Impact of Viruses on Host Metabolism
Impact of Viruses on Host Metabolism
Mehboob Arslan* and Xin Yang
ABSTRACT
Viruses are obligate intracellular pathogens and rely on host machinery to successfully cause infections. In order to succumb hosts, viruses have evolved strategies to manipulate specific cellular metabolic pathways that aid the production of viral particles. Viruses need to breach a complex network of metabolic intrinsic factors and microenvironment established within the host cells. The pressure exerted by invading pathogen disrupts the internal balance and dictate the host-pathogen niches. For absolute survival, proliferation, and propagation inside the host cell, viruses modulate certain metabolic pathways to destabilize the host metabolism. These alterations in host metabolic signaling as a result of virus-host interaction generate a favorable environment for the viral pathogens. This phenomenon is a hotspot for investigations in order to improve the diagnosis and drug development of future antiviral therapeutics. In fact, metabolism is considered as a crucial player in the cascade of viral interactions, its modulation is essential to decide the final outcome of viral infection. Here, we concisely present how viruses alter the metabolic pathways for their own survival.
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