Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 21, 2026
07:15
Purification of High Yield Extracellular Vesicle Preparations Away from Virus
Published on: September 12, 2019
Interactions between enteroviruses and autophagy in vivo
Mehrdad Alirezaei1, Claudia T Flynn, J Lindsay Whitton
1Department of Immunology and Microbial Science, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Autophagy
|June 19, 2012
Summary
Picornaviruses, like coxsackievirus B3, exploit autophagy, a cellular process. Disrupting autophagy in mice significantly reduced viral replication and limited pancreatic disease, revealing a potential therapeutic target.
Area of Science:
- Virology
- Cellular Biology
- Immunology
Background:
- Autophagy is a cellular defense mechanism against pathogens.
- Viruses have evolved mechanisms to evade or exploit autophagy.
- Picornaviruses, including enteroviruses, actively utilize autophagy for their lifecycle.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of autophagy in coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) infection.
- To determine the impact of autophagy disruption on viral replication and pathogenesis in the pancreas.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a conditional knockout mouse model with Atg5 deleted in pancreatic acinar cells.
- Infected these mice with coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3).
- Assessed viral replication and pancreatic tissue damage.
Main Results:
- Autophagy disruption dramatically compromised CVB3 replication in vivo.
- Conditional deletion of Atg5 significantly limited CVB3-induced pancreatic disease.
- Enterovirus replication is dependent on host cell autophagy.
Conclusions:
- Autophagy is essential for efficient picornavirus replication.
- Targeting autophagy presents a potential therapeutic strategy against enterovirus infections.
- Understanding viral exploitation of autophagy is crucial for developing antiviral interventions.
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