A morphological transformation in respiratory syncytial virus leads to enhanced complement deposition

Emerging role of complement in COVID-19 and other respiratory virus diseases

The complement system, a key component of innate immunity, provides the first line of defense against bacterial infection; however, the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that it may also engender severe complications in the context of viral respiratory disease. Here, we review the mechanisms of complement activation and regulation and explore their roles in both protecting against infection and exacerbating disease. We discuss emerging evidence related to complement-targeted therapeutics in COVID-19 and compare the role of the complement in other respiratory viral diseases like influenza and respiratory syncytial virus. We review recent mechanistic studies and animal models that can be used for further investigation. Novel knockout studies are proposed to better understand the nuances of the activation of the complement system in respiratory viral diseases.

Defining the Assembleome of the Respiratory Syncytial Virus

During respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) particle assembly, the mature RSV particles form as filamentous projections on the surface of RSV-infected cells. The RSV assembly process occurs at the / on the cell surface that is modified by a virus infection, involving a combination of several different host cell factors and cellular processes. This induces changes in the lipid composition and properties of these lipid microdomains, and the virus-induced activation of associated Rho GTPase signaling networks drives the remodeling of the underlying filamentous actin (F-actin) cytoskeleton network. The modified sites that form on the surface of the infected cells form the nexus point for RSV assembly, and in this review chapter, they are referred to as the RSV assembleome. This is to distinguish these unique membrane microdomains that are formed during virus infection from the corresponding membrane microdomains that are present at the cell surface prior to infection. In this article, an overview of the current understanding of the processes that drive the formation of the assembleome during RSV particle assembly is given.

A Virus Is a Community: Diversity within Negative-Sense RNA Virus Populations

Negative-sense RNA virus populations are composed of diverse viral components that interact to form a community and shape the outcome of virus infections. At the genomic level, RNA virus populations consist not only of a homogeneous population of standard viral genomes but also of an extremely large number of genome variants, termed viral quasispecies, and nonstandard viral genomes, which include copy-back viral genomes, deletion viral genomes, mini viral RNAs, and hypermutated RNAs. At the particle level, RNA virus populations are composed of pleomorphic particles, particles missing or having additional genomes, and single particles or particle aggregates. As we continue discovering more about the components of negative-sense RNA virus populations and their crucial functions during virus infection, it will become more important to study RNA virus populations as a whole rather than their individual parts. In this review, we will discuss what is known about the components of negative-sense RNA virus communities, speculate how the components of the virus community interact, and summarize what vaccines and antiviral therapies are being currently developed to target or harness these components.