Viruses Flashcards
what is a virion?
a delivery system that surrounds a payload
what is the payload of the virion constitute?
structural components used by the virus to survive in the environment (viral genome + enzymes for initial viral replication)
what is a capsid?
a single or double layer protein shell that surrounds the nucleic acid of a virus
what is a nucleocapsid?
when the capsid surrounds the nucleic acid
what are the subunits that form the capsid called?
capsomers
how are the viral capsid proteins arranged?
icosahedral:-
- 20 triangular faces, 12 vertices
- spherical
- nucleic acid inside the spherical core
Helical:-
- proteins bound in a regular periodic fashion along nucleic acid
what is the difference between enveloped and non-enveloped viruses?
enveloped viruses possess an envelope that surrounds the nucleocapsid whereas the non-enveloped don’t
what does the viral envelope contain?
- virus specific proteins (matrix proteins)
- lipids
- carbohydrates
where is the matrix protein located?
it lines the inner surface of the viral envelope and is in contact with the nucleocapsid
what is the function of matrix proteins?
- stabilize the interaction between viral glycoproteins and the lipid envelope
- direct the viral genome to intracellular sites of assembly
- help in virus budding
briefly, what are the general steps in virus replication?
- attachment & penetration
- macromolecular synthesis
- assembly of progeny virions and release from host cells
- dealing with defective viruses
define adsorption
attachment of the virus to the host cell surface as a result of random collision between the virions and the target cell
(first step of viral infection of a susceptible cell)
how are viruses able to attach to cell surfaces?
viruses have attachment proteins to facilitate adsorption, for example hemaglutinin in influenza
describe the mode of attachment of enveloped and nonenveloped viruses
Enveloped viruses: have more than one attachment protein on their surface
Nonenveloped viruses: they have surface exposed regions of capsid proteins to mediate virus attachment
how are some viruses able to attack different cell types?
some viruses use multiple receptors as points of attachment which allows them to invade various cell types
what happens after adsorption?
payloaad is translocated across the plasma membrane of the host cell
how do enveloped and non-enveloped viruses gain entry to the inside of the cell?
-Enveloped viruses gain entry directly by fusing their envelop with the plasma membrane
-Non enveloped viruses: virus is taken by endocytosis and fuses with endosomal membrane inside the cell
continue the blanks
- non enveloped viruses bind at receptors that aggregate at the ________ & then endocytosed within clathrin-coated vesicles before delivery to endosomes
clathrin-coated pits
what is uncoating?
process in which the capsid is removed to make the viral genome accessible to cellular transcription and translation mahinery
TRUE OR FALSE
for many viruses, penetration and uncoating occur together
TRUE
How are capsids removed for nonenveloped viruses during replication?
by host cell enzymes
how are reoviruses capsids removed?
reoviruses have proteases in late endosomes, and lysosomes that remove the outer capsid proteins producing a subvirion particle
what is the function of a subvirion particle?
it penetrates endosomal membranes leading to activation of virus transcription in the cytoplasm
what is macromolecular synthesis in viral replication?
translation of viral mRNA into virus specific proteins
what enzyme is used to produce viral RNA?
Virus-encoded RNA-dependent RNA polymerase
how is positive sense RNA produced during macromolecular synthesis?
virus encoded RNA dependent RNA polymerase synthesizes a negative sense RNA that serves as a template for the synthesis of positive sense RNA that is then packaged into progeny virion
TRUE OR FALSE
viral RNA acts as mRNA, translated by cellular ribosomes to produce viral proteins
TRUUUE
how is mRNA translated in poliovirus?
mRNA is translated to a single large polyprotein that is cleaved by virus encoded proteases to release individual viral proteins
How is negative sense RNA synthesized in macromolecular synthesis of viral replication?
During replication of the viral genome, RdRp synthesizes a positive-sense antigenome that it uses as a template to create genomic negative-sense RNA
why must double stranded RNA viruses copy their RNA strands to single positive sense RNA?
because the double stranded character of RNA cannot function directly as mRNA, thus it must be copied to single positive sense RNA for it to act as mRNA
which enzyme is used to generate a negative strand of the double stranded RNA to synthesize a single stranded positive sense RNA?
- virus encoded RNA dependent RNA polymerase
explain the process of RNA replication through DNA intermediates
positive sense RNA serves as a template for the enzyme (RNA dependent DNA polymerase), whereby DNA is then integrated into host chromosomal DNA and transcription is carried by host cell DNA dependent RNA polymerase
what virus is an example of viral replication that occurs through DNA intermediates?
Retroviruses (HIV)
How do DNA viruses, like herpesvirus, make mRNA?
by using strategies similar to those of the host cell’s, they are tightly regulated and result in synthesis of early and late mRNA transcripts
what is the difference between early and late mRNA transcripts?
early transcripts: encode regulatory proteins and proteins required for DNA replication
Late transcripts: encode structural proteins of the virion
why is it that poxvirus is unable to use host RNA polymerases during replication?
because the initial steps of transcription and translation occur in the host cell cytoplasm, and RNA polymerases are located in the nucleus
however, poxvirus carry its own DNA-dependent RNA polymerase to initiate transcription
what happens after the process of macromolecular synthesis?
intact virions are assembeled and released from host cells
nucleocapsid formation (viable virions)
what events lead to viral cell death/disruption
- inhibition of host macromolecular synthesis
- disorganization of host cell cytoskeleton
- alteration of host cell membrane structure
how are enveloped and non-enveloped viruses released?
non enveloped: upon cell death
enveloped: from infected cell by budding
how do viruses kill cells?
by apoptosis characterized by cell shrinkage, membrane blebbing, condensation of nucleur chromatin, and cleavage of cell DNA
What is a defective virus?
A virus particle that contains insufficient nucleic acid to provide for production of all essential viral components
what is an example of a defective virus?
Hepatitis delta, for hepatitis delta to manifest, one must also be infected by Hepatitis B, which allows the replication of hepatitis delta
how are defective viruses diagnosed?
- by antigen search
- culture in the presence of a helper virus
define a helper virus
virus that allows an otherwise-deficient coinfecting virus to replicate
what are the characteristics of herpes virus?
- double stranded DNA genome
- icosahedral nucleocapsid
- enveloped
- life-long latent infections
what are herpesvirus subfamilies?
- alpha (HSV1/HSV2/VZV)
- beta (cytomegalovirus/HSV-6/HSV-7)
- gamma (Epstein barr/HSC-8)
How are HSV-1 & HSV-2 transmitted?
HSV1 → oral-oral / oral-genital
HSV2 → oral-oral / oral-genital / genital-genital
How is VZV transmitted?
Respiratory route via aerosols/vesicular fluid
why is it that asymptomatic HSV infected patients can still transmit the infection?
because shedding from epithelial surfaces can occur even if lesions aren’t noticeable
TRUE OR FALSE
HSV is almost always asymptomatic, VZV is almost always symptomatic
TRUE
what organs does herpes virus infect?
mainly mucous membranes (genitals,mouth, respiratory tract,anus,eyes)
what is the first line of defense against herpes?
skin
how come herpes affects mucos membrane but not skin?
the thick keratin layer of the superficial epidermis prevents access of HSV to its receptors, and because mucous membranes present a more formidable barrier that is readily affected
how does herpes virus infect cells?
- attaches to susceptible cell
- glycoproteins projecting from viral envelope inteact with surface receptors
- glycoproteins interact with heparan sultate chain on the proteoglycan and bind to it
- virus will be close to molecules that facilitate its entry
- binding triggers fusion of viral envelope with either cell membrane or plasma membrane
- viral nucleocapsid is released into the cytoplasm
- viral genome released into nucleus
- replication occurs inside the cell in temporal fashion (proteins→genome→progeny virions)
what is a herpesvirus latent infection?
viral genome circularizes in the nucleus as an episome with minimal gene transcription
when do you refer to an infection as productive infection?
when virus replication occurs, immediate early genes are transcribed with transcription factors in the virion tegument
what is a virion tegument?
space between nucleocapsid surface and envelope
what are the proteins encoded by immediate early genes?
- early genes: required to replicate viral DNA
- Late genes: encode proteins that assemble and comprise progeny virions + glycoproteins inserted into cell membrane