RNA复制子疫苗及其包装系统

RNA复制子疫苗是一种基于RNA的复制子,能够进行自我复制的新型疫苗,保留了病毒的复制酶基因,结构基因由外源基因所代替,复制酶可控制载体RNA在胞质中高水平复制和外源基因高水平的表达。RNA复制子疫苗被包装成病毒样颗粒后,大大提高了RNA复制子的稳定性。近几年来,关于RNA复制子的包装系统发展迅速,并且许多包装系统都获得成功,大大提高了复制子疫苗的生物安全性和外源基因的高效表达性,具有很好的应用前景。     

黄病毒属病毒复制子载体研究进展

RNA复制子是一种能自主复制的RNA载体,保留了病毒非结构蛋白(复制/转录酶)基因,而结构蛋白基因缺失或由外源抗原基因替代,复制/转录酶可控制载体RNA在细胞质中高水平复制以及外源基因的高水平表达。在黄病毒属病毒感染性克隆基础上,其复制子载体得到了成功的构建。黄病毒属病毒复制子为病毒基因组结构功能研究、表达载体构建、假病毒包装及新型疫苗制备等提供了新的技术平台。本文综述黄病毒属病毒复制子的构建原理、方法及应用。     

日本生物技术简讯五则

一、用于植物的穿梭载体 农林水产省农业生物资源研究所与美国Rutger大学Waksman研究所的Joachim Messing研究组合作开发出用于植物的穿梭载体。这种载体来自小麦病毒WDV。在分离到病毒复制的基因后,使之与标记基因和在大肠杆菌中复制所需的基因相连。这是可在大肠杆菌中插入外源基因,然后转到植物的第一种穿梭载体。它在植物细胞中增殖,产生高于常规法的外源基因表达。     

基因工程疫苗的病毒载体

病毒基因工程疫苗是以活病毒为载体将一段外源基因导入机体细胞内,并使外源基因维持较高水平的表达。通过使用复制型或复制缺陷型载体能使表达的抗原诱生机体产生相应的体液抗体,并能引起机体产生细胞介导的免疫反应及粘膜免疫反应。本文主要介绍有可能用于基因工程疫苗的DNA及RNA病毒载体构建及其应用。     

CELO病毒载体在人类和动物疾病控制上的应用

CELO病毒的DNA长43．8kb,具有末端倒转重复序列(ITR),基因结构与人腺病毒的比较,无可识别的E1、E3和E4区,但存在可替代的新读码框。2个fiber基因是病毒毒力基因,表达2个不同的蛋白,在病毒复制扩散中起作用,缺失fiberl导致柯萨奇病毒和腺病毒受体(CAR)的特异性转导作用消失,使CELO病毒只能感染禽类细胞,不能感染哺乳类动物细胞。在基因组的某些区段可以删除并插入外源基因不影响病毒复制。CELO病毒及其载体可在廉价的鸡胚中得到大量复制。CELO病毒的这些特性为其发展成新型基因工程载体提供了条件。插入表达外源基因制备疫苗成为可能,新型的无病毒基因的载体也可以应用ITR及一些调控元件、包装信号共同构建形成。CELO病毒与人腺病毒属于同一属,CELO病毒作为基因工程载体有同样的特性,并且具有种属特异性和安全性,在动物基因工程疫苗的研制方面有特殊而广阔的研究和应用前景。     

RNA复制子疫苗研究进展

最近兴起的RNA复制子疫苗,利用源自病毒的能够自主复制的RNA,其结构蛋白基因由外源抗原基因取代,保留了非结构蛋白(RNA复制酶)基因。RNA复制酶可使RNA载体在细胞质中高水平复制,并实现外源抗原基因的高水平表达,可同时诱导细胞免疫和体液免疫应答。大量双链RNA可诱导被感染细胞凋亡,宿主细胞的凋亡有利于免疫系统识别外源抗原。RNA复制子疫苗克服了传统疫苗和普通DNA疫苗存在的缺点,具有抗原表达效率高、安全性好、应用范围广等优点,因而被视为一种发展前景很好的疫苗形式。目前已对一些疾病模型基于复制子的治疗性和预防性疫苗进行了研究(涉及的对象包括病毒、肿瘤以及细菌毒素等),并对某些不足之处进行了改进。     

按痘苗病毒优势密码子改造HIV-1 gag基因提高表达水平的研究

为确定痘苗病毒密码子偏向性与基因表达的关系及其在痘苗病毒与宿主细胞相互作用过程中的作用,按痘苗病毒的优势密码子对HIV-1 gag基因进行改造,并对合成基因与野生型HIV-1 gag基因在痘苗病毒载体系统的表达水平进行了研究。结果显示：①各目的基因分别正向插入了痘苗病毒TK区7．5k启动子下游;②免疫荧光检测显示,改造前后的gag基因均能够很好地在痘苗病毒中表达;③Western blot检测显示,在相同感染量时,改造后的gag基因具有更高的表达水平;④流式细胞术检测显示,密码子改造后的gag基因较野生型gag基因表达水平提高约17％。上述结果表明：按照痘苗病毒优势密码子进行外源基因改造,可作为提高外源基因在痘苗病毒中表达的策略,同时提示,密码子偏向性是痘苗病毒与宿主细胞相互作用的重要调控因素。     

日本脑炎病毒(JEV)复制子表达载体的构建及其鉴定

在以往构建的JEV疫苗株SA14-14-2感染性克隆pBRkpn-JTF的基础上,构建了去除JEV结构区域基因(prM基因和E基因),保留非结构区域基因的复制子表达载体pCTCJEV、pCTMJEV,转染BHK-21细胞后,通过反转录PCR(RT-PCR)和间接免疫荧光实验(IFA)检测该载体的自主复制能力和蛋白表达情况,结果证实该载体在BHK-21细胞中能够自主复制并且表达非结构蛋白。进一步在该载体中插入报告基因EGFP,检测外源蛋白的表达情况,结果显示在转染复制子载体的24h后,荧光显微镜下能够看见绿色荧光蛋白的表达,阳性信号持续增强,能够维持10d左右,证实了构建的复制子载体pCTCJEV能够有效地表达外源蛋白,这为进一步建立以乙脑病毒复制子为基础的疫苗载体系统打下基础。     

基于甲病毒的RNA复制子疫苗

RNA复制子疫苗利用源自病毒能够自主复制的RNA,结构蛋白基因由外源抗原基因取代,保留了非结构蛋白基因,非结构蛋白可控制载体RNA在胞浆中高水平复制和外源基因的高水平表达。RNA复制子疫苗克服了传统疫苗和普通DNA疫苗存在的缺点,具有免疫效果显著、安全性好、应用范围广等优点,具有很好的应用前景。用于RNA复制子疫苗的载体主要源自甲病毒,本文以甲病毒载体为例,简要阐明RNA复制子疫苗的基本原理和特点,并对其应用作一综述。     

慢病毒介导Nanog基因在小鼠ES细胞的表达

试验尝试构建小鼠Nanog基因慢病毒表达载体,培养表达外源Nanog基因的小鼠ES细胞。结果显示通过RT-PCR扩增出918bp的小鼠Nanog基因,测序正确的小鼠Nanog基因通过慢病毒介导在小鼠ES细胞表达后,表达外源Nanog基因的小鼠ES细胞生长状态同普通ES细胞无明显差异,在无LIF的ES细胞培养液培养条件下,表达外源Nanog基因的小鼠ES细胞保持正常的ES细胞集落,碱性磷酸酶、Oct4和SSEA-1免疫细胞化学检测为阳性,相同情况下未表达外源Nanog基因的小鼠ES细胞集落退化消失。试验证实了通过慢病毒载体介导培养了表达外源Nanog基因的小鼠ES细胞。试验尝试构建小鼠Nanog基因慢病毒表达载体,培养表达外源Nanog基因的小鼠ES细胞。根据小鼠Nanog基因m RNA序列设计Nanog基因引物,引物两端带有Nhe I和Xho I酶切位点。Trizol试剂处理小鼠ES细胞,通过RT-PCR扩增出小鼠Nanog基因,小鼠Nanog基因用Nhe I和Xho I酶切后连入pcDNA3.1载体中,PCR检测阳性的细菌克隆进行测序,测序正确的Nanog基因片段连接入PLL-IRES-Neo慢病毒表达载体中,包装含有Nanog基因的慢病毒感染小鼠ES细胞,在SNL细胞饲养层上G418筛选2周后,添加普通ES细胞培养液在普通小鼠胎儿成纤维细胞饲养层上培养。结果显示通过RT-PCR扩增出918 bp的小鼠Nanog基因,测序正确的小鼠Nanog基因通过慢病毒介导在小鼠ES细胞表达后,表达外源Nanog基因的小鼠ES细胞生长状态同普通ES细胞无明显差异,在无LIF的ES细胞培养液培养条件下,表达外源Nanog基因的小鼠ES细胞保持正常的ES细胞集落,碱性磷酸酶、Oct4和SSEA-1免疫细胞化学检测为阳性,相同情况下未表达外源Nanog基因的小鼠ES细胞集落退化消失。试验证实了通过慢病毒载体介导培养了表达外源Nanog基因的小鼠ES细胞。     

Novel Recombinant Hepatitis B Virus Vectors Efficiently Deliver Protein and RNA Encoding Genes into Primary Hepatocytes

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has extremely restricted host and hepatocyte tropism. HBV-based vectors could form the basis of novel therapies for chronic hepatitis B and other liver diseases and would also be invaluable for the study of HBV infection. Previous attempts at developing HBV-based vectors encountered low yields of recombinant viruses and/or lack of sufficient infectivity/cargo gene expression in primary hepatocytes, which hampered follow-up applications. In this work, we constructed a novel vector based on a naturally occurring, highly replicative HBV mutant with a 207-bp deletion in the preS1/polymerase spacer region. By applying a novel insertion strategy that preserves the continuity of the polymerase open reading frame (ORF), recombinant HBV (rHBV) carrying protein or small interfering RNA (siRNA) genes were obtained that replicated and were packaged efficiently in cultured hepatocytes. We demonstrated that rHBV expressing a fluorescent reporter (DsRed) is highly infective in primary tree shrew hepatocytes, and rHBV expressing HBV-targeting siRNA successfully inhibited antigen expression from coinfected wild-type HBV. This novel HBV vector will be a powerful tool for hepatocyte-targeting gene delivery, as well as the study of HBV infection.     

乙型肝炎病毒蛋白和绿色荧光蛋白的共表达研究

目的：构建增强型绿色荧光蛋白（EGFP）标记的乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）真核表达载体,并研究其在真核细胞和小鼠体内的共表达。方法：以质粒pBR322-HBVadr2．0和pCX-EGFP为基础,构建含有双拷贝HBV全基因组DNA和EGFP基因的真核表达载体pCX-EGFP-HBVadr2．0,分别转染真核细胞和小鼠肝组织,建立体外、体内表达系统,研究GFP和HBV基因的表达。结果：构建了真核表达载体pCX-EGFP-HBVadr2．0,EGFP和HBV病毒蛋白在体内和体外均可表达。结论：构建的pCX-EGFP-HBVadr2．0真核表达载体可以GFP作为HBV存在与否的报告基因,提高了培育检测转基因小鼠的效率,为转基因小鼠的制备及后续研究奠定了基础。     

Detection and expression of hepatitis B virus X gene in one and two-cell embryos from golden hamster oocytes in vitro fertilized with human spermatozoa carrying HBV DNA

The main objectives of this study were to introduce motile human sperm carrying Hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA to golden hamster oocytes in a co-culture environment and to detect the replication and expression of the HBx gene in early embryonic cells. Zona-free hamster oocytes were inseminated with human sperm carrying pBR322-HBV DNA plasmid using the in vitro fertilization (IVF) technique. Both the one- and two-cell stages of early embryonic development were studied. PCR, RT-PCR, and Dot hybridization were performed to observe the HBx gene and its expression in these stages. "Fluorescence in situ hybridization" (FISH) was carried out to confirm the integration of HBV into the pronucleus, nucleus, and the chromosomes of embryos. The results showed that we have the ability to obtain a fertilization rate of 80%. RT-PCR showed that the HBx gene could be expressed in both one- and two-cell stages of embryonic development. The data suggested the possibility of sperm as a vector for the vertical transmission of HBV DNA to the next generation.     

Truncated Active Human Matrix Metalloproteinase-8 Delivered by a Chimeric Adenovirus-Hepatitis B Virus Vector Ameliorates Rat Liver Cirrhosis

Background

Liver cirrhosis is a potentially life-threatening disease caused by progressive displacement of functional hepatocytes by fibrous tissue. The underlying fibrosis is often driven by chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV). Matrix metalloproteinases including MMP-8 are crucial for excess collagen degradation. In a rat model of liver cirrhosis, MMP-8 delivery by an adenovirus (Ad) vector achieved significant amelioration of fibrosis but application of Ad vectors in humans is subject to various issues, including a lack of intrinsic liver specificity.

Methods

HBV is highly liver-specific and its principal suitability as liver-specific gene transfer vector is established. HBV vectors have a limited insertion capacity and are replication-defective. Conversely, in an HBV infected cell vector replication may be rescued in trans by the resident virus, allowing conditional vector amplification and spreading. Capitalizing on a resident pathogen to help in its elimination and/or in treating its pathogenic consequences would provide a novel strategy. However, resident HBV may also reduce susceptibility to HBV vector superinfection. Thus a size-compatible truncated MMP-8 (tMMP8) gene was cloned into an HBV vector which was then used to generate a chimeric Ad-HBV shuttle vector that is not subject to superinfection exclusion. Rats with thioacetamide-induced liver cirrhosis were injected with the chimera to evaluate therapeutic efficacy.

Results

Our data demonstrate that infectious HBV vector particles can be obtained via trans-complementation by wild-type virus, and that the tMMP8 HBV vector can efficiently be shuttled by an Ad vector into cirrhotic rat livers. There it exerted a comparable beneficial effect on fibrosis and hepatocyte proliferation markers as a conventional full-length MMP-8Ad vector.

Conclusions

Though the rat cirrhosis model does not allow assessing in vivo HBV vector amplification these results advocate the further development of Ad-HBV vectors for liver-specific gene therapy, including and perhaps particularly for HBV-related disease.     

Antiviral Effect of Interferon-Induced Guanylate Binding Protein-1 against Coxsackie Virus and Hepatitis B Virus B3 in Vitro

Guanylate binding protein-1(GBP-1) is an interferon-induced protein. To observe its antiviral effect against Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Coxsackie virus B3 (CVB3), we constructed an eukaryotic expression vector of human GBP-1(hGBP-1). Full-length encoding sequence of hGBP-1 was amplified by long chain RT-PCR and inserted into a pCR2.1 vector, then subcloned into a pCDNA3.1(-) vector. Recombinant hGBP-1 plasmids and pHBV1.3 carrying 1.3-fold genome of HBV were contransfected into HepG2 cells, and inhibition effect of hGBP-1 against HBV replication was observed. Hela cells transfected with recombinant hGBP-1 plasmids were challenged with CVB3, and viral yield in cultures were detected. The results indicated that recombinant eukaryotic expression plasmid of hGBP-1 was constructed successfully and the hGBP-1 gene carried in this plasmid could be efficiently expressed in HepG2 cells and Hela cells. hGBP-1 inhibit CVB3 but not HBV replication in vitro. These results demonstrate that hGBP-1 mediates an antiviral effect against CVB3 but not HBV and perhaps plays an important role in the interferon-mediated antiviral response against CVB3.     

Antiviral Effect of Interferon-Induced Guanylate Binding Protein-1 against Coxsackie Virus and Hepatitis B Virus B3 in Vitro

Guanylate binding protein-1(GBP-1)is an interferon-induced protein.To observe its antiviral effect against Hepatitis B virus(HBV)and Coxsackie virus B3(CVB3),we constructed an eukaryotic expression vector of human GBP-1(hGBP-1).Full-length encoding sequence of hGBP-1 was amplified by long chain RT-PCR and inserted into a pCR2.1 vector,then subcloned into a pCDNA3.1(-)vector.Recombinant hGBP-1 plasmids and pHBV1.3 carrying 1.3-fold genome of HBV were contransfected into HepG2 cells,and inhibition effect of hGBP-1 against HBV replication was observed.Hela cells transfected with recombinant hGBP-1 plasmids were challenged with CVB3,and viral yield in cultures were detected.The results indicated that recombinant eukaryotic expression plasmid of hGBP-1 was constructed successfully and the hGBP-1 gene carried in this plasmid could be efficiently expressed in HepG2 cells and Hela cells.hGBP-1 inhibit CVB3 but not HBV replication in vitro.These results demonstrate that hGBP-1 mediates an antiviral effect against CVB3 but not HBV and perhaps plays an important role in the interferon-mediated antiviral response against CVB3.     

Persistence of the Recombinant Genomes of Woodchuck Hepatitis Virus in the Mouse Model

Hydrodynamic injection (HI) with a replication competent hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome may lead to transient or prolonged HBV replication in mice. However, the prolonged HBV persistence after HI depends on the specific backbone of the vector carrying HBV genome and the genetic background of the mouse strain. We asked whether a genetically closely related hepadnavirus, woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV), may maintain the gene expression and replication in the mouse liver after HI. Interestingly, we found that HI of pBS-WHV1.3 containing a 1.3 fold overlength WHV genome in BALB/c mouse led to the long presence of WHV DNA and WHV proteins expression in the mouse liver. Thus, we asked whether WHV genome carrying foreign DNA sequences could maintain the long term gene expression and persistence. For this purpose, the coding region of HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) was inserted into the WHV genome to replace the corresponding region. Three recombinant WHV-HBV genomes were constructed with the replacement with HBsAg a-determinant, major HBsAg, and middle HBsAg. Serum HBsAg, viral DNA, hepatic WHV protein expression, and viral replication intermediates were detected in mice after HI with recombinant genomes. Similarly, the recombinant genomes could persist for a prolonged period of time up to 45 weeks in mice. WHV and recombinant WHV-HBV genomes did not trigger effective antibody and T-cell responses to viral proteins. The ability of recombinant WHV constructs to persist in mice is an interesting aspect for the future investigation and may be explored for in vivo gene transfer.