Unlabelled: Varicella-zoster virus (VZV), an alphaherpesvirus that causes chicken pox (varicella) and shingles (herpes zoster), is a medically important pathogen that causes considerable morbidity and, on occasion, mortality in immunocompromised patients. Herpes zoster can afflict the elderly with a debilitating condition, postherpetic neuralgia, triggering severe, untreatable pain for months or years. The lipid envelope of VZV, similar to all herpesviruses, contains numerous glycoproteins required for replication and pathogenesis.
Purpose Of Review: To summarize the current knowledge about VZV glycoproteins and their roles in cell entry, replication and pathogenesis.
Recent Findings: The functions for some VZV glycoproteins are known, such as gB, gH and gL in membrane fusion, cell-cell fusion regulation, and receptor binding properties. However, the molecular mechanisms that trigger or mediate VZV glycoproteins remains poorly understood.
Summary: VZV glycoproteins are central to successful replication but their modus operandi during replication and pathogenesis remain elusive requiring further mechanistic based studies.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40588-016-0044-4 | DOI Listing |
Hum Vaccin Immunother
December 2025
Centre for Virus Research, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Westmead, NSW, Australia.
Herpes zoster (HZ) is increasingly common in the aging and is experienced by approximately one in three people in their lifetime. It is also relatively common in immune-compromised people. Acute HZ causes severe pain, reduced quality of life and severe complications, including prolonged pain, or postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), and ocular zoster, which may rarely progress to blindness.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCell Mol Life Sci
December 2024
Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection downregulates surface major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) expression and retains MHC-I in the Golgi complex of infected cells. However, the underlying mechanism is not fully understood. The VZV IE4 protein is a multifunctional protein that is essential for VZV infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Clin Med
December 2024
Department of Clinical Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka 545-8585, Japan.
: Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors have emerged as a new class of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, herpes zoster is one of the common adverse events of JAK inhibitors, including upadacitinib, which is especially high in Japanese patients with RA compared to those from Western countries. Recombinant zoster vaccine (Shingrix) is an adjuvanted subunit vaccine containing varicella-zoster virus (VZV) glycoprotein E (gE) that is effective in adults over 50 years of age.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVaccines (Basel)
October 2024
National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China.
A contemporary public health challenge is the increase in the prevalence rates of herpes zoster (HZ) worldwide. In this work, the gE gene structure was analyzed using bioinformatics techniques, and three plasmids of varying lengths, tgE537, tgE200, and tgE350, were expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. These proteins were used to immunize BALB/c mice with Al/CpG adjuvant; ELISPOT and FCM were used to evaluate cellular immunity; and ELISA, VZV microneutralization, and FAMA assays were performed to detect antibody titers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVaccines (Basel)
September 2024
GSK, Rockville, MD 20850, USA.
Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is the causative agent for chickenpox and herpes zoster (HZ, shingles). HZ is a debilitating disease affecting elderly and immunocompromised populations. Glycoprotein E (gE) is indispensable for viral replication and cell-to-cell spread and is the primary target for anti-VZV antibodies.
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