Do viruses use vectors to penetrate mucus barriers?
I propose a mechanism by which viruses successfully infect new individuals, despite being immotile particles with no ability for directed movement. Within cells, viral particle movements are directed by motors and elements of the cytoskeleton, but how viruses cross extracellular barriers, like mucus...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Elsevier Ltd.
2011
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67040 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8260-338X |
| _version_ | 1826203587286401024 |
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| author | Ribbeck, Katharina |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biological Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biological Engineering Ribbeck, Katharina |
| author_sort | Ribbeck, Katharina |
| collection | MIT |
| description | I propose a mechanism by which viruses successfully infect new individuals, despite being immotile particles with no ability for directed movement. Within cells, viral particle movements are directed by motors and elements of the cytoskeleton, but how viruses cross extracellular barriers, like mucus, remains a mystery. I propose that viruses cross these barriers by hitch-hiking on bacteria or sperm cells which can transport themselves across mucosal layers designed to protect the underlying cells from pathogen attack. An important implication of this hypothesis is that agents that block interactions between viruses and bacteria or sperm may be new tools for disease prevention. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:39:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/67040 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:39:57Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| publisher | Elsevier Ltd. |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/670402022-10-01T10:21:52Z Do viruses use vectors to penetrate mucus barriers? Ribbeck, Katharina Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biological Engineering Ribbeck, Katherina Ribbeck, Katharina I propose a mechanism by which viruses successfully infect new individuals, despite being immotile particles with no ability for directed movement. Within cells, viral particle movements are directed by motors and elements of the cytoskeleton, but how viruses cross extracellular barriers, like mucus, remains a mystery. I propose that viruses cross these barriers by hitch-hiking on bacteria or sperm cells which can transport themselves across mucosal layers designed to protect the underlying cells from pathogen attack. An important implication of this hypothesis is that agents that block interactions between viruses and bacteria or sperm may be new tools for disease prevention. National Institute of Mental Health (U.S.) (grant P50 GM068763-06) 2011-11-16T21:25:17Z 2011-11-16T21:25:17Z 2009-08 2009-07 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1756-2392 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67040 Ribbeck, Katharina. “Do viruses use vectors to penetrate mucus barriers?” Bioscience Hypotheses 2 (2009): 359-362. Web. 16 Nov. 2011. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8260-338X en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bihy.2009.07.004 Bioscience Hypotheses Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ application/pdf Elsevier Ltd. PubMed Central |
| spellingShingle | Ribbeck, Katharina Do viruses use vectors to penetrate mucus barriers? |
| title | Do viruses use vectors to penetrate mucus barriers? |
| title_full | Do viruses use vectors to penetrate mucus barriers? |
| title_fullStr | Do viruses use vectors to penetrate mucus barriers? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Do viruses use vectors to penetrate mucus barriers? |
| title_short | Do viruses use vectors to penetrate mucus barriers? |
| title_sort | do viruses use vectors to penetrate mucus barriers |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67040 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8260-338X |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ribbeckkatharina dovirusesusevectorstopenetratemucusbarriers |