Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.7.7 (DNA polymerase)
 17,007 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Despite the small size of its genome (3.2 kb) and having only four genes that are encoded within it, the hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the most successful viral pathogens in human history. It is estimated that there are about 350-400 million people worldwide who are chronically infected with HBV, and even with the extensive efforts that are being done with preventive vaccination, this malady still remains a clear and present danger to the public health. How is it possible that this small double-stranded DNA virus can escape and outfox the surveillance of the complex human immune system? One explanation is that HBV gene products play multiple roles in infections and throughout the viral life cycle so that the virus can effectively survive under various hostile circumstances. Indeed, the HBV DNA polymerase, for example, exerts several functions such as reverse transcription and RNA degradation, and the HBV X protein not only acts as a transcriptional activator, but it also interferes with the host cells' DNA repair mechanism as well as inducing apoptosis and controlling signal transduction. The HBV surface protein, which is encoded in the env gene, is another intriguing example of such multifunctionality. Thus, our present article overviews and summarizes the multifaceted role of this membrane protein as shown in 1) its role as a structural protein of the virus envelope; 2) its function as the viral ligand for interacting with the viral receptors on host cells; 3) its characteristics as an energy-independent transporter molecule that can mediate the nuclear accumulation of itself and other tagged molecules; 4) its role as a viral transactivator protein that can cause hepatocellular carcinoma; 5) its hypothetical function in viral apoptotic mimicry that results in host anti-inflammatory responses; and last 6) its immunostimulatory property by providing for strong and well-defined B- and T-cell epitopes. Understanding these various functions and the versatility of this single protein will help us decipher and understand the viral- and immuno-pathogenesis of HBV itself.
 ...
PMID:[Hepatitis B virus surface antigen: a multifaceted protein]. 1561

Psychological stress-associated immune dysregulation has been shown to disrupt the steady-state expression and reactivate latent herpes viruses. One such virus is the Epstein Barr virus (EBV), which is associated with several human malignancies. EBV infects >90% of people living in North America and persists for life in latently infected cells. Although several studies have shown that glucocorticoids (GCs) can directly induce reactivation of the latent virus, the mechanism of stress hormone involvement in the control of EBV gene expression is not well understood. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that GCs can induce the latent EBV genome to lytically replicate through the induction of the EBV immediate early gene BZLF1 which encodes the lytic transactivator protein ZEBRA. We show a dose-dependent upregulation of BZLF1 mRNA expression by hydrocortisone (HC) and dexamethasone (Dex) in Daudi cells, an EBV genome positive Burkitt's lymphoma cell line, and Dex-induction of the early gene products BLLF3 (encoding for the EBV dUTPase) and BALF5 (encoding for the EBV DNA polymerase). We show that Daudi cells express glucocorticoid receptors (GR) that mediate Dex-dependent upregulation of BZLF1 mRNA levels. This effect was inhibited by both the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist RU486 and by cycloheximide. The results suggest that GCs, in addition to inducing stress-related immune dysregulation, can mediate latent EBV reactivation through the induction of the BZLF1 gene.
 ...
PMID:Glucocorticoids activate Epstein Barr virus lytic replication through the upregulation of immediate early BZLF1 gene expression. 2046 55


<< Previous 1 2