Virology and Viral Diseases

Papillomavirus have a genome size about 8 kilobases. They cause warts and also human and animal cancers. Warts are usually benign but can convert to malignant carcinomas. This occurs in patients with epidermodysplasia verruciformis.

MASA syndrome, is a rare X-linked recessive neurological disorder. It is caused by mutations in the L1CAM gene.

This is contracted by wrestlers. It apparently spreads by direct contact from skin lesions on one wrestler to his / her opponent, and usually appears in the head and neck region (which are frequently sites of contact in wrestling holds).

HHV-8 infects lymphocytes and epithelial / endothelial cells and is the causative agent of Kaposi's sarcoma. It has also been associated with hematologic malignancies, including primary effusion lymphoma, multicentric Castleman's, MCD-related immunoblastic / plasmablastic lymphoma.

Congenital Varicella Syndrome is an extremely rare disorder in which affected infants have distinctive abnormalities at birth (congenital) due to the mother's infection with chickenpox (maternal varicella zoster) early during pregnancy (i.e., up to 20 weeks gestation).

This is the major structural protein and covers the RNA genome. It protects the genome from nucleases and holds it in a conformation that allows transcription.

Human calicivirus are non-enveloped, single stand, positive sense RNA viruses. They appear round in shape with icosahedral symmetry and contain a single capsid protein. The viral surface has 32 cup-shaped depressions described as the ‘Star of David’ appearance.

This is a rare, progressive, fatal, demyelinating disease of the CNS that kills oligodendrocytes. It results in memory loss, loss of co-ordination, mentation problems, vision problems, etc. The disease is caused by certain members of the polyomavirus family, usually JC virus.

Protein kinase R (PKR) is an enzyme which protects against viral infections. PKR is activated by double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), the synthesis of which is caused virally.

LMP1 is the best-documented oncoprotein of the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), latent gene products.

Pericarditis is an inflammation of the pericardium, which is the fibrous sac surrounding the heart. A characteristic chest pain is often present. This is not associtaed with mumps.

Pan troglodytes Endogenous Retrovirus-1 is a retrovirus that putatively infected chimpanzees about 4 million years ago, and may have been involved in the process of speciation, making the chimpanzee and human lines diverge.

Vif stands for viral infectivity factor. It is a protein found in HIV and other retroviruses. Its role is to disrupt the antiviral activity of the human enzyme APOBEC by targeting it for ubiquitination and cellular degradation.

Rous sarcoma virus is a retrovirus and is the first oncovirus to have been described. It causes sarcoma in chickens.

LMP-2A is a transmembrane protein that act to block tyrosine kinase signaling. It inhibits activation of the viral lytic cycle.