Membrane Trafficking in Viral Replication

Viruses are major pathogens in humans, and in the organisms with which we share this planet. The massive health and economic burden these agents impose has spurred a huge research effort to understand their most intimate details. One outcome of this effort has been the production, in many but certainly not all cases, of effective vaccines and therapies. - other consequence has been the realization that we can exploit viruses and put them to work on our behalf. Viruses are still seen to have the most - tential as vehicles for gene delivery and other therapeutic applications. However, their ability to exploit cellular functions to their own ends makes viruses not only highly effective pathogens but also exquisite experimental tools. Work with viruses underpins much of our current understanding of molecular cell biology and related fields. For membrane traffic in parti- lar, viruses have been crucial in providing insights into key cellular fu- tions and the molecular mechanisms underlying these events.

The ability of viruses to exploit cellular functions for their own ends makes them highly effective pathogens and exquisite experimental tools. Work with viruses underpins much of our current understanding of molecular cell biology and related fields. Each of the eight chapters in this volume deals with a specific aspect of viral interactions with cellular membranes. These include chapters on viral entry, viral membrane fusion, viral membrane protein synthesis and transport, viral replication, viral interactions with cytoskeletal systems and the nucleus, the trafficking of viral membrane proteins and viral perturbation of host cell protein trafficking. These chapters should provide both an overview of cellular membrane trafficking mechanisms and viral interactions with these systems, as well as reviews of the current state of each of the fields.