Autophagic flux without a block differentiates varicella-zoster virus infection from herpes simplex virus infection.

ABSTRACT: Autophagy is a process by which misfolded and damaged proteins are sequestered into autophagosomes, before degradation in and recycling from lysosomes. We have extensively studied the role of autophagy in varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection, and have observed that vesicular cells are filled with >100 autophagosomes that are easily detectable after immunolabeling for the LC3 protein. To confirm our hypothesis that increased autophagosome formation was not secondary to a block, we examined all conditions of VZV infection as well as carrying out two assessments of autophagic flux. We first investigated autophagy in human skin xenografts in the severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mouse model of VZV pathogenesis, and observed that autophagosomes were abundant in infected human skin tissu

SUBMITTER: Buckingham EM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4291665 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature