Spreading the Infection

Vaccinia virus, a poxvirus closely related to smallpox and monkeypox, tricks cells it has infected into activating their own cell movement mechanism to rapidly spread the virus in cells and mice, according to a new UCL-led study. The findings, published in Nature Microbiology, explain how the virus mimics infected cells’ own proteins to kick-start the signalling pathway enabling the cell to move around. “We were surprised to find that not only does the poxvirus turn on the infected cell’s motility pathway, it also controls the speed and direction of movement to coordinate the rapid spread of the infected cells,” said the study’s lead author, Dr Jason Mercer (MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology at UCL). Vaccinia virus causes a mild and asymptomatic infection, which is why it was used in the world’s oldest vaccine, that of smallpox, as it safely confers immunity to the much more harmful virus. “There are numerous viruses, including herpes viruses and tumour-causing viruses, that are known to promote movement in infected cells, so by clarifying the mechanism in one virus, we hope to shed light on new therapeutic targets to prevent the spread of many different viruses,” said the study’s first author, PhD student Corina Beerli (MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology at UCL). https://www.technologynetworks.com/tn/news/spreading-the-disease-311751?utm_campaign=Newsletter_TN_BreakingScienceNews&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=67453675&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9X-Pke7lj8Ekj6-jDhqyw-iDi6w5BQe0vrAV2pOwByG1nCwS6o4r8anDb8dBnqOON6TnDn9w6bk6mv-x-S-7XFley8iA&_hsmi=67453675