The cytoplasmic talk of retroviruses helps them spread from cell to cell
Tuesday, July 28, 2009 - 05:00
in Health & Medicine
It is known that Retroviruses, such as HIV, that are already within cells are much more easily transmitted when they spread through direct contact between cells than if they are floating free in the blood stream. However, how this contact stimulates virus- spreading has up until now been poorly understood. In this week's edition of the online open-access journal PLoS Biology, researchers at Yale University, led by Dr Walther Mothes, have recorded movies of viral activity within cells that helps explains why cell-to-cell transmission is so efficient and may in turn provide insights into potential targets for a new generation of Anti-Retroviral drugs...