Neurotropic Viruses as Acute and Insidious Drivers of Aging

Aging is the result of various compounding stresses that gradually overcome the homeostatic regulation of the cell, resulting in irreversible damage. This manifests as many acute and chronic conditions, the most common of which are neurodegeneration and dementia. Epidemiological studies have shown s...

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Main Authors: Angela Rocchi, Hassen S. Wollebo, Kamel Khalili
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Biomolecules
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/15/4/514
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author Angela Rocchi
Hassen S. Wollebo
Kamel Khalili
author_facet Angela Rocchi
Hassen S. Wollebo
Kamel Khalili
author_sort Angela Rocchi
collection DOAJ
description Aging is the result of various compounding stresses that gradually overcome the homeostatic regulation of the cell, resulting in irreversible damage. This manifests as many acute and chronic conditions, the most common of which are neurodegeneration and dementia. Epidemiological studies have shown significant, strong correlations between viral infection and neurodegenerative diseases. This review overlays the characteristics of viral pathogenesis with the hallmarks of aging to discuss how active and latent viruses contribute to aging. Through our contextualization of myriad basic science papers, we offer explanations for premature aging via viral induction of common stress response pathways. Viruses induce many stresses: dysregulated homeostasis by exogenous viral proteins and overwhelmed protein quality control mechanisms, DNA damage through direct integration and epigenetic manipulation, immune-mediated oxidative stress and immune exhaustion, and general energy theft that is amplified in an aging system. Overall, this highlights the long-term importance of vaccines and antivirals in addition to their acute benefits.
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spelling doaj-art-bcf67a91911b4733bf27da2ccb7af70f2025-08-20T02:24:42ZengMDPI AGBiomolecules2218-273X2025-04-0115451410.3390/biom15040514Neurotropic Viruses as Acute and Insidious Drivers of AgingAngela Rocchi0Hassen S. Wollebo1Kamel Khalili2Center for Neurovirology and Gene Editing, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Inflammation, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USACenter for Neurovirology and Gene Editing, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Inflammation, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USACenter for Neurovirology and Gene Editing, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Inflammation, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USAAging is the result of various compounding stresses that gradually overcome the homeostatic regulation of the cell, resulting in irreversible damage. This manifests as many acute and chronic conditions, the most common of which are neurodegeneration and dementia. Epidemiological studies have shown significant, strong correlations between viral infection and neurodegenerative diseases. This review overlays the characteristics of viral pathogenesis with the hallmarks of aging to discuss how active and latent viruses contribute to aging. Through our contextualization of myriad basic science papers, we offer explanations for premature aging via viral induction of common stress response pathways. Viruses induce many stresses: dysregulated homeostasis by exogenous viral proteins and overwhelmed protein quality control mechanisms, DNA damage through direct integration and epigenetic manipulation, immune-mediated oxidative stress and immune exhaustion, and general energy theft that is amplified in an aging system. Overall, this highlights the long-term importance of vaccines and antivirals in addition to their acute benefits.https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/15/4/514neurotropic virusesagingneurodegenerationdementiaproteinopathygenome instability
spellingShingle Angela Rocchi
Hassen S. Wollebo
Kamel Khalili
Neurotropic Viruses as Acute and Insidious Drivers of Aging
Biomolecules
neurotropic viruses
aging
neurodegeneration
dementia
proteinopathy
genome instability
title Neurotropic Viruses as Acute and Insidious Drivers of Aging
title_full Neurotropic Viruses as Acute and Insidious Drivers of Aging
title_fullStr Neurotropic Viruses as Acute and Insidious Drivers of Aging
title_full_unstemmed Neurotropic Viruses as Acute and Insidious Drivers of Aging
title_short Neurotropic Viruses as Acute and Insidious Drivers of Aging
title_sort neurotropic viruses as acute and insidious drivers of aging
topic neurotropic viruses
aging
neurodegeneration
dementia
proteinopathy
genome instability
url https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/15/4/514
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AT hassenswollebo neurotropicvirusesasacuteandinsidiousdriversofaging
AT kamelkhalili neurotropicvirusesasacuteandinsidiousdriversofaging