Herpesviridae: Viral Cycle, Capsid Transport, and Cancer Treatment
Introduction
By Michael Gallaher
Herpes is a family of DNA viruses called Herpesviridae. The herpes family of viruses consists of three families of viruses; Alphaherpesviridae, Betaherpesviridae, and Gammaherpesviridae. Among these families are many commonly known viruses that are causative agents of many diseases, such as HSV-1 and HSV-2 for cold sores and genital warts, varicella zoster for chicken pox and shingles, and the Eppstein-Barr virus for mononucleosis. Herpes virsues also tend to have latent, recurring infections in the infected organisms, where the virus remains in some part of the infected organism (Gupta, 2007). Herpes family viruses are incredibly common, with at least 90% of people within the United States having been infected with at least one form of Herpesviridae (CDC, 2006).
Of these viral families, the animal herpes viruses that cause disease are of the Alphaherpesviridae family. The most well known examples of herpes are the herpes simplex viruses, HSV-1 and HSV-2. HSV-1 is the causative pathogen of most oral cold sores, while HSV-2 is the causative agent of genital warts. It is thought that more than 50% of adults in the United States have HSV-1, and that nearly 20% have HSV-2 (CDC, 2010). The widespread infection of the populace makes herpes a good target for medical research. Another promising field of research that has developed more recently is the possibility of using a re-engineered HSV as a treatment vector for other diseases, such as various forms of cancer (Varghese, 2002).
Pathology
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Cell Cycle
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Section 3
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Conclusion
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References
Edited by student of Joan Slonczewski for BIOL 238 Microbiology, 2011, Kenyon College.
