The current status and future directions of myxoma virus, a master in immune evasion

Myxoma virus (MYXV) gained importance throughout the twentieth century because of the use of the highly virulent Standard Laboratory Strain (SLS) by the Australian government in the attempt to control the feral Australian population of Oryctolagus cuniculus (European rabbit) and the subsequent illegal release of MYXV in Europe. In the European rabbit, MYXV causes a disease with an exceedingly high mortality rate, named myxomatosis, which is passively transmitted by biting arthropod vectors. MYXV still has a great impact on European rabbit populations around the world. In contrast, only a single cutaneous lesion, restricted to the point of inoculation, is seen in its natural long-term host, the South-American Sylvilagus brasiliensis and the North-American S. Bachmani. Apart from being detrimental for European rabbits, however, MYXV has also become of interest in human medicine in the last two decades for two reasons. Firstly, due to the strong immune suppressing effects of certain MYXV proteins, several secreted virus-encoded immunomodulators (e.g. Serp-1) are being developed to treat systemic inflammatory syndromes such as cardiovascular disease in humans. Secondly, due to the inherent ability of MYXV to infect a broad spectrum of human cancer cells, the live virus is also being developed as an oncolytic virotherapeutic to treat human cancer. In this review, an update will be given on the current status of MYXV in rabbits as well as its potential in human medicine in the twenty-first century

The Role of the Equine Herpesvirus Type 1 (EHV-1) US3-Encoded Protein Kinase in Actin Reorganization and Nuclear Egress

The serine-threonine protein kinase encoded by US3 gene (pUS3) of alphaherpesviruses was shown to modulate actin reorganization, cell-to-cell spread, and virus egress in a number of virus species. However, the role of the US3 orthologues of equine herpesvirus type 1 and 4 (EHV-1 and EHV-4) has not yet been studied. Here, we show that US3 is not essential for virus replication in vitro. However, growth rates and plaque diameters of a US3-deleted EHV-1 and a mutant in which the catalytic active site was destroyed were significantly reduced when compared with parental and revertant viruses or a virus in which EHV-1 US3 was replaced with the corresponding EHV-4 gene. The reduced plaque sizes were consistent with accumulation of primarily enveloped virions in the perinuclear space of the US3-negative EHV-1, a phenotype that was also rescued by the EHV-4 orthologue. Furthermore, actin stress fiber disassembly was significantly more pronounced in cells infected with parental EHV-1, revertant, or the recombinant EHV-1 expressing EHV-4 US3. Finally, we observed that deletion of US3 in EHV-1 did not affect the expression of adhesion molecules on the surface of infected cells

Relationship of family structure to adolescent personality

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Estonia's application for membership of the European Union

In this work the application of Estonia for membership of the European Union will be researched. The aim of the study is to find out if and when Estonia will or will not be a part of the European Union and mainly we will focus on the difference between the political and economical point of view. Will the European Union just take the official, mainly economical criteria in consideration, or will it in the end leave these official criteria behind? Our way of researching will be one of analyzing literature, but especially primary sources like the regular reports published by the European Union concerning Estonia. The conclusion this study will draw after analyzing the used sources is that the European Union will consider mainly, if not only political criteria, and maybe not even the official ones, for allowing Estonia and the other applicants to enter or not. This will be found out by analyzing the previous rounds of enlargements of the European Union, by looking what a new enlargement would mean for the European institutions and of course by analyzing what the European Union says about the Estonian application in their annual reports

Estonia's application for membership of the European Union

In this work the application of Estonia for membership of the European Union will be researched. The aim of the study is to find out if and when Estonia will or will not be a part of the European Union and mainly we will focus on the difference between the political and economical point of view. Will the European Union just take the official, mainly economical criteria in consideration, or will it in the end leave these official criteria behind? Our way of researching will be one of analyzing literature, but especially primary sources like the regular reports published by the European Union concerning Estonia. The conclusion this study will draw after analyzing the used sources is that the European Union will consider mainly, if not only political criteria, and maybe not even the official ones, for allowing Estonia and the other applicants to enter or not. This will be found out by analyzing the previous rounds of enlargements of the European Union, by looking what a new enlargement would mean for the European institutions and of course by analyzing what the European Union says about the Estonian application in their annual reports