Elina Mäntylä

University of Jyväskylä
Supervisor: Maija Vihinen-Ranta
Funding: other
Date: 2011-07-01

Parvovirus induced effects on nuclear envelope

Canine parvovirus (CPV), a model parvovirus, depends on host cell nuclear factors for its replication. Like for most other DNA viruses, this signifies the necessity to overcome nuclear envelope (NE). In cells, nuclear pores (NPCs) provide a gateway for all molecular transport between cytosol and nucleus. Diverse array of viruses have been shown to exploit NPCs in their entry. In recent years, being reckoned also as a member of viruses infecting non-dividing cells, CPV has also been suggested to accomplish nuclear entry by penetrating through NPCs with capsid interactions with importins. However, recent studies of a few other members of the family Parvoviridae have suggested a novel entry mechanism: disruption of NE and entry via the resulting breaks. It is known that CPV infection significantly modifies the nuclear structure and dynamics. The detailed mechanisms of entry, changes in nuclear dynamics and NE mediated interactions have still remained poorly understood. This research combining morphological and structural analysis of NE, lamins, NPCs and studies of nuclear permeability by confocal fluorescent microscope techniques, such as Fluorescence Loss In Photobleaching (FLIP), will enlighten these phenomena with the help of numerical simulations.