The prevalence of the mutations associated with HIV fusion inhibitor enfuvirtide resistance in Russia and CIS countries was studied. Enfuvirtide resistance mutations were not observed among studied viruses in Russia and CIS countries so far. It was found that high rate (35%) of natural polymorphism mutations were associated with enfuvirtide hypersusceptibility. It was also found that high frequency of accessory mutations N126K and E137K were observed in the HR2 region (27.5%). The accessory mutations in HR2 can contribute to increased resistance and improve viral fitness. Our data were compared with those obtained in similar previous studies.

The paper describes a new principle of the selection of the rabies virus vaccine strain ERA-CB20M based on quantitation of the expression of glycoprotein, a major immunogen of rabies virus. There is a correlation between the level of glycoprotein expression and that of vaccine virus attenuation. The application of the new principle for vaccine virus selection will permit a safer and more immunogenic rabies vaccine to be prepared.

The paper presents data on the sorption of influenza A(H1N1), A(H1N1)v, A(H3N2) viruses, cDNA of A(H1N1)v and B viruses on nanodiamonds and furnace charge. The sorption of viruses occurred in different solutions at 4-37 degrees C during 10-20 min. The rate of sorption varied with the concentration of a sorbent in the solution and its structure, but did not with the antigenic formula of viruses or temperature. The sorption capacity of furnace charge towards influenza A and B viruses was higher than that of nanodiamonds. Nonviral proteins (bovine serum albumin and influenza virus antibodies) were found to be bound by both sorbents. Viral desorption did not take place in physiological solution at 4 and 22 degrees C for 48 hours.

The use of the RNA interference technique yielded data on the antiviral activity of small interfering RNA (siRNA) oligonucleotides against hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in the pig embryo kidney (SPEV) cell cultures. The RNA interference technique is based on the specific recognition of the mRNA target by using the specially designed siRNA (19-22 bp) oligonucleotides. In particular, it was shown that siRNA added to the monolayer of HCV-infected SPEV cells resulted in the protection of the infected cells against the cytopathogenic activity of the virus. The results were confirmed in the experiments that demonstrated the ability of RNA oligonucleotides to reduce the production of infectious (cytopathogenic) HCV by infected SPEV cells in early-stage infection.

Coxsackie A viruses belong to the enteroviruses, the isolation of which from infectious materials and further cultivation are possible only when laboratory animals are infected. The authors could adapt the strains of 17 of 23 serotypes of these viruses to RD cell culture. The strains of 8 serotypes were additionally adapted to Vero cell culture. The cultural variants of Coxsackle A viruses were used to prepare immune sera. The Bacterial and Viral Agents Enterprise, M. P. Chumakov Institute of Poliomyelitis and Virus Encephalitides, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, has set up the production of bacterial and viral drugs based on the cultural variants of 5 Coxsackie A virus serotypes. The cultural variants of 14 Coxsackie A virus serotypes were used to carry out a virus neutralization test. Examination of more than 600 children from Moscow and the Moscow Region showed the wide circulation of individual Coxsackie A virus serotypes. It also demonstrated a drastic reduction in Coxsackie A-7 virus circulation in the past 50 years.

Estimation of the minimum human infective doses of HIV is essential to the prediction of its infection prevalence, including in bioterrorism. Information on the epidemiology and pathogenesis of HIV infection and on the biological properties of the pathogen may serve as reference data for the theoretical determination of a rough infective dose of HIV. The most common route of virus infection is parenteral transmission. The likelihood of HIV transmission through blood depends on the frequency of transfusions, the stage of HIV infection in a donor and the amount of blood given to a recipient. The author has analyzed the data available in the literature on the epidemiology and pathogenesis of the infection, on the properties of the pathogen, and on the risks of HIV infection in different groups and summarized information on the infection among injecting drug users, which could roughly estimate the level of sensitivity in man as a biological species to this virus.

A new immunobiological polymer drug has been designed for the serological identification of hepatitis C. The drug is able to reveal specific antibodies in the sera of patients with hepatitis C, meets the current requirements of diagnostic test systems, and shows a high sensitivity and specificity. It is based on polyacroleinic microspheres; the concentrated cell culture biomass of hepatitis C virus (HCV), which contains an adequate set of viral antigens, is used as sensitin. A new diagnosticum is proposed to be used during primary (screening) laboratory studies based on the serological detection of total antibodies to HCV antigens in the volume agglomeration test. The latter is both one of the alternative methods during serological studies and an additional procedure when a set of diagnostic techniques is used.

The debatable article gives new evidence for the possibility, conditions, and resistance rate of the resistance to nevirapine, which results from its single use during labor for the prevention of vertical HIV transmission. The author analyzes the results of the 2009-2010 studies dealing with the use of high-sensitive methods for mutation detection, the impact of minor mutations on therapeutic effectiveness, and the evaluation of the effect of therapeutic support. She expressed the idea that it is expedient to test HIV for nevirapine resistance mutations in different periods after single administration of the drug as a prophylactic agent, the possible effects and algorithm of treatment if the above mutations are detected.

The neurovirulence and replication potential of several mumps virus strains, including Leningrad-3 mumps vaccine virus (FSUE SIC "Microgen", Russia) and wild type strains isolated in the Novosibirsk Region (Russia), were assessed in rat tests. The mean neurovirulence scores of the Leningrad-3 virus (< 4.0) were significantly lower than those of wild type strains (ranging from 6.1 to 15.2) and were in accordance with the scores determined for other attenuated mumps vaccine strains (usually ranging from 0 to 5). In general, the relative ability of the viruses to replicate in the rat brain tracked with their neurovirulence scores. These results indicate a low neurovirulence potential of the Leningrad-3 mumps vaccine virus for humans.

The authors studied a possible role of the caspase cleavage motif located in the nucleoprotein (NP) of pandemic influenza virus H1N1 in the regulation of viral virulence properties. A reverse genetics method was used to obtain chimeric seasonal-like mouse-adapted influenza virus hvA/PE/8/34 (H1N10) carrying either the NP gene of wild type pandemic virus with incomplete caspase motif ETGC or mutated pandemic NP with natural caspase cleavage site of human type ETDG. The wild-type NP gene of the pandemic virus was found to poorly fit to the gene pattern of closely related seasonal-like hvA/PR/8/34 virus (H1N1) and did not rescue mature virus production whereas a mutated NP with human-type caspase cleavage site maintained gene fitness, giving rise to a chimeric virus. The generated chimeric virus hvA/PR/8/34 carrying the mutated pandemic NP successfully replicated in the murine lung, but was attenuated and did not reach the virulence level of seasonal-like mouse-adapted virus hvA/PR/8/34. The findings indicate that the NP caspase cleavage site plays a role in viral adaptation and viral virulence in mammals.