TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you're given a paragraph from the research paper and your task is to generate a suitable title for the research paper based on the given paper. Under 100 words is a good title length.
PROBLEM: Understanding the causes of infectious disease to facilitate better control requires observational and experimental studies. Often these must be conducted at many scales such as at the molecular, cellular, organism, and population level. Studies need to consider both intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting the pathogen/host interaction. They also require a combination of study methods covered by disciplines such as pathology, epidemiology, microbiology, and ecology. Therefore, it is important that disciplines work together when designing and conducting studies. Finally, we need to integrate and interpret data across levels and disciplines to better formulate control strategies. This requires another group of specialists with broad crossdisciplinary training in epidemiology and an ability to readily work with others.

SOLUTION: Determining Causality and Controlling Disease is Based on Collaborative Research involving Multidisciplinary Approaches

PROBLEM: Background: Members of the Baculoviridae encode two types of proteins that mediate virus:cell membrane fusion and penetration into the host cell. Alignments of primary amino acid sequences indicate that baculovirus fusion proteins of group I nucleopolyhedroviruses (NPV) form the GP64 superfamily. The structure of these viral penetrenes has not been determined. The GP64 superfamily includes the glycoprotein (GP) encoded by members of the Thogotovirus genus of the Orthomyxoviridae. The entry proteins of other baculoviruses, group II NPV and granuloviruses, are class I penetrenes. Results: Class III penetrenes encoded by members of the Rhabdoviridae and Herpesviridae have an internal fusion domain comprised of beta sheets, other beta sheet domains, an extended alpha helical domain, a membrane proximal stem domain and a carboxyl terminal anchor. Similar sequences and structural/functional motifs that characterize class III penetrenes are located collinearly in GP64 of group I baculoviruses and related glycoproteins encoded by thogotoviruses. Structural models based on a prototypic class III penetrene, vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSV G), were established for Thogoto virus (THOV) GP and Autographa california multiple NPV (AcMNPV) GP64 demonstrating feasible cysteine linkages. Glycosylation sites in THOV GP and AcMNPV GP64 appear in similar model locations to the two glycosylation sites of VSV G. These results suggest that proteins in the GP64 superfamily are class III penetrenes.

SOLUTION: Virology Journal Proteomics computational analyses suggest that baculovirus GP64 superfamily proteins are class III penetrenes

PROBLEM: Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), belongs to genus Phlebovirus of the family Bunyaviridae, causes high rates of abortion and fetal malformation in infected ruminants as well as causing neurological disorders, blindness, or lethal hemorrhagic fever in humans. RVFV is classified as a category A priority pathogen and a select agent in the U.S., and currently there are no therapeutics available for RVF patients. NSs protein, a major virulence factor of RVFV, inhibits host transcription including interferon (IFN)-b mRNA synthesis and promotes degradation of dsRNA-dependent protein kinase (PKR). NSs self-associates at the C-terminus 17 aa., while NSs at aa.210-230 binds to Sin3A-associated protein (SAP30) to inhibit the activation of IFN-b promoter. Thus, we hypothesize that NSs function(s) can be abolished by truncation of specific domains, and co-expression of nonfunctional NSs with intact NSs will result in the attenuation of NSs function by dominant-negative effect. Unexpectedly, we found that RVFV NSs truncated at aa. 6-30, 31-55, 56-80, 81-105, 106-130, 131-155, 156-180, 181-205, 206-230, 231-248 or 249-265 lack functions of IFN-b mRNA synthesis inhibition and degradation of PKR. Truncated NSs were less stable in infected cells, while nuclear localization was inhibited in NSs lacking either of aa. 81-105, 106-130, 131-155, 156-180, 181-205, 206-230 or 231-248. Furthermore, none of truncated NSs had exhibited significant dominantnegative functions for NSs-mediated IFN-b suppression or PKR degradation upon co-expression in cells infected with RVFV. We also found that any of truncated NSs except for intact NSs does not interact with RVFV NSs even in the presence of intact C-terminus self-association domain. Our results suggest that conformational integrity of NSs is important for the stability, cellular localization and biological functions of RVFV NSs, and the co-expression of truncated NSs does not exhibit dominant-negative phenotype.

SOLUTION:
Functional Analysis of Rift Valley Fever Virus NSs Encoding a Partial Truncation