[Molecular mechanism of the replication of several DNA viruses]

Study of the replicative mechanism of viruses is extremely important, since the knowledge of the events taking place at a molecular level can contribute to new antiviral product elaboration. A unique pattern of the DNA virus replication cannot be given, because every virus family has its own mechanism of replication. Investigations were conducted on the replication of two groups of viruses of major importance in human pathology: the hepadnaviruses and the herpesviruses, which are involved not only in acute infections, but also in some cellular transformations and even in cancerogenesis. It was shown that the replication mechanism of the hepadnaviruses has several points in common with retroviruses, fact which places them in a rather peculiar position among the DNA viruses. On the other hand, the herpes viruses have their own characteristics such as the four genome isomeres, whose significance is yet unclear. The viral message transcription and translation stages, as well as the mechanism of replication of the genome are described.