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How does viral DNA find the nucleus of an infected cell?

If all locations of a living cell would have the same chemical potential, most viral infections of a cell should be abortive, even after the a penetration of the cell wall by the viral DNA-polymer or viral RNA-polymer occurred. This is obviously not the case. Therefore, there must be a mechanism whi...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Widulle, Herbert
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3334944/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22558035
http://dx.doi.org/10.3205/dgkh000185
Descripción
Sumario:If all locations of a living cell would have the same chemical potential, most viral infections of a cell should be abortive, even after the a penetration of the cell wall by the viral DNA-polymer or viral RNA-polymer occurred. This is obviously not the case. Therefore, there must be a mechanism which transports a viral DNA-polymer from the cell wall to the nucleus and not to any other location. A possible mechanism is proposed which is in accordance with biophysical chemistry. The presented description of the mechanism uses non equilibrium thermodynamics to find a simple solution for the problem.