Research Details How A Virus Hijacks Cell Signals To Cause Infection

A common virus that causes meningitis and heart inflammation takes a “back door” approach to evade natural barriers, then exploits biological signals to infect human cells. Broadening knowledge of how viruses cause infection, a new study describes elaborate methods that the virus has evolved to bypass the body’s defenses. “This study helps to explain how group B coxsackieviruses infect cells,” said Jeffrey M. Bergelson, M.D., a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “We found new steps in the virus life cycle.” Dr. Bergelson’s study, co-authored with Carolyn B. Coyne, Ph.D., also of Children’s Hospital, appears in the Jan. 13 issue of the journal Cell.

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