Deng Yining, Navarro-Forero Santiago, Yang Zhilong
Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA.
mBio. 2025 Apr 9;16(4):e0380924. doi: 10.1128/mbio.03809-24. Epub 2025 Mar 20.
Poxviruses comprise pathogens that are highly pathogenic to humans and animals, causing diseases such as smallpox and mpox (formerly monkeypox). The family also contains members developed as vaccine vectors and oncolytic agents to fight other diseases. Vaccinia virus is the prototype poxvirus and the vaccine used to eradicate smallpox. Poxvirus genes follow a cascade temporal expression pattern, categorized into early, intermediate, and late stages using distinct transcription factors. This review comprehensively summarized the temporal expression classification of over 200 vaccinia virus genes. The relationships between expression classes and functions, as well as different branches of immune responses, were discussed. Based on the vaccinia virus orthologs, we classified the temporal expression classes of all the mpox virus genes, including a few that were not previously annotated with orthologs in vaccinia viruses. Additionally, we reviewed the functions of all vaccinia virus genes based on the up-to-date published papers. This review provides a readily usable resource for researchers working on poxvirus biology, medical countermeasures, and poxvirus utility development.
痘病毒包含对人类和动物具有高度致病性的病原体，可引发天花和猴痘（原称猴痘）等疾病。该病毒家族还包括被开发用作疫苗载体和溶瘤剂以对抗其他疾病的成员。痘苗病毒是痘病毒的原型，也是用于根除天花的疫苗。痘病毒基因遵循级联式的时间表达模式，利用不同的转录因子分为早期、中期和晚期阶段。本综述全面总结了200多个痘苗病毒基因的时间表达分类。讨论了表达类别与功能之间的关系，以及免疫反应的不同分支。基于痘苗病毒直系同源基因，我们对所有猴痘病毒基因的时间表达类别进行了分类，包括一些以前在痘苗病毒中未注释有直系同源基因的基因。此外，我们根据最新发表的论文综述了所有痘苗病毒基因的功能。本综述为从事痘病毒生物学、医学对策和痘病毒应用开发的研究人员提供了一份易于使用的资源。
