Mecanismos de imunoevasão utilizados por poxvírus que infectam vertebrados

Abstract

Poxviruses are a group of highly successful complex viral pathogens, capable of infecting vertebrates and invertebrates, which ability in subvert the immune system has been highly studied because of the diversity and significance. Despite the fact that smallpox was eradicated 30 years ago, poxviruses infections in vertebrates still remain as a worldwide relevant public health issue, because of the outbreaks around the world, immunodepressed deaths and the appearance of emerging zoonoses and venereal diseases. This study is a review to investigate, identify and compare the many types of modulation strategies used by viruses within the Poxviridae family. For being the biggest among all viruses that can infect animals, the DNA viruses with a large genome, have a high number of genes dedicated to immunomodulation of the host's immune system. Because of that, the tactics of viral evasion used by poxviruses are sodiversified that virtually all stages of the innate and adaptative response of the host can be a target and are effective in many processes. The increase of our understanding about the basic immune processes is crucial in the identification of ways that vaccines, gene therapy and antivirals can be used, and also the establishment of new treatment strategies.