virology

Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) represents a major etiological factor of viral myocarditis (VMC). It frequently results in the damage of the heart and even heart failure, but there are few effective treatment measures that can be used clinically. In this paper, we show that abietic acid (AA), a tricyclic diterpenoid compound, has strong anti-CVB3 activity both in vitro and in vivo. AA was found to inhib…

Bacterial pathogenicity arises from dynamic interactions between microbial virulence determinants and host conditions, in which infection outcomes are shaped by both host immunity and phenotypic heterogeneity within clonal bacterial populations. Rather than behaving as uniform entities, bacterial populations diversify into distinct physiological states across space and time during infection. This…

Helicobacter pylori infection is a major driver of gastric cancer, with the CagA oncoprotein promoting chronic inflammation and epithelial injury. However, the overall picture of the cytokine–receptor pathways involved in this process remains unclear. To investigate how CagA modulates epithelial signaling, we generated cagA-deletion and cagA-complemented mutants of the gerbil-adapted TN2 strain a…

Angie Rasmussen is a virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, where she studies newly emerging viruses capable of causing severe disease, such as Ebola, the COVID-causing coronavirus, influenza viruses and others. She became well-known over the COVID pandemic as an expert who explained COVID vaccines, variants and other evidence-ba…

Scientific Data, Published online: 16 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41597-026-07481-z The global compendium of Aedes japonicus: An Underappreciated Arbovirus Vector of growing concerns

The type I interferon (IFN-I) response is a critical component of the immune defense against various viral pathogens, triggering the expression of hundreds of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs). These ISGs encode proteins with diverse antiviral functions, targeting various stages of viral replication and restricting infection spread. Beyond their antiviral functions, ISGs and associated immune me…

Most pandemics start when a pathogen spreads from animals to humans. It's a leading explanation for the COVID-19 pandemic: the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, is a cousin to coronaviruses that live in bats.

Just 10 viral particles of the H5N1 bird flu that caused hundreds of influenza outbreaks in U.S. dairy cattle can cause infection in cows, a new study shows.

Just 10 viral particles of the H5N1 bird flu that caused hundreds of influenza outbreaks in U.S. dairy cattle can cause infection in cows, a new study shows.

Occult Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection, characterized by a low bacterial load that often escapes detection by conventional diagnostic methods, may influence treatment response and prognosis in pediatric patients. In this study we aimed to identify occult H. pylori infection in children using molecular techniques and to characterize associated alterations in the gastric microbiota. We enrolled …

IntroductionListeria monocytogenes is a primary foodborne pathogen and the causative agent of human listeriosis and remains one of the most critical foodborne pathogens responsible for severe invasive infections with high hospitalization and mortality rates. According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), listeriosis contin…

2-Amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) is a heterocyclic amine (HCA) that is formed during high-temperature meat cooking, especially grilling, and is classified as a carcinogenic food-borne compound that can impact multiple physiological systems. The aim of this study was to evaluate how exposure to PhIP affects the composition of the cecal microbiota in mice. A total of 32 mice w…

The protein PA2854 (shown in red) in Pseudomonas aeruginosa links the outer-membrane protein OprI (shown in blue) to the cell wall (depicted in white), a process that is necessary for the health of the bacterium. (Graphic provided by the Mobashery Lab) Researchers at the University of Notre Dame and collaborators have discovered a key process for how the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria …

Nature Communications, Published online: 15 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-74109-6 The lattice architecture of the HIV capsid holds the key to understanding its biophysical properties and function. Li et al. introduce a geometric criterion revealing its implications for molecular frustration, lattice anomalies and cofactor binding.

Nature Communications, Published online: 15 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-74363-8 This study reveals a novel, druggable route for SARS-CoV-2 infection and inflammatory responses in macrophages, thus expanding our understanding of COVID-19 pathogenesis and demonstrating a therapeutic target for infectious diseases.

A new nanodisc breakthrough lets scientists see viruses more realistically, revealing hidden clues that could lead to better vaccines. Viruses are highly effective at infecting human cells, largely because of specialized proteins that cover their outer surfaces. These proteins are also a key focus for vaccine design. To study them, scientists often create lab-made versions [...]

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is a well-established model to investigate virus-host interactions due to its ability to modulate cell fate and establish lifelong persistence. Among the immediate-early genes, the multifunctional regulatory protein ICP27, encoded by the UL54 gene, plays a central role in viral mRNA processing, nuclear export, and reprogramming host gene expression. This study …

The pandemic has left some evidence that viral infection may play a role in reawakening dormant cancer cells already present in a patient’s body before infection.