Fatal attraction: Dengue Virus and the Mitochondrial Connection

Viruses rely on host cell machinery, an obligation that forces a myriad of interactions between the viral proteins and host cell organelles to create an intracellular environment conducive to viral dissemination. In their pursuit to exploit the cellular organelles and modulate their function, viruses affect the overall physiology of the cell. The consequence of viral infection on host cell physiology largely varies between acute vs chronic infection, cell type infected, and the productive or abortive nature of the infection. Viruses leading to chronic infection favor viral persistence by promoting the viability of infected cells by inducing cellular homeostatic pathways. In contrast, viruses causing an acute infection trigger physiological alterations that often lead to the cytocidal effect.