TWiV 1359: SSPE, the Long Shadow of Measles

Roberto Cattaneo and Kalpana Yadav join TWiV at the 2026 meeting of the American Society for Virology to discuss how the absence of measles virus receptors in the brain selects for hyperfusogenic variants that spread neuron-to-neuron and cause subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, a rare but fatal long-term neurological sequela of measles infection.

Host: Vincent Racaniello

Guests: Roberto Cattaneo and Kalpana Yadav

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Links for this episode

• Support science education at MicrobeTV
• How measles virus adapts to the brain (Ann Rev Virol)
• Measles virus F50S change in neuronal spread (J Virol)
• Measles virus collective infectious unit and SSPE (J Virol)
• Measles virus brain tropism acquisition (PLoS Path)
• Timestamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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Content in this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.