Recombinant Poliovirus type 1 Protease 2C

Although enteroviruses are associated with a wide variety of diseases and conditions, their mode of replication is well conserved. Their genome is carried as a single, positive-sense RNA strand. At the 5' end of the strand is an approximately 90-nucleotide self-complementary region called the 5' cloverleaf, or the oriL. This noncoding region serves as a platform upon which host and virus proteins, including the 3B, 3C, and 3D virus proteins, assemble in order to initiate replication of a negative-sense RNA strand. The negative strand in turn serves as a template for synthesis of multiple positive-sense RNA strands. Building on structural studies of individual RNA stem-loops, the structure of the intact 5' cloverleaf from rhinovirus has recently been determined via nuclear magnetic resonance/small-angle X-ray scattering (NMR/SAXS)-based methods, while structures have also been determined for enterovirus 3A, 3B, 3C, and 3D proteins. Analysis of these structures, together with structural and modeling studies of interactions between host and virus proteins and RNA, has begun to provide insight into the enterovirus replication mechanism and the potential to inhibit replication by blocking these interactions.

Enteroviruses are ubiquitous pathogens that are present worldwide and they are able to survive for long periods in a marine environment. They are transmitted through water and food contaminated with stools. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of enterovimses in oysters collected from Oualidia lagoon, using real-time RT-PCR. To achieve this objective, 624 oysters representing 52 batches were collected and tested for viral contamination using real-time polymerase chain reaction. The results show that 32.69% of the samples tested were positive for enteroviruses. The spatial distribution of the enteroviruses was statistically significant. Moreover, a prominent seasonal variation of enterovirus contamination was observed in this study. The consumption of oysters contaminated with this type of virus presents a major risk to human health, By causing serious illnesses such as gastroenteritis, hepatitis, and poliomyelitis, the presence of enteroviruses in oyster production areas represents a potential health risk.