Publications by authors named "Giulia Aimola"

Human herpesviruses 6A and 6B are betaherpesviruses that can integrate their genomes into the telomeres of latently infected cells. Integration can also occur in germ cells, resulting in individuals who harbor the integrated virus in every cell of their body and can pass it on to their offspring. This condition is termed inherited chromosomally integrated HHV-6 (iciHHV-6) and affects about 1% of the human population.

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Article Synopsis
  • Human herpesvirus 6A and 6B (HHV-6A/B) infect nearly all humans and can integrate their genomes into host telomeres, which is unusual for herpesviruses.
  • Researchers developed a new method to measure telomere length using advanced imaging and computational techniques, validated with HeLa cells.
  • The study found that HHV-6A integrates into telomeres regardless of their length and that the telomere lengths post-integration varied, indicating that integration may not shorten telomeres.
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Marek's disease virus (MDV) is a highly oncogenic alphaherpesvirus that causes a devastating neoplastic disease in chickens. MDV has been shown to integrate its genome into the telomeres of latently infected and tumor cells, which is crucial for efficient tumor formation. Telomeric repeat arrays present at the ends of the MDV genome facilitate this integration into host telomeres; however, the integration mechanism remains poorly understood.

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Human herpesvirus -6A and 6B (HHV-6A/B) can integrate their genomes into the telomeres of human chromosomes. Viral integration can occur in several cell types, including germinal cells, resulting in individuals that harbor the viral genome in every cell of their body. The integrated genome is efficiently silenced but can sporadically reactivate resulting in various clinical symptoms.

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Next-generation sequencing technologies allowed sequencing of thousands of genomes. However, there are genomic regions that remain difficult to characterize, including telomeres, centromeres, and other low-complexity regions, as well as transposable elements and endogenous viruses. Human herpesvirus 6A and 6B (HHV-6A and HHV-6B) are closely related viruses that infect most humans and can integrate their genomes into the telomeres of infected cells.

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Human herpesvirus 6A and 6B (HHV-6) can integrate into the germline, and as a result, ∼70 million people harbor the genome of one of these viruses in every cell of their body. Until now, it has been largely unknown if 1) these integrations are ancient, 2) if they still occur, and 3) whether circulating virus strains differ from integrated ones. Here, we used next-generation sequencing and mining of public human genome data sets to generate the largest and most diverse collection of circulating and integrated HHV-6 genomes studied to date.

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Article Synopsis
  • Human herpesvirus 6A (HHV-6A) and 6B (HHV-6B) are a type of virus that primarily infects humans, with HHV-6B being common in early childhood and linked to a condition called Roseola Infantum.
  • Unlike many herpesviruses that keep their genetic material separately in cells, HHV-6A/B integrate their genome into the telomeres of infected cells and can even be passed down through germ cells, leading to virus presence in nearly all cells of an individual.
  • This review discusses current knowledge and future research needs regarding HHV-6A/B integration and reactivation, and is part of a symposium honoring researcher Mark Prichard.
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We have reported that short-term stimulation of primary human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) with interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), i.e. M1 polarization, leads to a significant containment of virus replication.

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