Insights into the different mechanisms of Autophagy and Apoptosis mediated by Morbilliviruses

Abstract

Viruses are obligate intracellular parasites that have co-evolved with the host. During the course of evolution, viruses have acquired abilities to abrogate the host's immune responses by modulating the host proteins which play a pivotal role in various biological processes. One such process is the programmed cell death in virus-infected cells, which can occur via autophagy or apoptosis. Morbilliviruses are known to modulate both autophagy and apoptosis. Upon infecting a cell, the morbilliviruses can utilize autophagosomes as their nest and delay the host defense apoptotic response, and/or can promote apoptosis to escalate the virus dissemination. Moreover, there is an active interplay between these two pathways which eventually decides the fate of a virus-infected cell. Recent advances in our understanding of these processes provide a potential rationale to further explore morbilliviruses for therapeutic purposes.