TY - JOUR A2 - Hooper, Jay AU - Gavrilovskaya, Irina AU - Gorbunova, Elena AU - Matthys, Valery AU - Dalrymple, Nadine AU - Mackow, Erich PY - 2012 DA - 2012/06/28 TI - The Role of the Endothelium in HPS Pathogenesis and Potential Therapeutic Approaches SP - 467059 VL - 2012 AB - American hantaviruses cause a highly lethal acute pulmonary edema termed hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). Hantaviruses nonlytically infect endothelial cells and cause dramatic changes in barrier functions of the endothelium without disrupting the endothelium. Instead hantaviruses cause changes in the function of infected endothelial cells that normally regulate fluid barrier functions of capillaries. The endothelium of arteries, veins, and lymphatic vessels is unique and central to the function of vast pulmonary capillary beds, which regulate pulmonary fluid accumulation. The endothelium maintains vascular barrier functions through a complex series of redundant receptors and signaling pathways that serve to both permit fluid and immune cell efflux into tissues and restrict tissue edema. Infection of the endothelium provides several mechanisms for hantaviruses to alter capillary permeability but also defines potential therapeutic targets for regulating acute pulmonary edema and HPS disease. Here we discuss interactions of HPS causing hantaviruses with the endothelium, potential endothelial cell-directed permeability mechanisms, and therapeutic targeting of the endothelium as a means of reducing the severity of HPS disease. SN - 1687-8639 UR - https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/467059 DO - 10.1155/2012/467059 JF - Advances in Virology PB - Hindawi Publishing Corporation KW - ER -