Interaction of parvoviruses with the nuclear envelope Kenza Snoussi a, b , Michael Kann c, d, * a Department of Infection Biology (Molecular Virology), University of Tsukuba, Japan b Human Biology Program, University of Tsukuba, Japan c Univ. de Bordeaux, Microbiologie fondamentale et Pathogénicité, UMR 5234, Bordeaux, France d CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France abstract Parvoviruses are serious pathogens but also serve as platforms for gene therapy or for using their lytic activity in experimental cancer treatment. Despite of their growing importance during the last decade little is known on how the viral genome is transported into the nucleus of the infected cell, which is crucial for replication. As nucleic acids are not karyophilic per se nuclear import must be driven by proteins attached to the viral genome. In turn, presence and conformation of these proteins depend upon the entry pathway of the virus into the cell. This review focuses on the trafficking of the parvoviral genome from the cellular periphery to nucleus. Despite of the uncertainties in knowledge about the entry pathway we show that parvoviruses developed a unique strategy to pass the nuclear envelope by hijacking enzymes involved in mitosis. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction Parvoviruses (family parvoviridae) are non enveloped infecting a broad range of animals ranging from insects (subfamily densovirinae) to birds and mammals (subfamily parvovirinae). There are three parvoviruses infecting men: the parvovirus B19 infecting erythroid progenitor cells causing erythema infectiosum but also aplastic crises in particular in immune compromised patients. A special form is the * Corresponding author. Univ. de Bordeaux, Microbiologie fondamentale et Pathogénicité, UMR 5234, Bordeaux, France. E-mail address: michael.kann@u-bordeaux2.fr (M. Kann). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Advances in Biological Regulation journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jbior 2212-4926/$ – see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbior.2013.09.008 Advances in Biological Regulation 54 (2014) 39–49