**Author details**

and viral proteins in host mitochondria may help to develop methods that protect against pathogenic viruses. Therefore, molecular examination of the exact roles of viruses and viral proteins on mitochondria may help to guide the discovery of novel therapeutic strategies and provide important insights into different mitochondrial viral diseases. However, there are major unanswered questions regarding the mechanism of virus- and protein-induced loss of the MMP. Answering these questions may lead to the discovery of key molecules or pathways involved in loss of MMP, a common feature in the pathogenesis of many viral diseases. The research summarized in this review clearly shows that mitochondria are the main target of invading viruses, and that disruption of mitochondrial function is a major part of the pathogenesis of viral diseases. Although the prevention and treatment of viral diseases is challenging, molecular pathogenesis studies examining virus-host interactions will help in the design

This work was supported by a grant (NSC 98-2313-B-006-004-MY3 and NSC 101-3011-P-006-006) awarded to Dr. Jainn-Ruey Hong from the National Science Council, Taiwan, Republic of China.

of new drugs and therapeutic strategies against different viral diseases.

The authors declare no conflicts of interest in terms of funding or authorship.

DISC death-inducing signaling complex

Bid BH3 interacting-domain death agonist

SARS-CoV severe acute respiratory syndrome coronovirus

WDSV walleye dermal saecoma virus

HCMV human cytomegalovirus

EBV Epstein–Barr virus

ER endoplasmic reticulum

KPSV Kaposi sarcoma virus

HCV hepatitis C virus HBV hepatitis B virus

PLV poliovirus

**Acknowledgements**

452 Mitochondrial Diseases

**Conflict of interest**

**Abbreviations**

Latif Reshi1,2, Hao-Ven Wang2 and Jiann-Ruey Hong1,3\*

\*Address all correspondence to: jrhong@mail.ncku.edu.tw

1 Lab of Molecular Virology and Biotechnology, Institute of Biotechnology, College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City, Taiwan, ROC

2 Department of Life Sciences, College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City, Taiwan, ROC

3 Department of Biotechnology and Bioindustry Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City, Taiwan, ROC
