The cell biology of coronavirus infection

Abstract

The ability to obtain entire volume data on infected cells will allow us to define much more accurately the interactions of viral proteins with host cell structures such as ER, Golgi, and cytoskeletal elements. In addition, the demonstrated ability to express viral proteins fused to fluorescent markers in in live cells will allow us to follow specific proteins or complexes during the course of infection and to determine if exogenously expressed proteins are able to target to sites of active viral replication. This in turn will allow new approaches to the study of viral and cellular protein-protein interactions, as methods to study the biology and pathogenesis of MHV infection at a cellular level. Finally, the approaches described here will allow us to define protein complementation of defective viruses at a cellular level, rather than being dependent on population measurements of RNA, protein, or progeny virus. By combining these approaches with available biochemical and molecular biological approaches and the emerging reverse genetic and recombinant genetic approaches, rapid progress in understanding the details of coronavirus-cell interactions should be possible.