Is there a possibility that a virus (RNA or DNA) can be eliminated from a cell while the infected cell stays alive? Are there any mechanisms except apoptosis/pyroptosis/necrosis etc?
Hello,
I have not come across any such mechanism adopted by the immune system.
Programmed cell death is an integral part of host defence against invading intracellular pathogens. To limit pathogen replication in infected cells, the immune system would prefer to kill the infected cells by apoptosis or programmed necrosis or pyroptosis rather than going in for the individual viral particles. This would help save energy and time, both of which are important whenever any pathogen invades the body.
The viruses encode inhibitors of programmed cell death to subvert the host responses during infection in order to enable them to replicate and persist. Therefore, killing the infected cells is the only way out to win the battle for survival.
Best.
@Malcolm-Nobre thank you! I've tried hard to find a case of "vital" elimination and didn't find anything. Needed to check if I muss something.
Autophagy, digestion of cellular components via lysosomes, may eliminate viruses without killing the host cell. In fact, it is an important component of our defense system against infections. However, since it is a war of natural selection, viruses developed strategies to manipulate autophagy to benefit them.
Further reading: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41579-018-0003-6
@Ali-Burak-Oezkaya thank you! Do you think complete elimination of virus from cell is possible through autophagy or is it just a way to restrict virus life cycle to some extent?
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