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Volume 8 Issue 4, April 2002

Herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 remain clinically important human pathogens, even in the face of one of the most powerful antiviral drugs, acyclovir. In this month's issue, articles from Crute et al. (386) and Kleymann et al. (392) describe two distinct classes of drugs that act on a novel target, the helicase-primase complex of herpes simplex virus. The cover image shows a color-enhanced transmission electron micrograph of herpes simplex virions. Magnification, x40,000.

Volume 8 Issue 4

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Editorial

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Letters to the Editor

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News

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Commentary

  • Is CD4+ cell depletion due to rapid elimination by HIV and failure of the immune system to replace these cells at the required rate? Increasing evidence suggests that this is not the case, and that infection-induced immune activation drives both viral replication and CD4+ cell depletion.

    • Zvi Grossman
    • Martin Meier-Schellersheim
    • William E. Paul
    Commentary
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Book Review

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News & Views

  • The only targets for clinical treatment of herpes simplex virus infections have been the viral enzymes thymidine kinase and DNA polymerase. Now, animal experiments show the healing benefits of new antiherpes drugs that act on the viral helicase–primase complex and appear superior to the standard treatment, acyclovir.

    • Clyde S. Crumpacker
    • Priscilla A. Schaffer
    News & Views

  • A study suggesting that many genes, each conferring a small risk, account for most cases of breast cancer could have important implications for population-based prevention programs—provided that the genes can be identified.

    • William D. Foulkes
    News & Views

  • Tumor cells engineered to overexpress molecules that activate an immune response have shown therapeutic promise in preventing growth of cancers. In a new study, tumor cells studded with a ligand-mimicking antibody fragment beckon their own destruction. (pages 343–348)

    • Lieping Chen
    News & Views

  • A small-molecular-weight drug originally developed to treat cancer produces sustained reduction in body weight in obese mice by a novel hypothalamic mechanism. The findings suggest new targets for the development of anti-obesity drugs.

    • Charles V. Mobbs
    • Hideo Makimura
    News & Views

  • The finding that CD39 on Langerhans cells modulates inflammation and immunity in the skin might lead to new strategies to alter immune responses to benefit patients and suggests a new in vitro technique for assessing the irritant potential of topical agents. (pages 358–365)

    • Richard D. Granstein
    News & Views

  • Proteasome inhibitors have served as critical tools to investigate protein degradation in eukaryotic cells. Now, these inhibitors are proving effective in the treatment of cancer and inflammatory disorders, most recently in animal models of psoriasis.

    • Alfred L. Goldberg
    • Kenneth Rock
    News & Views

    • Charlotte Schubert
    • Charlotte Wang
    • Paul Morin
    News & Views
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