Full article
- Inhibiting kinesin family member 20A disrupts Zika virus entry by blocking internalization
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Jeonghyeon Lee, Younghyun Lim, Hyeong-Rae Kim, Yong-Bin Cho, In-Gu Lee, Young-Jin Seo
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J. Microbiol. 2025;63(6):e2503008. Published online June 30, 2025
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.71150/jm.2503008
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Abstract
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Supplementary Material
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Zika virus, a mosquito-borne virus, is associated with congenital birth defects and neurological complications. However, despite its significant public health threat, no approved vaccines or antiviral treatments are currently available. Therefore, this study aims to identify kinesin family member 20A as a key host factor promoting Zika virus life cycle. The elevated expression of kinesin family member 20A following Zika virus infection suggests its role in the viral life cycle. Suppressing its expression through gene silencing or inhibiting its function with a small-molecule inhibitor significantly reduced viral infectivity in host cells. Furthermore, kinesin family member 20A is essential for facilitating viral internalization, a key step in the entry step. These findings suggest its significance in the Zika virus life cycle and highlight its potential as a novel therapeutic target for the Zika virus.
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
- Complete Sequence of a Gene Encoding KAR3-Related Kinesin-like Protein in Candida albicans
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Min-Kyoung Kim , Young Mi Lee , Wankee Kim , Wonja Choi
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J. Microbiol. 2005;43(5):406-410.
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DOI: https://doi.org/2283 [pii]
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Abstract
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In contrast to Saccharomyces cerevisiae, little is known about the kinesin-like protein (KLP) in Candida albicans. The motor domain of kinesin, or KLP, contains a subregion, which is well conserved from yeast to humans. A similarity search, with the murine ubiquitous kinesin heavy chain region as a query, revealed 6 contigs that contain putative KLPs in the genome of C. albicans. Of these, the length of an open reading (ORF) of 375 amino acids, temporarily designated CaKAR3, was noticeably short compared with the closely related S. cerevisiae KAR3 (ScKAR3) of 729 amino acids. This finding prompted us to isolate a [lambda] genomic clone containing the complete CaKAR3 ORF, and here the complete sequence of CaKAR3 is reported. CaKAR3 is a C-terminus motor protein, of 687 amino acids, encoded by a non-disrupting gene. When compared with ScKAR3, the amino terminal region of 112 amino acids was unique, with the middle part of the 306 amino acids exhibiting 25% identity and 44% similarity, while the remaining C-terminal motor domain exhibited 64% identity and 78% similarity, and have been submitted to GeneBank under the accession number AY182242.