Antiviral Activity of Active Materials: Standard and Finger-Pad-Based Innovative Experimental Approaches.

Environmental surfaces, including high-touch surfaces (HITS), bear a high risk of becoming fomites and can participate in viral dissemination through contact and transmission to other persons, due to the capacity of viruses to persist on such contaminated surface before being transferred to hands or other supports at sufficient concentration to initiate infection through direct contact. Interest in the development of self-decontaminating materials as additional safety measures towards preventing viral infectious disease transmission has been growing. Active materials are expected to reduce the viral charge on surfaces over time and consequently limit viral transmission capacity through direct contact.

Assessment of Microbial Reduction by Cage Washing and Thermal Disinfection using Quantitative Biologic Indicators for Spores, Viruses and Vegetative Bacteria.

Cage washing is a key process of the biosecurity program in rodent facilities. For the current study, we developed systems (i. e.

Nucleolin interacts with influenza A nucleoprotein and contributes to viral ribonucleoprotein complexes nuclear trafficking and efficient influenza viral replication.

Influenza viruses replicate their single-stranded RNA genomes in the nucleus of infected cells and these replicated genomes (vRNPs) are then exported from the nucleus to the cytoplasm and plasma membrane before budding. To achieve this export, influenza viruses hijack the host cell export machinery. However, the complete mechanisms underlying this hijacking remain not fully understood.

Empaquetage sélectif du génome des influenzavirus A.

Electron microscopy of influenza A virus (IAV) and three-dimensional reconstruction of their interior by electron tomography, combined with genetic, biochemical and virology assays, has revealed that genome packaging of IAVs is a selective process, the molecular mechanisms of which start to be unveiled. The eight genomic viral RNAs (vRNAs) most likely form a supramolecular complex maintained by base-pairings within the strain-dependent packaging signals of each vRNA. Visualization of viral ribonucleoproteins inside cells also brought new insights about spatio-temporal assembly of the supramolecular complexes, prior to their incorporation into budding virions.

Ultrastructural fingerprints of avian influenza A (H7N9) virus in infected human lung cells.

In this study, we investigated the ultrastructural modifications induced by influenza A (H7N9) virus in human lung epithelial cells. One particular characteristic of H7N9 viral infection is the formation of numerous M1-associated striated tubular structures within the nucleus and the cytoplasm, which have only previously been observed for a limited number of influenza A viruses, notably the 2009 pandemic (H1N1) virus.