Title: MicrorobiologyPathobiology 445
1- Microrobiology/Pathobiology 445
- Lecture 4, 5Apr01
- Viral Life Cycle
- (and an overview of host-virus interactions)
- James I. Mullins, Ph.D.
- Professor and Chairman
- Department of Microbiology
- jmullins_at_u.washington.edu
- Spring, 2001
- Slides can be downloaded (ppt and pdf) from the
course website and at http//ubik.microbiol.washin
gton.edu/Index.html - (Graphics and animation obtained from Murray text
and several links from - All the Virology on the WWW at
http//www.virology.net/garryfavweb.html)
2The Course of Virus Infections
- Patterns of virus infection can be divided into a
number of different types - Abortive infection occurs when a virus infects a
cell (or host), but cannot complete the full
replication cycle. Therefore, this is a
non-productive infection - Acute infection many common virus infections
(e.g. 'colds') - relatively brief infections,
where the virus is usually eliminated completely
by the immune system - Chronic infection These are the converse of
acute infections, i.e. prolonged stubborn. The
best studied example is lymphocytic
choriomeningitis virus (LCMV, an arenavirus)
infection in mice - Latent infections These typically persist for
the entire life of the host, e.g. herpes simplex
virus (HSV)
3Virus-Host Interactions
- For all viruses, pathogenic or non-pathogenic,
the first factor which influences the course of
infection is the mechanism site of entry into
the body
4The Skin
- Mammalian skin is a highly effective barrier
against viruses - The outer layer (epidermis) consists of dead
cells therefore does not support virus
replication - Very few viruses infect directly by this route
unless there is prior injury such as minor trauma
or puncture of the barrier, such as insect or
animal bites or subcutaneous injections - Some viruses which do use this route are herpes
simplex virus papillomaviruses, although these
viruses probably still require some form of
disruption of the skin such as small abrasions or
eczema
5Mucosal Membranes
- The mucosal membranes of the eye genitourinary
(GU) tract are much more favourable routes of
access for viruses to the tissues of the body. - This is reflected by the number of viruses which
can be sexually transmitted virus infections of
the eye are also quite common.
6The Alimentary Canal
- Viruses may infect the alimentary canal via the
mouth, oropharynx, gut, or rectum, although
viruses which infect the gut via the oral route
must survive passage through the stomach, an
extremely hostile environment with a very low pH
high concentrations of digestive enzymes - The intestinal epithelium is constantly
replicating there is a good deal of lymphoid
tissue associated with the gut which provides
many opportunities for virus replication - The constant intake of food fluids provides
ample opportunity for viruses to infect these
tissues - However, the gut has many specific (e.g.
secretory antibodies) non-specific (e.g.
stomach acids bile salts) defense mechanisms
7The Respiratory Tract
- The respiratory tract is probably the most
frequent site of virus infection - As with the gut, it is constantly in contact with
external virus particles which are taken in
during respiration - The respiratory tract also has defences aimed at
virus infection - filtering particulate matter in
the sinuses, and cells antibodies of the immune
system - Viruses which infect the respiratory tract
usually come directly from the respiratory tract
of others, since aerosol spread is very
efficient 'coughs sneezes spread diseases'
8The Natural Environment is a Considerable Barrier
to Virus Infections.
- Most viruses are relatively sensitive to heat,
drying, ultraviolet light (sunlight), etc.,
although some are quite resistant to these
factors - This is particularly important for viruses which
are spread via contaminated water or foodstuffs -
not only must they be able to survive in the
environment until they are ingested by another
host, but as most are spread by the faecal-oral
route, they must also be able to pass through the
stomach to infect the gut before being shed in
the faeces - One way of overcoming environmental stress is to
take advantage of a secondary vector for
transmission between the primary hosts
9Virus Transmission
- Viruses without a secondary vector must rely on
continued host-to-host transmission, have
evolved various strategies for this - Horizontal transmission The direct host-to-host
transmission of viruses. - This strategy relies on a high rate of infection
to maintain the virus population - Vertical transmission The transmission of the
virus from one generation of hosts to the next. - This may occur by infection of the fetus before,
during, or shortly after birth (e.g. during
breastfeeding). - More rarely, it may involve direct transfer of
the virus via the germ line itself, e.g.
retroviruses - In contrast to horizontal transmission, this
strategy relies on long-term persistence of the
virus in the host rather than rapid propagation
dissemination of the virus.
10Primary Replication
- The virus must initiate an infection by entering
a susceptible cell (primary replication) - This initial interaction frequently determines
whether the infection will remain localized at
the site of entry or spread to become a systemic
infection - In some cases, virus spread is controlled by
infection of polarized epithelial cells the
preferential release of virus from either the
apical (e.g. influenza virus - a localized
infection in the upper respiratory tract) or
basolateral (e.g. rhabdoviruses - a systemic
infection) surface of the cells
11Infection of Polarized Epithelium
12Systemic Spread
- Following primary replication at the site of
infection, the next stage may be spread
throughout the host - In addition to direct cell-cell contact, there
are two main mechanisms for spread throughout the
host - Via the bloodstream Viruses may get into the
bloodstream by direct inoculation, for example,
by arthropod vectors, blood transfusion, or
sharing of non-sterilized needles - Via the nervous system Spread of virus to the
nervous system is usually preceded by primary
viremia
13The Virus Life Cycle
Note typo in handout
Early Phase i/ii Attachment to and penetration
of the virion into the host cell iii Uncoating
of the virion iv Expression of viral proteins
involved in genome replication v Replication
of the viral genome Late Phase vi Synthesis of
virus structural components vii Assembly of
progeny virus particles viii Maturation of
virus ix Release from the host cell
14The Replication Cycle
- Virus replication can be divided into nine
stages. These are arbitrary divisions, used in
explaining the replication cycle of a
non-existent 'typical' virus. All viruses must
undergo each of these stages in some form to
successfully complete their replication cycles.
Not all the steps described here are detectable
as distinct stages for all viruses often they
blur together appear to occur almost
simultaneously
15Cell Tropism
- In many if not most cases, the expression (or
absence) of receptors on cell surfaces largely
determines the tropism of a virus, i.e. the type
of host cell in which it is able to replicate. - In some cases, intracellular blocks at later
stages of replication are responsible for
determining cell tropism - Therefore, this initial stage of replication
the very first interaction between the virus
the host cell has a major influence on virus
pathogenesis in determining the course of a
virus infection
16Attachment
- Virus attachment consists of specific binding of
a virus-attachment protein to a cell surface
receptor molecule - Receptors may be proteins (usually
glycoproteins), or carbohydrate residues present
on glycoproteins or glycolipids - Receptor proteins are usually specific for that
virus - Carbohydrate receptors are usually less specific
because the same configuration of side-chains may
occur on many different membrane-bound molecules - Some complex viruses (e.g. poxviruses,
herpesviruses) use more than one receptor and
therefore have alternative routes of uptake into
cells - In some instances (e.g., dengue virus), Antibody
Fc domains facilitate virus binding to Fc
receptors
17Virus Receptors
- Virus receptors fall into may different classes,
e.g - immunoglobulin-like superfamily molecules
- membrane-associated receptors
- transmembrane transporters channels
- One factor that
- unifies all virus
- receptors is that
- viruses have
- subverted molecules
- required for normal
- cellular functions
18Poliovirus Attachment
19Penetration Endocytosis
- Endocytosis into intracellular vacuoles is
probably the most common mechanism of virus entry - Fusion does not require any specific virus
proteins (other than those already utilized for
receptor binding) but relies on the normal
formation internalization of coated pits at the
cell membrane - Receptor-mediated endocytosis is an efficient
process for taking up concentrating
extracellular macromolecules
20Influenza virus entry
Influenza virions bind to the cell surface and
are endocytosed intact into the cell. The
endocytic vesicle then fuses with an acidic
vesicle. At pH 5, the hemaglutinin glycoprotein
molecules in the influenza envelope undergo a
structural transition that causes the amino
terminal end of HA2 to flip outward and be
exposed to the molecular environment. This highly
hydrophobic segment interacts with the vesicle
membrane and causes fusion. This fusion event
dumps the viral genome into the cell's cytoplasm.
21Penetration Fusion
- Fusion of the virus envelope (enveloped viruses
only) with the cell membrane, either directly at
the cell surface or in a cytoplasmic vesicle.
Fusion requires the presence of a specific
fusion protein in the virus envelope (e.g.
influenza haemagglutinin or retrovirus
transmembrane (TM) glycoproteins), which promotes
joining of the cellular virus membranes. This
results in the nucleocapsid being deposited
directly into the cytoplasm
22HIV entry
lt- Here the virion attachment protein - gp120 -
attaches initially to the CD4 protein on a helper
T-cell. The gp120 undergoes conformational
change due to binding, and binds a co-receptor -
CCR-5, a ß-chemokine receptor in this case. gp41
- a cleavage product of a gp160 precursor, and a
part of the "spike protein" of the viral membrane
- is then able to bind into the cell membrane,
via a hydrophobic domain. The juxtaposition of
cell and viral membranes promotes membrane fusion
and nucleoprotein entry into the cell.
23Poliovirus entry
24Genetic information flow in cells and viruses
DNA to DNA (Replication) DNA to RNA
(Transcription) RNA to Protein (Translation) The
Central Dogma
The replication strategy of any virus depends on
the nature of its genetic material
25Class I Double-stranded DNA
Seven classes of virus replication schemes known
26Class II Single-stranded DNA
- Replication occurs in the nucleus, involving the
formation of a double-stranded intermediate which
serves as a template for the synthesis of
single-stranded progeny DNA
27Class III Double-stranded RNA
- These viruses have segmented genomes
- Each segment is transcribed separately to produce
individual monocistronic mRNAs
28Class IV Single-stranded () sense RNA
- The genome RNA forms the mRNA
- This is translated to form a polyprotein product,
which is subsequently cleaved to form the mature
proteins. - More complex transcription patterns are also
known (e.g. Togavirus)
29Class V Single-stranded ()sense RNA
The first step in replication is transcription of
the () sense RNA genome by the virion
RNA-dependent RNA polymerase to produce
monocistronic mRNAs, which also serve as the
template for subsequent genome replication
30Class VI Single-stranded () sense RNA with DNA
Intermediate
- Retrovirus genomes are () sense RNA but unique
in that they are diploid, do not serve directly
as mRNA, but as a template for reverse
transcription into DNA
31Class VII Double-stranded DNA with RNA
Intermediate
- This group of viruses also relies on reverse
transcription - Unlike the retroviruses (class VI), this occurs
inside the virus particle during maturation - On infection of a new cell, the first event to
occur is repair of the gapped genome, followed by
transcription
32Expression of Genetic Information
- The course of virus replication is determined by
tight control of gene expression - Viruses have had to achieve highly specific
quantitative, temporal, spatial control of
expression with much more limited genetic
resources than that of host cells - Viruses have evolved a range of solutions to the
problem of gene expression - Positive negative signals which promote or
repress gene expression - Highly compressed genomes in which overlapping
reading frames are commonplace - Control signals which are frequently nested
within other genes - Several strategies designed to create multiple
polypeptides from a single messenger RNA
33Shutoff
- A number of viruses which cause cell lysis
exhibit a phenomenon known as shutoff early in
infection - Shutoff is the sudden dramatic cessation of
most host cell macromolecular synthesis - In poliovirus-infected cells, this is the result
of the virus 2A protein - 2A is a protease which cleaves the p220 component
of eIF-4F, a complex of proteins required for
cap-dependent translation of mRNAs by ribosomes - Since poliovirus RNA does not have a 5'
methylated cap but is modified by the addition of
the VPg protein, virus RNA continues to be
translated - In poliovirus-infected cells, the dissociation of
mRNAs polyribosomes from the cytoskeleton can
be observed this is the reason for the
inability of the cell to translate its own
messages - A few hours after translation ceases, lysis of
the cell occurs
34Biochemical Analysis of Virus Infection
35Assembly
- Assembly involves the collection of all the
components necessary for the formation of the
mature virion at a particular site in the cell - The basic structure of the virus particle is
formed - The site of assembly depends on the site of
replication within the cell on the mechanism by
which the virus is eventually released from the
cell varies for different viruses - In picornaviruses, poxviruses reoviruses
assembly occurs in the cytoplasm - In adenoviruses, polyomaviruses parvoviruses it
occurs in the nucleus - As with the early stages of replication, it is
not always possible to identify the assembly,
maturation release of virus particles as
distinct separate phases.
36Maturation
- Maturation is the stage of the replication-cycle
at which the virus becomes infectious - Maturation usually involves structural changes in
the virus particle which may result from specific
cleavages of capsid proteins to form the mature
products or conformational changes in proteins
during assembly - Virus proteases are frequently involved in
maturation, although cellular enzymes or a
mixture of virus cellular enzymes are used in
some cases.
37Release
- For lytic viruses (most non-enveloped viruses),
release is a simple process - the infected cell
breaks open releases the virus - Enveloped viruses acquire their lipid membrane as
the virus buds out of the cell through the cell
membrane or into an intracellular vesicle prior
to subsequent release. Virion envelope proteins
are picked up during this process as the virus
particle is extruded - this process is known as
budding
38Budding
39(No Transcript)