森林脑炎疫苗的研究进展

森林脑炎是严重危害人类健康的中枢神经系统急性病毒性传染病,在欧洲森林脑炎为一种地方病也是最重要的由节肢动物传播的病毒性传染病,成为主要的公共卫生问题。森林脑炎在我国存在有三大疫区、六个自然疫源地,其中东北疫区最为严重。森林脑炎为我国法定的由生物因素引起的职业病之一。美国CDC将森林脑炎病毒列为C类病毒类生物武器,并优先发展疫苗。预防森林脑炎病毒感染和流行以及抵御病毒类生物武器的袭击最有效的方法就是接种森林脑炎疫苗,森林脑炎疫苗在预防森林脑炎发病过程中发挥着重要作用,本文将森林脑炎疫苗研究现状和疫苗的免疫预防效果作以概述。     

我国森林脑炎病毒森张株编码区序列测定

为鉴定我国森林脑炎病毒亚型,了解基因组结构与生物功能的关系,同时为森林脑炎病毒新型疫苗研制打下基础,对森林脑炎病毒森张株编码区序列进行测定。根据已发表的Sofjin-HO、Oshima5-10株序列设计9对重叠引物,通过RT—PCR扩增不同的cDNA片段,分别克隆至pGEM—T载体,转化DH5α菌,挑阳性克隆PCR、酶切鉴定后测序。结果表明森张株编码区全长10245nt,编码3414个氨基酸。我国森林脑炎病毒森张株与Oshima5—10、Sofiin—HO、Sofiin同源性最近,属于远东亚型。     

我国森林脑炎病毒森张株编码区序列测定

为鉴定我国森林脑炎病毒亚型,了解基因组结构与生物功能的关系,同时为森林脑炎病毒新型疫苗研制打下基础,对森林脑炎病毒森张株编码区序列进行测定.根据已发表的Sofjin-HO、Oshima5-10株序列设计9对重叠引物,通过RT-PCR扩增不同的cDNA片段,分别克隆至pGEM(R)-T载体,转化DH5 α菌,挑阳性克隆PCR、酶切鉴定后测序.结果表明森张株编码区全长10 245nt,编码3 414个氨基酸.我国森林脑炎病毒森张株与Oshima5.10、Sofjin-HO、Sofjin同源性最近,属于远东亚型.     

森林脑炎病毒地鼠肾细胞培养增殖动态及疫苗生产工艺改进的研究

为了解森林脑炎病毒的增殖动态,改进现有疫苗的工艺,将森林脑炎病毒感染地鼠肾细胞,控制不同的培养条件,以利病毒增殖,并于不同时间收获病毒液,测定病毒滴度。疫苗液用不同浓度的福尔马林灭活后,测定疫苗的保护指数。结果表明森张株病毒增殖高峰在68－72h,多次收获的病毒液及其病毒滴度、疫苗效力均优于现有疫苗,新工艺可提高病毒产量,为疫苗的精制纯人奠定了基础。     

森林脑炎中和抗体蚀斑减少试验方法的建立及疫苗免疫人体后抗体检测

为评价森林脑炎疫苗的免疫效果,采用森林脑炎病毒的BHK细胞适应株,以BHK细胞为培养基质,建立了检测森林脑炎中和抗体的蚀斑减少试验方法,并用蚀斑减少法、小鼠法及ELISA法检测了原制森林脑炎灭活疫苗免疫人体后的中和抗体水平;免疫血清为按疫苗免疫程序免疫健康志愿者采血分离而制备。结果表明蚀斑减少法与小鼠法的特异性相近且敏感性较好、简便快速,缩短检测周期,为疫苗流行病学调查及新型疫苗的研究提供了快速的检测方法;原制灭活疫苗人体二针免疫后,人体血清中和抗体阳转率仅30％左右,急需提高现用原制灭活疫苗的质量。     

乙型脑炎减毒活疫苗生产株SA14-14-2全基因组序列测定及基因遗传稳定性

目的对乙型脑炎减毒活疫苗生产株SA14-14-2株进行全基因组序列测定和分析,并观察该生产株在疫苗制备过程中的基因遗传稳定性。方法根据DNA序列数据库(Gen Bank)公布的SA14-14-2株的序列,设计合成7对引物,提取疫苗生产株SA14-14-2及其工作种子批生产的3批原液、3批成品疫苗的病毒RNA,通过RT-PCR方法扩增SA14-14-2株的cDNA片段,分别克隆到pGEM-T载体,转化至大肠埃希菌DH5α中,挑取阳性菌落克隆、鉴定后测定全序列并对序列进行比较分析,观察毒株在传代的过程中病毒滴度的稳定性。结果乙型脑炎减毒活疫苗生产株SA14-14-2株基因组全长10 976 bp,编码3 433个氨基酸。3批原液和3批成品疫苗的基因组全长为10 977 bp,比较分析发现,在3'端非编码区10 701处多一个G核苷酸的插入。与DNA序列数据库(Genbank)登录号为D90195的全长序列同源性分别是99.9%、99.9%、99.9%、99.9%、99.8%、99.9%、99.8%,其中E蛋白的同源性均为100%。SA14-14-2生产株的病毒滴度为7.22 lg PFU/mL,原液和成品疫苗的滴度分别为7.32、7.23、7.32、6.86、6.92、6.70 lg PFU/mL。结论乙型脑炎减毒活疫苗生产株SA14-14-2基因稳定,具有良好的一致性,为乙型脑炎减毒活疫苗的质量的稳定性提供了可靠依据。     

森林脑炎自然疫源地样本的监测及病毒的分离研究

为了解森林脑炎疫源地的分布变化趋势及样本分离病毒的特性,采集了森林脑炎高发区周边的森林全沟硬蜱、血蜱样本及森林脑炎患者的脑组织样本,用小白鼠脑内接种法检测、分离病毒分离的病毒经鉴别试验证明为森林脑炎病毒：蜱、脑两种标本检测的阳性率分别为50％和100％、结果表明森林脑炎的疫区有从林区向农业区扩散的趋势,且全沟硬蜱的带毒率较高;森脑患者的脑组织样本与蜱标本病毒的性状育差异     

广东省10株乙型脑炎病毒的分子特征研究

了解广东省目前流行的乙型脑炎病毒的基因型别,以及新分离毒株与P3和SA14-14-2疫苗株E蛋白的氨基酸差异,推测疫苗株的可能保护效果。本研究对广东省2017年从蚊虫和蠓虫标本分离的10株乙型脑炎病毒基因组序列测定,利用MEGA软件登录GenBank下载乙型脑炎病毒代表株序列并绘制进化树,同时用ClustalW2软件与疫苗株进行氨基酸同源性比对和E蛋白的序列分析。10株乙型脑炎病毒均属基因I型GI-b组,但分别位于2个不同的、小的进化分枝中。10株新分离病毒与P3和SA14-14-2疫苗株的E蛋白氨基酸同源性分别位于97.40%~97.60%和97.20%~97.40%之间。E基因区段500个氨基酸中,P3株与新分离乙型脑炎病毒株之间共存在17个氨基酸位点的差异(包括12个共同氨基酸的改变),略高于SA14-14-2疫苗株的16个氨基酸位点变异(包括11个共同氨基酸的改变)。其中在DI区的P3和SA14-14-2株分别有1个和3个共同氨基酸变异,DⅡ区各有5个共同氨基酸改变,DⅢ区分别有5个和2个共同氨基酸改变,结构域之外各有1个共同氨基酸的变异。绝大多数变异发生在非关键位点,只在E306和E388处观察到的氨基酸位点变异与疫苗P3株关键位点的改变有关,这两个位点(G306E,E388G)均发生在DⅢ区,而疫苗SA14-14-2未观察到关键位点的改变。总之,广东省流行的乙型脑炎病毒基因型别可能已由Ⅲ型变为I型;疫苗SA14-14-2株及P3株与新分离毒株均具有很高的同源性,绝大多数关键氨基酸位点未发生变异,对新分离病毒均具有良好的免疫保护价值。     

森林脑炎病毒森张株5′端非编码区序列测定

为了解森林脑炎病毒森张株5′端非编码区序列与生物特性的关系,从而为疫苗研制打下基础,对其核苷酸序列进行测定。采用RACE法进行RT-PCR扩增,克隆法测序。结果表明：森张株5′-UTR长129nt,与Sofjin-HO、Oshima5-10、Vasilchenko、Neudoerfl、263、Hypr的同源性分别为92％、91％、89％、87％、87％、87％。森张株存在三处特异性变异C18→T、T30→C及49、50连续两个核苷酸缺失。本实验建立了一套相似5′端非编码区序列测定方法;三处特异性变异可能影响到森林脑炎病毒森张株的转录、翻译及核衣壳的形成。     

首次从啮齿类和食虫类动物中分离到森林脑炎病毒

1988年,我们从采自云南高黎贡山的卵形硬蜱及患者血液中分离到森林脑炎病毒。1990年,又从该地区10种95只啮齿类中查到森林脑炎病毒抗体;并从社鼠(R.confucianus)、小林姬鼠(A.sylvaticus)和灰腹鼠(R.eha ninus)等8种啮齿类及食虫类中分离到15株病毒,选三株用单克隆抗体进行免疫荧光试验、理化特性、生物学特性及中和试验研究。结果表明,其病毒的抗原性、生物学特性及理化特性与东北株及从卵形硬蜱、患者分离的森林脑炎病毒一致。从啮齿类及食虫类分离到森林脑炎病毒在国内属首次报道。这项研究结果进一步证明,啮食类和食虫类在森林脑炎自然疫源地的保存方面起重要作用。     

Construction and mutagenesis of an artificial bicistronic tick-borne encephalitis virus genome reveals an essential function of the second transmembrane region of protein e in flavivirus assembly

Flaviviruses have a monopartite positive-stranded RNA genome, which serves as the sole mRNA for protein translation. Cap-dependent translation produces a polyprotein precursor that is co- and posttranslationally processed by proteases to yield the final protein products. In this study, using tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), we constructed an artificial bicistronic flavivirus genome (TBEV-bc) in which the capsid protein and the nonstructural proteins were still encoded in the cap cistron but the coding region for the surface proteins prM and E was moved to a separate translation unit under the control of an internal ribosome entry site element inserted into the 3' noncoding region. Mutant TBEV-bc was shown to produce particles that packaged the bicistronic RNA genome and were infectious for BHK-21 cells and mice. Compared to wild-type controls, however, TBEV-bc was less efficient in both RNA replication and infectious particle formation. We took advantage of the separate expression of the E protein in this system to investigate the role in viral assembly of the second transmembrane region of protein E (E-TM2), a second copy of which was retained in the cap cistron to fulfill its other role as an internal signal sequence in the polyprotein. Deletion analysis and replacement of the entire TBEV E-TM2 region with its counterpart from another flavivirus revealed that this element, apart from its role as a signal sequence, is important for virion formation.     

Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus Sequenced Directly from Questing and Blood-Feeding Ticks Reveals Quasispecies Variance

The increased distribution of the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) in Scandinavia highlights the importance of characterizing novel sequences within the natural foci. In this study, two TBEV strains: the Norwegian Mandal 2009 (questing nymphs pool) and the Swedish Saringe 2009 (blood-fed nymph) were sequenced and phylogenetically characterized. Interestingly, the sequence of Mandal 2009 revealed the shorter form of the TBEV genome, similar to the highly virulent Hypr strain, within the 3′ non-coding region (3′NCR). A different genomic structure was found in the 3′NCR of Saringe 2009, as in-depth analysis demonstrated TBEV variants with different lengths within the poly(A) tract. This shows that TBEV quasispecies exists in nature and indicates a putative shift in the quasispecies pool when the virus switches between invertebrate and vertebrate environments. This prompted us to further sequence and analyze the 3′NCRs of additional Scandinavian TBEV strains and control strains, Hypr and Neudoerfl. Toro 2003 and Habo 2011 contained mainly a short (A)3C(A)6 poly(A) tract. A similar pattern was observed for the human TBEV isolates 1993/783 and 1991/4944; however, one clone of 1991/4944 contained an (A)3C(A)11 poly(A) sequence, demonstrating that quasispecies with longer poly(A) could be present in human isolates. Neudoerfl has previously been reported to contain a poly(A) region, but to our surprise the re-sequenced genome contained two major quasispecies variants, both lacking the poly(A) tract. We speculate that the observed differences are important factors for the understanding of virulence, spread, and control of the TBEV.     

Functional analysis of the tick-borne encephalitis virus cyclization elements indicates major differences between mosquito-borne and tick-borne flaviviruses

The linear, positive-stranded RNA genome of flaviviruses is thought to adopt a circularized conformation via interactions of short complementary sequence elements located within its terminal regions. This process of RNA cyclization is a crucial precondition for RNA replication. In the case of mosquito-borne flaviviruses, highly conserved cyclization sequences (CS) have been identified, and their functionality has been experimentally confirmed. Here, we provide an experimental identification of CS elements of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). These elements, termed 5'-CS-A and 3'-CS-A, are conserved among various tick-borne flaviviruses, but they are unrelated to the mosquito-borne CS elements and are located at different genomic positions. The 5'-CS-A element is situated upstream rather than downstream of the AUG start codon and, in contrast to mosquito-borne flaviviruses, it was found that the entire protein C coding region is not essential for TBEV replication. The complementary 3'-CS-A element is located within the bottom stem rather than upstream of the characteristic 3'-terminal stem-loop structure, implying that this part of the proposed structure cannot be formed when the genome is in its circularized conformation. Finally, we demonstrate that the CS-A elements can also mediate their function when the 5'-CS-A element is moved from its natural position to one corresponding to the mosquito-borne CS. The recognition of essential RNA elements and their differences between mosquito-borne and tick-borne flaviviruses has practical implications for the design of replicons in vaccine and vector development.     

Molecular evolution of the tick-borne encephalitis and Powassan viruses

Issues associated with newly emerging viruses, their genetic diversity, and viral evolution in modern environments are currently attracting growing attention. In this study, a phylogenetic analysis was performed and the evolution rate was evaluated for such pathogenic flaviviruses endemic to Russia as tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) and Powassan virus (PV). The analysis involved 47 nucleotide sequences of the TBEV genome region encoding protein E and 17 sequences of the PV NS5-encoding region. The nucleotide substitution rate was estimated as 1.4 × 10⁻⁴ and 5.4 × 10⁻⁵ substitutions per site per year for the E protein-encoding region of the TBEV genome and for the NS5 genome region of PV, respectively. The ratio of non-synonymous to synonymous nucleotide substitutions (dN/dS) in viral sequences was calculated as 0.049 for TBEV and 0.098 for PV. The highest dN/dS values of 0.201–0.220 were found in the subcluster of Russian and Canadian PV strains, and the lowest value of 0.024 was observed in the cluster of Russian and Chinese strains of the Far Eastern TBEV genotype. Evaluation of time intervals between the events of viral evolution showed that the European subtype of TBEV diverged from the common TBEV ancestor approximately 2750 years ago, while the Siberian and Far Eastern subtypes emerged approximately 2250 years ago. The PV was introduced into its natural foci of the Russian Primorskii krai only approximately 70 years ago; these strains were very close to Canadian PV strains. The pattern of PV evolution in North America was similar to the evolution of the Siberian and Far Eastern TBEV subtypes in Asia. The moments of divergence between major genetic groups of TBEV and PV coincide with historical periods of climate warming and cooling, suggesting that climate change was a key factor in the evolution of flaviviruses in past millennia.     

Molecular evolution of the tick-borne encephalitis and Powassan viruses

The problem of emerging viruses, their genetic diversity and viral evolution in nature are attracting more attention. The phylogenetic analysis and evaluationary rate estimation were made for pathogenic flaviviruses such as tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) and Powassan (PV) circulated in natural foci in Russia. 47 nucleotide sequences of encoded protein E of the TBEV and 17 sequences of NS5 genome region of the PV have been used. It was found that the rate of accumulation of nucleotide substitutions for E genome region of TBEV was approximately 1.4 x 10(-4) and 5.4 x 10(-5) substitutions per site per year for NS5 genome region of PV. The ratio of non-synonymous nucleotide substitutions to synonymous substitution (dN/dS) for viral sequences were estimated of 0.049 for TBEV and 0.098 for PV. Maximum value dN/dS was 0.201-0.220 for sub-cluster of Russian and Canadian strains of PV and the minimum - 0.024 for cluster of Russian and Chinese strains of Far Eastern genotype TBEV. Evaluation of time intervals of evolutionary events associated with these viruses showed that European subtype TBEV are diverged from all-TBEV ancestor within approximately 2750 years and the Siberian and Far Eastern subtypes are emerged about 2250 years ago. The PV was introduced into natural foci of the Primorsky Krai of Russia only about 70 years ago and PV is a very close to Canadian strains of PV. Evolutionary picture for PV in North America is similar to evolution of Siberian and Far Eastern subtypes TBEV in Asia. The divergence time for main genetic groups of TBEV and PV are correlated with historical periods of warming and cooling. These allow to propose a hypothesis that climate changes were essential to the evolution of the flaviviruses in the past millenniums.     

The Three Subtypes of Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus Induce Encephalitis in a Natural Host,the Bank Vole (Myodes glareolus)

Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) infects bank voles (Myodes glareolus) in nature, but the relevance of rodents for TBEV transmission and maintenance is unclear. We infected colonized bank voles subcutaneously to study and compare the infection kinetics, acute infection, and potential viral persistence of the three known TBEV subtypes: European (TBEV-Eur), Siberian (TBEV-Sib) and Far Eastern (TBEV-FE). All strains representing the three subtypes were infective and highly neurotropic. They induced (meningo)encephalitis in some of the animals, however most of the cases did not present with apparent clinical symptoms. TBEV-RNA was cleared significantly slower from the brain as compared to other organs studied. Supporting our earlier findings in natural rodent populations, TBEV-RNA could be detected in the brain for up to 168 days post infection, but we could not demonstrate infectivity by cell culture isolation. Throughout all time points post infection, RNA of the TBEV-FE was detected significantly more often than RNA of the other two strains in all organs studied. TBEV-FE also induced prolonged viremia, indicating distinctive kinetics in rodents in comparison to the other two subtypes. This study shows that bank voles can develop a neuroinvasive TBEV infection with persistence of viral RNA in brain, and mount an anti-TBEV IgG response. The findings also provide further evidence that bank voles can serve as sentinels for TBEV endemicity.     

Nucleotide sequence of the genome and complete amino acid sequence of a polyprotein of the tick-borne encephalitis virus

We have cloned and sequenced RNA encoding all virion and nonstructural proteins of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). Its length is 10,477 bases with a single open reading frame (nucleotides 127-10,363) encoding 3412 amino acids. The 5'- and 3'-noncoding regions have stem- and- loop structure. The polyprotein precursor is proteolytically cleaved, apparently, by a mechanism resembling that proposed for the expression of polyproteins of other flaviviruses, such as yellow fever, West Nile and Kunjin viruses. The deduced TBEV gene order is 5'-C-preM (M)-E-NS1-NS2A-NS2B-NS3-NS4A-NS4B-NS5++ +-3'. The genome and the polyprotein of TBEV and other flaviviruses appears to be structurally similar, although these flaviviruses are transmitted to and from their vertebrate hosts by different carriers, such as ticks or mosquitoes. Analysis of sequence homologies of polyproteins of flaviviruses suggests that TBEV is more closely related to yellow fever virus than to other serological subgroups of flaviviruses (West Nile or Dengue viruses). The hydrophobic profiles of the flaviviruses are highly conservative. Nonstructural proteins NS2A, NS2B, NS4A and NS4B are extremely hydrophobic, suggesting that they are likely to be associated with cellular membranes. Proteins E, NS1, NS3 and NS5 are the most conservative and may be involved in general enzymatic activities related to viral replication and virion assembly.     

Selection and analysis of mutations in an encephalomyocarditis virus internal ribosome entry site that improve the efficiency of a bicistronic flavivirus construct

Flaviviruses have a positive-stranded RNA genome, which simultaneously serves as an mRNA for translation of the viral proteins. All of the structural and nonstructural proteins are translated from a cap-dependent cistron as a single polyprotein precursor. In an earlier study (K. K. Orlinger, V. M. Hoenninger, R. M. Kofler, and C. W. Mandl, J. Virol. 80:12197-12208, 2006), it was demonstrated that an artificial bicistronic flavivirus genome, TBEV-bc, in which the region coding for the viral surface glycoproteins prM and E from tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) had been removed from its natural context and inserted into the 3' noncoding region under the control of an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) from encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) produces viable, infectious virus when cells are transfected with this RNA. The rates of RNA replication and infectious particle formation were significantly lower with TBEV-bc, however, than with wild-type TBEV. In this study, we have identified two types of mutations, selected by passage in BHK-21 cells, that enhance the growth properties of TBEV-bc. The first type occurred in the E protein, and these most likely increase the affinity of the virus for heparan sulfate on the cell surface. The second type occurred in the inserted EMCV IRES, in the oligo(A) loop of the J-K stem-loop structure, a binding site for the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4G. These included single-nucleotide substitutions as well as insertions of additional adenines in this loop. An A-to-C substitution in the oligo(A) loop decreased the efficiency of the IRES itself but nevertheless resulted in improved rates of virus particle formation and overall replication efficiency. These results demonstrate the need for proper balance in the competition for free template RNA between the viral RNA replication machinery and the cellular translation machinery at the two different start sites and also identify specific target sites for the improvement of bicistronic flavivirus expression vectors.