«When a virus multiplies, it produces so - called proteases, which is a type of enzyme needed for the virus to cleave viral proteins into big enough chunks necessary to
build new virus particles,» says Dan Hultmark, researcher at the Department of Molecular Biology and one of the researchers behind the study.
During most viral infections, the virus enters a lytic or «active» phase, in which the virus itself makes millions
of new virus particles that then go on to infect other cells.
Dengue virus and Zika virus are both positive - strand RNA flaviviruses, which means that once a virus particle infects a cell, its RNA genome can be immediately translated by cellular machinery into viral proteins to
make new virus particles and spread the infection.
When the genomes «wake up,»
new virus particles are made and these can travel along the axon back out to the peripheral tissue, which creates the cold sores that can spread infection to new hosts.
What processes or pathways enable virus genomes to remain in a productive infection mode where genomes are expressed, and viral proteins and
new virus particles are produced?
This in turn means
no new virus particles can be made.
Once inside the cell they take over and force the cell to produce so many
new virus particles that the cell eventually bursts, releasing these new virus particles into the bloodstream and tissues so they can invade other cells.