Amazing stuff!
"Satellite viruses replicate their genomes within host cells but depend on helper viruses for spread.
Deltavirus, or hepatitis D-like virus, is a hepatitis B satellite virus that causes severe viral hepatitis in humans.
Recently, deltaviruses have been found in many animals outside of the liver, suggesting that their diversity and disease potential are underestimated.
The current paradigm for satellite viruses is that they simply “borrow” envelope proteins from related helper viruses.
McKellar et al. used electron and super-resolution microscopy in rhabdovirus, herpesvirus, and arenavirus systems to show that deltavirus ribonucleoproteins can package themselves within a variety of helper virions. This viral Trojan horse mode of transmission could broaden deltavirus host range and explain overlooked infections in humans."
From the highlights and abstract:
"Highlights
• Deltaviruses hitchhike within helper virus virions, using them as viral Trojan Horses
• The Trojan Horse model is mandatory for productive herpesvirus-deltavirus associations
• This mode of propagation favors deltavirus infectivity
• Trojan Horse model warrants screening for extra-hepatic deltavirus infections in humans
Summary
Hepatitis D-like satellite viruses, known as deltaviruses, have been recently discovered in a wide range of animals. These viruses are thought to expropriate glycoproteins from helper viruses to form infectious particles.
Here, we challenge this paradigm and demonstrate that deltaviruses are packaged within helper virus particles, using them as viral Trojan Horses for cell entry. By leveraging orthogonal electron and optical super-resolution microscopy, we visualize deltaviruses enclosed within virions from rhabdo-, herpes-, and arenavirus families.
We show that this conserved hitchhiking mechanism ensures concomitant deltavirus-helper virus spread, thereby promoting the dissemination of deltaviruses, broadening their host range, and expanding their tropism.
Our findings reveal a previously unrecognized mode of viral transmission, providing a framework to investigate overlooked deltavirus infections outside of the human liver."
Deltaviruses spread through a viral Trojan Horse (open access)
Graphical abstract
Figure 1 A subset of VSV virions is morphologically modified after superinfection of deltavirus-replicating cells
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