Hantavirus-driven mechanisms enhancing the MHC class I antigen presentation machinery in human cells

AuszugAmong the many challenges to health, infectious diseases stand out for their ability to have a profound impact on the human species. Great pandemics and local epidemics alike have influenced the course of wars, determined the fates of nations and empires, and affected the progress of civilization. Today rapidly changing ecosystems and climate pose an increasing threat of emerging human pathogens such as hantaviruses (Nichol et al. 2000; B Klempa 2009; Keesing et al. 2010; Fauci & Morens 2012). . In the past century, two major outbreaks of disease led to the discovery of hantaviruses in the Old and New Worlds. The first outbreak occurred during the Korean War (1950 to 1953), where more than 3,000 United Nations (UN) soldiers fell ill with Korean hemorrhagic fever, which today is commonly referred to as hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). The second outbreak of disease occurred in the Four Corners region of the United States in 1993 and was initially referred to as Four Corners disease, which is now called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) or hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS). Further investigations resulted in the identification of the Hantaan virus (HTNV) and its rodent reservoir host Apodemus agrarius nearly 25 years after the war, becoming the prototype member of the genus Hantavirus (H. W. Lee et al. 1978; H. W. Lee & Cho 1981; H. W. Lee et al. 1982) (Table 1). In contrast to these early pioneering efforts that led to the discovery of HTNV, the etiological agent of HCPS, Sin Nombre virus (SNV), was identified within weeks of the Four Corners outbreak mainly due to the technological advancement in molecular biology (Nichol et al. 1993; Hjelle et al. 1994). In addition to HTNV and SNV, several other hantaviruses have been implicated as etiologic agents for either HFRS or HPS (Table 1). Several other identified hantaviruses have not been associated with disease yet.