFINITIONS - VIRAL
PROTEINS
STRUCTURAL PROTEINS
ALL PROTEINS IN A MATURE VIRION
NON-STRUCTURAL PROTEINS
VIRALLY CODED PROTEINS WHICH ARE NOT PACKAGED IN
THE VIRION
111
112. EFFECTS ON HOST
MAY INHIBIT HOST DNA, RNA OR PROTEIN SYNTHESIS
DETAILS AND MECHANISM VARY
112
128. SOME POINTS TO REMEMBER
INFECTIVITY
NOT EVERY RELEASED PARTICLE IS INFECTIOUS
128
• ASSAYS
– detect every particle (e.g. electron
microscope)
– detect infectious particles only (e.g. plaque
assay)