Recent developments in virology by Australian researchers

Abstract

Virology is a growing field within Australia. Increased funding is being allocated to discovering how viruses interact with their host/vectors(s) and to the development of better treatments and vaccines. There have been many recent exciting new developments in Australian virology. Space limitations mean that we can only highlight a small number of these achievements in this brief overview of the current virology landscape in Australia. The increasing prevalence or re-emergence of certain alphaviruses, such as Ross River virus (RRV), Sindbis virus, and Chikungunya virus, is a cause for concern and has attracted increased research interest in recent years. These viruses are known as arthritogenic alphavirusesbecausetheycausearthritis-likesymptoms.Theability of these viruses to directly induce bone pathology has remained poorlydefinedtodate.Chenet al. 1 recentlyshedsomelight onthis issue by revealing that RRV can infect human osteoblasts and that osteoblast infection leads to IL-6-dependent bone loss in a mouse model. This discovery of the interaction between osteoblasts, inflammatory factors and alphaviruses is a plausible explanation for how viruses cause chronic joint pain. Infections with certain viruses, such as West Nile virus (WNV) and dengue virus, can lead to encephalitis, which is associated with high mortality. Inflammatory cells play a central in the progression of these diseases. Currently there are no specific targeted treatments to modulate the action of inflammatory cells. Getts et al. 2 recently demonstrated that infusion of immune-modifying microparticles (IMPs) into WNV-infected mice significantly reduced the symptoms of central nervous system infection. The continued injection of IMPs to mice over several days led to an improved survival rate. Similar therapeutic effects were shown for other inflammation-mediated diseases. The therapeutic potential of such IMPs for a variety of immune-related disorders looks to be very promising.