Virology Flashcards
What are viruses?
Acellular organisms that are submicroscopic and obligate intracellular parasites.
What are virions?
Virus particles that are produced from the assembly of pre-formed components. They do not undergo growth or division.
What is variolation?
The inhalation of dried crusts or inoculation of pus from lesions - effective but risky.
What is vaccination?
The inoculation of a virus from a material that was safe to those who came in contact with it (e.g. animal disease) and it cannot be contracted by others who it would be a danger to, unlike variolation.
Physical ways to determine virus structure
Filtration through membranes of various pore sizes
Sedimentation properties
Spectroscopy: UV light determines nucleic acid, visible light determines light scattering properties
X-ray diffraction determines atomic structure
Chemical ways to determine virus structure
Resistance to pH changes
Resistance to protein denaturaing agents
Determining virus structure by EM
Transmission and scanning electron microscopes, resolution improved by dropping temperature
Name the three main functions of a virus particle
To protect genetic material
To recognise and interact with a host cell
Genome/protein delivery to host cell
Capsid
Protective protein coat
Envelope
Outer lipoprotein bilayer membrane possessed by many viruses
Genome
Nucleic acid comprising genetic material of organism
Helix
Cylindrical solid formed by staking repeated subunits
Icosahedron
Solid shape with 20 triangular faces around a sphere
Nucleocaspid
Ordered complex of proteins and genome
Virion
Morphologically complete, mature infectious particle
What are the three major forms seen in viral capsids?
Helical, Icosahedral and Enveloped
What is the structure of a helical capsid?
Multiple identical protein subunits arranged with rotational symmetry around edge of circle to form a disk. Multiple disks are stacked to form a cylinder. The genome is coated by the protein shell or kept in the hollow part of the cylinder.
What are some examples of viruses with helical capsids?
Influenza, mumps, measles, rabies.
What is the structure of an icosahedral capsid?
Protein subunits are arranged in a hollow quasi-spherical structure with the genome inside. The simplest ones are built of 3 identical subunits forming one triangular face.
What are some examples of viruses with icosahedral capsids?
Picornaviruses, including polio, foot-and-mouth and rhinoviruses.
What are naked virus particles?
Viruses without an envelope, leaving the capsid proteins vulnerable to the environment.
How do naked virus particles infect a host cell?
They escape at the end of the replication cycle leaving genetic material behind. The cell dies, degrades and lyses which releases virions.
What is the main problem with a naked virus particle mechanism?
The host cell dies quickly and prematurely so latent and persistent infections cannot arise.
How does a virus particle exit the host cell without killing it?
By extrusion, also known as budding. The particle is coated in a lipid envelope derived from the host cells own membrane, allowing it to slip through the membrane and bud off.
What are the three virus-derived envelope proteins?
Matrix proteins, glycoproteins and transmembrane proteins.
Virus Matrix proteins
Internal virion proteins that link nucleocapsid assembly to envelope.
Virus Glycoproteins
Often antigens anchored to membrane that provide external environment contact.
Virus Transmembrane proteins
Form channels through envelope giving virus control over membrane permeability.
How do viruses assemble themelves?
A large negative nucleis acid molecule is packaged into a small capsid by using positive molecules, virus or host histone proteins or packaging signals in the viruses own genome.
How many strands does viral RNA have?
Can be single stranded or double stranded.
How many strands does viral DNA have?
Can be single, double or partially double stranded.
What different structures can a virus genome have?
Linear, circular or segmented.
What are the 3 different polarities that single stranded genomes can have?
Postive-sense, Negative-sense or ambisense.
Positive-Sense
Same polarity or nucleotide sequence as mRNA
Negative-Sense
Not the same polarity or nucleotide sequence as mRNA
Ambisense
Mixture of positive and negative-sense.
Name 6 areas of a virus genome that have been studied.
Composition Segment size and number Nucleotide sequence Terminal structures Open Reading Frames Regulatory signals
What is a virus infection unit?
The smallest unit that can cause a detectable effect when added to a susceptible host.
What are the two ways virions can be counted?
Directly by electron microscope or indirectly by measuring effects on host.
What is a virus plaque assay?
An indirect method of virus quantification using an agar overlay technique.
What are the steps in a virus plaque assay?
Dilution of suspension with virus material is mixed with melted agar and host bacteria.
Mixture is poured onto nutrient agar plate.
Host cells grow, viral particles cause cell lysis which spreads to other cells.
Virus replication causes plaques.
What are the three phases of viral replication?
Initiation of infection
Replication and expression of virus genome
Release of mature virions from infected cell
Viral replication in the nucleus
Attachment penetration of cell Genome uncoating Migration to nucleus Exiting from nucleus Assembly maturation Release from cell
Virus replication in cytoplasm
Attachment penetration of cell Genome uncoating Expression Proteins Replication Assembly maturation Release from cell
What is virus attachment?
The specific binding of virus attachment protein to cellular receptor molecule which reside on host cell surfaces.
What is virus tropism and how is it regulated?
Virus tropism is the cell type a virus will normally infect and it is regulated by the cellular receptor molecules that bind specific virus attachment proteins.
Which process out of attachment and penetration requires energy?
Penetration
What are the three possible mechanisms of viral penetration?
Entire virus translocation across membrane of cell
Endocytosis of virus into intracellular vacuoles
Fusion of virus envelope with cell membrane (only for enveloped viruses)
Describe uncoating
After virus penetration the virus capsid is removed and the genome is exposed in the form of a nucleoprotein complex.
How does viral translocation penetration work?
Viral particle binds cellular receptor molecule
Particle translocation across membrane by receptor
Particle released into cytoplasm
Receptor recycled by cell
How does viral endocytosis penetration work?
Viral particle invades clathrin coated pit in membrane
Pit closes and starts to bud off membrane - adherence
Pit joins ends to form a clathrin coated vesicle with viral particles enclosed - joining
How does virus envelope fusion penetration work?
Extra cellular virus goes through endocytosis
Acidification of vesicle
Membrane fusion
Genome released
What are the two major tasks a virus must complete when inside a cell?
It must make virus proteins by making appropriate mRNA that can interact with host ribosomes to direct protein synthesis
Virus needs to replicate genome
How many classes of viruses are there?
Seven
Describe class 1 viruses
Double stranded DNA genome e.g. Herpes virus, pox virus
Mechanism of mRNA production and genome replication is the same as the host cell
Can be host factor nucleus replicators or virus factor cytoplasm replicators.
Describe class 2 viruses
Single stranded DNA genome e.g. Chicken anaemia virus
Second DNA strand synthesised in nucleus to produce mRNA
dsDNA intermediate formed during replication and used for transcription
One strand becomes viral genome and the other is discarded