Recent strategies and progress in identifying host factors involved in virus replication

Abstract

Viruses are completely dependent on their host cells for the successful production of progeny viruses. At each stage of the viral life cycle an intricate interplay between virus and host takes place with the virus aiming to usurp the host cell for its purposes and the host cell trying to block the intruder from propagation. In recent years these interactions have been studied on a global level by systems biology approaches, such as RNA interference screens, transcriptomic or proteomic methodologies, and exciting new insights into the pathogen-host relationship have been revealed. In this review, we summarize the available data, give examples for important findings from such studies and point out current limitations and potential future directions.

Figure 1

Overview of screening approaches. Graphical representation of the most common screening approaches used to study virus interactions. *The enrichment step is only used for certain types of screens, such as phospho-proteomic analysis or screens for viral interactors. **The enrichment of specific posttranslational modifications includes phosphorylation, ubiquitination, etc.