Flaviviridae Viruses and Oxidative Stress: Implications for Viral Pathogenesis

Oxidative stress is induced once the balance of generation and neutralization of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is broken in the cell, and it plays crucial roles in a variety of natural and diseased processes. Infections of Flaviviridae viruses trigger oxidative stress, which affects both the cellular metabolism and the life cycle of the viruses. Oxidative stress associated with specific viral proteins, experimental culture systems, and patient infections, as well as its correlations with the viral pathogenesis attracts much research attention. In this review, we primarily focus on hepatitis C virus (HCV), dengue virus (DENV), Zika virus (ZIKV), Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), West Nile virus (WNV), and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) as representatives of Flaviviridae viruses and we summarize the mechanisms involved in the relevance of oxidative stress for virus-associated pathogenesis. We discuss the current understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms of oxidative stress induced by Flaviviridae viruses and highlight the relevance of autophagy and DNA damage in the life cycle of viruses. Understanding the crosstalk between viral infection and oxidative stress-induced molecular events may offer new avenues for antiviral therapeutics.