Functional Hierarchy of Herpes Simplex Virus Type-1 Membrane Proteins in Corneal Infection and Virus Transmission to Ganglionic Neurons

© 2014 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc. All rights reserved. Purpose: To determine the relative importance of viral glycoproteins gK, gM, gE and the membrane protein UL11 in infection of mouse corneas and ganglionic neurons. Methods: Mouse eyes were scarified and infected with herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1(F), gE-null, gM-null, gK-null, or UL11-null viruses. Clinical signs of ocular disease were monitored daily. Virus shedding was determined at 24, 48 and 72h post infection. Viral DNA within trigeminal ganglia (TG) was quantified by quantitative PCR at 30d post infection. Results: The gE-null virus replicated as efficiently as the parental virus and formed viral plaques approximately half-the-size in comparison with the HSV-1(F) wild-type virus. The UL11-null and gM-null viruses replicated approximately one log less efficiently than the wild-type virus, and formed plaques that were on average one-third the size and one-half the size of the wild-type virus, respectively. The gK-null virus replicated more than 3-logs less efficiently than the wild-type virus and formed very small plaques (5-10 cells). Mice infected with the wild-type virus exhibited mild clinical ocular symptoms, while mice infected with the mutant viruses did not show any significant ocular changes. The wild-type virus produced the highest virus shedding post infection followed by the gM-null, gE-null and UL11-null viruses, while no gK-null virus was detected at any time point. All TG collected from mice infected with the wild-type virus and 6-of-10 of TG retrieved from mice infected with the UL11-null virus contained high numbers of viral genomes. The gE-null and gM-null-infected ganglia contained moderate-to-low number of viral genomes in 4-of-10 and 2-of-10 mice, respectively. No viral genomes were detected in ganglionic tissues obtained from gK-null eye infections. Conclusions: The results show that gK plays the most important role among gM, gE and UL11 in corneal and ganglionic infection in the mouse eye model

Recent progress in research on the pharmacological potential of mushrooms and prospects for their clinical application

International audienceFungi are considered one of the most diverse, ecologically significant, and economically important organisms on Earth. The edible and medicinal mushrooms have long been known by humans and were used by ancient civilizations not only as valuable food but also as medicines. Mushrooms are producers of high- and low-molecular-weight bioactive compounds (alkaloids, lectins, lipids, peptidoglycans, phenolics, polyketides, polysaccharides, proteins, polysaccharide-protein/peptides, ribosomal and non-ribosomal peptides, steroids, terpenoids, etc.) possessing more than 130 different therapeutic effects (analgesic, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiplatelet, antiviral, cytotoxic, hepatoprotective, hypocholesterolemic, hypoglycemic, hypotensive, immunomodulatory, immunosuppressive, mitogenic/regenerative, etc.). The early record of Materia Medica shows evidence of using mushrooms for treatment of different diseases. Mushrooms were widely used in the traditional medicine of many countries around the world and became great resources for modern clinical and pharmacological research. However, the medicinal and biotechnological potential of mushrooms has not been fully investigated. This review discusses recent advances in research on the pharmacological potential of mushrooms and perspectives for their clinical application