Thirty-nine group B arboviruses have been titrated by a simple micro-culture method. The technique uses a stable line of pig kidney cells (PS cells) in which plaques develop when cells are first infected in suspension in the wells of haemagglutination trays and are then incubated for from 3 to 10 days under an overlay containing carboxymethyl-cellulose. This method can be adapted to measure neutralizing antibodies, and the principle underlying the test is applicable to other cells and other viruses.

Arboviruses↗

PubMed1966

Arbovirus antibodies in avian sera.

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Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A new mechanism for the neutralization of enveloped viruses by antiviral antibody.

Despite the considerable research that has been carried out into viral neutralization by antiviral antibody, its mechanisms remain poorly understood. Cases have been reported in which antiviral antibody can inhibit viral replication without inhibiting the binding and uptake of virus by susceptible cells. It has been shown that many enveloped viruses enter their target cells by endocytosis and are subsequently located in cellular compartments of increasing acidity. With several enveloped viruses this acidic pH can catalyse a fusion reaction between the membrane of the virus particle and that of a prelysosomal endosome, thus enabling the viral core to enter the cytosol and replication to commence. We have recently demonstrated that such an endosomal fusion event at mild acidic pH is involved in the entry pathway of the enveloped flavivirus, West Nile virus (WNV), into macrophages. We now show that antiviral antibody can neutralize WNV by inhibiting this intraendosomal acid-catalysed fusion step and we speculate on possible implications for the future design of antiviral vaccines.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Yellow fever in west Africa: a retrospective glance.

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History, 17th Century↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Bunyaviruses and Bunyaviridae.

A new family is described, the Bunyaviridae, which contains a single genus, Bunyavirus. The main characteristics of the family are as follows: single-stranded RNA, total molecular weight about 7 X 10(6) daltons, probably in three segments. Virions spherical, enveloped particles 90-100 nm in diameter. Envelope contains at least one virus-specified glycopeptide. Develop in the cytoplasm, mature by budding into smooth-surfaced vesicles in the Golgi region or nearby. Internal ribonucleoprotein composed of long strands 2-2.5 nm broad. There are at least 150 members, 87 serologically related bunyaviruses and other probable bunyaviruses.

Arboviruses↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Arboviruses - structure and classification (author's transl)].

The larger, biologically defined, set of arboviruses contains sub-sets representative of a number of different taxons. Arboviruses classified on serological grounds into Groups A and B are now placed respectively into the genera alphavirus and flavivirus, which form part of the family Togaviridae. The recently defined family Bunyaviridae contains almost 200 different arboviruses, serologically divisible into at least 24 different serogroups. The family Reoviridae includes the genus orbivirus which covers at least 17 serological groups, and the family Rhabdoviridae is another major family which contains a significant number of arboviruses. Outside these four families individual arboviruses are placed are placed in the families Iridoviridae, Poxviridae, Picornaviridae and Coronaviridae, but a least 50 arbovirueses remain unclassified.

Animals↗