Viral protein may help chickenpox virus spread within the body

Protein may manipulate immune system to influence white blood cell movement The virus that causes chickenpox–varicella zoster virus (VZV)–possesses a protein that could enhance its ability to hijack white blood cells and spread throughout the body, according to new research published in PLOS Pathogens. The findings, presented by Víctor González-Motos of Hannover Medical School, Germany, and colleagues, may provide new insight into the poorly understood mechanism by which VZV spreads after initial infection in the respiratory tract. VZV causes chickenpox in children and can reactivate later in life to cause shingles. After infecting the respiratory tract, the virus hijacks the immune system’s white blood cells, using them to spread in the body–including to the skin to cause chickenpox. To better understand this process, the researchers investigated whether VZV influences the function of chemokines, small immune system proteins that attract white blood cells to sites of infection and guide their movement within the body. The scientists...