Question

How can integrated viruses influence the behavior of cells?

Answer 1

Cells that support viral replication are called permissive. Infections of permissive cells are usually productive because infectious progeny virus is produced. Most productive infections are called cytocidal (cytolytic) because they kill the host cell.

Infection by cytocidal viruses is usually associated with changes in cell morphology, in cell physiology and sequential biosynthetic events.

Cultured cells that are infected by most viruses undergo morphologic changes, which can be observed easily in unfixed, unstained cells by a light microscope.

the physiological state of living cells has a significant effect on the outcome of the virus infection, since the host cell provides the synthetic machinery, key regulatory molecules, and precursors for the newly synthesized viral proteins and nucleic acids. The optimal intracellular environment for virus replication develops through events that begin to take place with attachment of virus to the cell membrane. Binding of virus to the cell membrane receptor(s) may be followed by cascades of events that are associated with biochemical, physiological and morphological changes in the cells. The virus receptor is a cell membrane component that participates in virus binding, facilitates viral infection, and is a determinant of virus host range, as well as tissue tropism.