Project description:Varicella-zoster virus (VZV), an alphaherpesvirus, causes chickenpox (varicella) in young children with an annual minimum of 140 million new cases and herpes zoster in senior, a painful and debilitating disease with 3-5‰ incidence. A complex structural transcriptome of VZV, which numerous novel transcripts, transcript isoforms, and unknown splice events are found during cell infection. Circular RNA (circRNA), a newly important component of the transcriptome, is increasing discoveries of circRNA function in mammalian cells. However, VZV encoded circRNA remains unexplored. The code used in this study and extended data are available from the GitHub repository (https://github.com/ShaominYang/VZV_circRNA)
Project description:Varicella-zoster virus (VZV), an alphaherpesvirus, causes chickenpox (varicella) in young children with an annual minimum of 140 million new cases and herpes zoster in senior, a painful and debilitating disease with 3-5‰ incidence. A complex structural transcriptome of VZV, which numerous novel transcripts, transcript isoforms, and unknown splice events are found during cell infection. Circular RNA (circRNA), a newly important component of the transcriptome, is increasing discoveries of circRNA function in mammalian cells. However, VZV encoded circRNA remains unexplored. In this study we demonstration that VZV derived circRNAs are biologically functional and contributed to viral pathogenesis. Using deep RNA-seq following RNase R treatment, we identified and charactered 35, 076 and 54 human and VZV pOka strain circRNAs respectively from VZV infected neuroblastoma cell (SH-SY5Y).
Project description:In this study, we screened the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in SH-SY5Y cells with Varicella-Zoster Virus-Infected using RNAseq technique to explore the molecular mechanisms of Herpes zoster pain
Project description:Background : Varicella-zoster virus (VZV), a member of the α-herpesvirus family, is known for causing two distinct diseases: chickenpox (varicella) during the primary infection and shingles (zoster) due to reactivation of the virus later in life. Currently, there were vaccines available to prevent VZV infection, but it is not universally effective, and antiviral treatments for VZV are limited and may come with significant side effects. Thus, development of novel therapeutics is urgently needed. Methods: In the current study, we identified a naturally occurring ALT that inhibits replication of recombinant VZV in human diploid fibroblast (WI-38 cells) and Adult Retinal Pigment Epithelial cell line-19 (ARPE-19 cells) through Western blotting, qPCR and plaque assays. The time-of-addition experiment was carried out to identify the stage at which ALT acted. Meanwhile, the transcriptome was applied for the initial exploration of the mechanism underlying anti-VZV activity. Results : We established a screening model for anti-VZV compounds from which we screened ALT with good antiviral efficacy. Our findings revealed that ALT alleviated cytopathic changes, reduced viral titres, and inhibited the expression of viral genes and proteins in WI-38 cells and ARPE-19 cells. Furthermore, our data showed that ALT inhibits VZV infection at both early and late stages of the viral life cycle. Finally, according to RNA-seq data, multiple inflammatory pathways were involved in this antiviral process, and IL-6 was one of the most critical hub genes. Conclusion : Together, our findings identify ALT as a anti-VZV agent that may prove useful in the treatment of VZV replication.
Project description:Varicella pneumonia is the most common and severe complication of primary varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection in adults. Pathogenesis of varicella pneumonia is largely unknown, mainly due to limited availability of clinical specimens and lack of appropriate VZV animal models. Simian varicella virus (SVV) infection of nonhuman primates closely recapitulates clinical and pathogenic features of human VZV disease. This study aimed to elucidate the virus and host factors that contribute to the pathogenesis of varicella pneumonia. The deposited data present changes in gene expression in the lung of SVV-infected cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis) at 3, 6 and 9 days after infection, and mock-infected control macaques at 3 days after infection.