禽流感H5、H7、H9亚型多重实时荧光RT-PCR检测方法的建立

为了对致病性强、危害性大的H5、H7、H9亚型禽流感病毒进行同时集成化快速检测,通过对GenBank已报道的禽流感病毒的HA基因进行序列分析比较,设计了H5、H7、H9 3个亚型的特异性引物和分别用3个荧光基团标记的Taqman MGB核酸探针。将各个亚型引物与探针优化组合,筛选出能够同时检测禽流感病毒H5、H7、H9 3个亚型、且对Ct值和扩增效率影响不大的3组引物和探针,建立了三重实时荧光RT-PCR方法。该方法特异性好,在我们检测的样品中,没有发现假阳性和假阴性现象。同时敏感性高,检测禽流感病毒H5、H7、H9亚型的敏感性分别达到1 0001、000、500个模板拷贝数;此外抗干扰能力强,对禽流感H5、H7、H9 3个亚型的不同模板浓度进行组合,仍可有效地同时检测3个病毒亚型。所建立的方法对保存的89个禽流感病毒样品进行检测,结果与经典检测方法(病毒分离鉴定、HA、HI)的符合率达100%。用上述建立的方法与鸡胚分离法同时对新鲜采集的4 000多份临床样品进行检测,两种方法的检测结果符合率为100%。     

Nucleic acid sequence-based amplification methods to detect avian influenza virus

Infection of poultry with highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (AIV) can be devastating in terms of flock morbidity and mortality, economic loss, and social disruption. The causative agent is confined to certain isolates of influenza A virus subtypes H5 and H7. Due to the potential of direct transfer of avian influenza to humans, continued research into rapid diagnostic tests for influenza is therefore necessary. A nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) method was developed to detect a portion of the haemagglutinin gene of avian influenza A virus subtypes H5 and H7 irrespective of lineage. A further NASBA assay, based on the matrix gene, was able to detect examples of all known subtypes (H1-H15) of avian influenza virus. The entire nucleic acid isolation, amplification, and detection procedure was completed within 6h. The dynamic range of the three AIV assays was five to seven orders of magnitude. The assays were sensitive and highly specific, with no cross-reactivity to phylogenetically or clinically relevant viruses. The results of the three AIV NASBA assays correlated with those obtained by viral culture in embryonated fowl's eggs.     

禽流感病毒分型基因芯片的研制

[目的]禽流感病毒是一种全球重要的人和动物呼吸道病病原,快速确定其不同亚型对于全球流感监测具有重要的意义.本研究意在研制一种可同时鉴定禽流感病毒所有亚型的方法.[方法]根据GenBank上已发表的禽流感病毒不同亚型(16个HA亚型和9个NA亚型)的基因序列,设计合成了25对特异性引物和1对通用引物,然后以各亚型病毒的参考株RNA作为模板,建立扩增不同亚型的多重RT-PCR方法.参考各亚型病毒靶cDNAs区域的保守序列设计了52条亚型特异的探针,进而利用扩增的各亚型病毒的靶cDNAs对其特异性进行评价.在此基础上,将设计好的探针点制到处理好的玻片上,制备了禽流感病毒分型鉴定基因芯片,结合所建立的扩增不同亚型的多重RT-PCR方法,开发了禽流感病毒亚型鉴定基因芯片试剂.利用收集自49个地区的2653份标本对其特异性和敏感性进行了初步评价.[结果]用于评价的各亚型参考毒株均出现良好的特异性杂交信号,检测的敏感度可达2.47 PFU/mL或2.5 ng靶DNA片段,而且与禽类常见的IBV、NDV等6种病毒均无交叉反应.[结论]证明该病毒分型基因芯片具有良好的特异性、敏感性.     

Development of multiplex rt-PCR assays for rapid detection and subtyping of influenza type A viruses from clinical specimens

We developed multiplex RT-PCR assays that can detect and identify 12 hemagglutinin (H1-H12) and 9 neuraminidase (N1-N9) subtypes that are commonly isolated from avian, swine, and human influenza A viruses. RT-PCR products with unique sizes characteristic of each subtype were amplified by multiplex RT-PCRs, and sequence analysis of each amplicon was demonstrated to be specific for each subtype with 24 reference viruses. The specificity was demonstrated further with DNA or cDNA templates from 7 viruses, 5 bacteria, and 50 influenza A virus negative specimens. Furthermore, the assays could detect and subtype up to 105 dilution of each of the reference viruses that had an original infectivity titer of 106 EID50/ml. Of 188 virus isolates, the multiplex RT-PCR results agreed completely with individual RT-PCR subtyping results and with results obtained from virus isolations. Furthermore, the multiplex RT-PCR methods efficiently detected mixed infections with at least two different subtypes of influenza viruses in one host. Therefore, these methods could facilitate rapid and accurate subtyping of influenza A viruses directly from field specimens.     

利用基因芯片技术区分禽流感病毒主要亚型

[目的]研制可同时区分AIV的H5、H7、H9血凝素亚型及N1、N2神经氨酸酶亚型的基因诊断芯片.[方法]分别克隆了禽流感病毒的M基因,H5、H7、H9亚型HA基因,N1、N2亚型NA基因以及看家基因GAPDH的重组质粒.以重组质粒为模板,用PCR方法扩增制备探针,纯化后点于氨基修饰的片基上,制备基因芯片.在PCR过程中对待检样品进行标记,然后与芯片杂交,洗涤,扫描并进行结果分析.[结果]结果显示检测探针可特异性的与相应的标记样品进行杂交,呈现较强的杂交信号,且无交叉杂交.同时用RT-PCR、鸡胚接种和基因芯片方法对H1-H15亚型AIV参考毒株、30份人工感染样品、21份现地疑似样品进行检测,结果发现,对人工感染样品芯片检测方法与鸡胚接种和RT-PCR的符合率分别为100%和96%,现地样品符合率为100%.[结论]研究表明该方法可用于同步鉴别部分主要流行的禽流感亚型,是一种有效的新方法.     

H5亚型禽流感病毒一步法RT-PCR检测方法的建立

针对家禽中流行较为广泛、危害相对大的H5亚型禽流感病毒的血凝素（HA）基因,通过分析流感数据库221个HA序列,在保守区内用Oligo6.0软件设计并合成了一对引物,建立了用于快速诊断H5亚型禽流感病毒的一步法RT-PCR方法,其扩增的目的片段大小为372bp。通过对H5亚型禽流感病毒尿囊液和棉拭子浸出液进行不同稀释倍数检测,结果表明病毒尿囊液最低检出量为10-4稀释;阳性棉拭子最低检出量为8倍稀释。用病毒分离和该方法同时检测不同脏器、口咽及泄殖腔棉拭子样品,结果表明该方法检测灵敏度比病毒分离低10～100倍。用该方法检测H1～H15亚型禽流感病毒和鸡新城疫病毒等其他14种禽病病原,仅有H5亚型禽流感病毒扩增出特异性目的条带。该方法具有方便快捷、特异性强、敏感性高等特点,为我国禽流感的快速诊断和分子流行病学调查提供了技术支撑。     

Neuraminidase Subtyping of Avian Influenza Viruses with PrimerHunter-Designed Primers and Quadruplicate Primer Pools

We have previously developed a software package called PrimerHunter to design primers for PCR-based virus subtyping. In this study, 9 pairs of primers were designed with PrimerHunter and successfully used to differentiate the 9 neuraminidase (NA) genes of avian influenza viruses (AIVs) in multiple PCR-based assays. Furthermore, primer pools were designed and successfully used to decrease the number of reactions needed for NA subtyping from 9 to 4. The quadruplicate primer-pool method is cost-saving, and was shown to be suitable for the NA subtyping of both cultured AIVs and uncultured AIV swab samples. The primers selected for this study showed excellent sensitivity and specificity in NA subtyping by RT-PCR, SYBR green-based Real-time PCR and Real-time RT-PCR methods. AIV RNA of 2 to 200 copies (varied by NA subtypes) could be detected by these reactions. No unspecific amplification was displayed when detecting RNAs of other avian infectious viruses such as Infectious bronchitis virus, Infectious bursal disease virus and Newcastle disease virus. In summary, this study introduced several sensitive and specific PCR-based assays for NA subtyping of AIVs and also validated again the effectiveness of the PrimerHunter tool for the design of subtyping primers.     

NASBA快速检测禽流感H5亚型病毒

采用建立的依赖核酸序列的扩增(Nucleicacidsequencebasedamplification,NASBA)对禽流感病毒3株H5亚型、1株H1、H3、H6亚型、3株禽流感H9亚型、5株不同宿主来源的新城疫病毒、鸭肝炎病毒、鸭瘟病毒、SPF鸡胚尿囊液及禽流感(H9)疫苗、新城疫疫苗、传染性法氏囊病疫苗、传染性支气管炎疫苗进行检测,结果NASBA(H5试剂)仅检测到禽流感病毒H5亚型,表明方法的特异性强。采用已知禽流感病毒A/Chicken/HK/1000/97(H5N1)的鸡胚尿囊液(ELD5010-7.5/mL),经10倍连续稀释,将经典的鸡胚病原分离法和NASBA进行比较,二种方法的灵敏度相当。用A/Chicken/HK/1000/97(H5N1)病毒人工感染SPF鸡、商品鸡,采用NASBA和病原分离法同时对人工感染鸡的粪拭子、血液进行了动态检测;采集感染死亡鸡的组织脏器,共检测了101个组织脏器,两种方法的符合率为90%(87/97)。     

Conservation of T cell epitopes between seasonal influenza viruses and the novel influenza A H7N9 virus

A novel avian influenza A (H7N9) virus recently emerged in the Yangtze River delta and caused diseases, often severe, in over 130 people. This H7N9 virus appeared to infect humans with greater ease than previous avian influenza virus subtypes such as H5N1 and H9N2. While there are other potential explanations for this large number of human infections with an avian influenza virus, we investigated whether a lack of conserved T-cell epitopes between endemic H1N1 and H3N2 influenza viruses and the novel H7N9 virus contributes to this observation. Here we demonstrate that a number of T cell epitopes are conserved between endemic H1N1 and H3N2 viruses and H7N9 virus. Most of these conserved epitopes are from viral internal proteins. The extent of conservation between endemic human seasonal influenza and avian influenza H7N9 was comparable to that with the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1. Thus, the ease of inter-species transmission of H7N9 viruses (compared with avian H5N1 viruses) cannot be attributed to the lack of conservation of such T cell epitopes. On the contrary, our findings predict significant T-cell based cross-reactions in the human population to the novel H7N9 virus. Our findings also have implications for H7N9 virus vaccine design.     

H5 avian and H9 swine influenza virus haemagglutinin structures: possible origin of influenza subtypes

There are 15 subtypes of influenza A virus (H1-H15), all of which are found in avian species. Three caused pandemics in the last century: H1 in 1918 (and 1977), H2 in 1957 and H3 in 1968. In 1997, an H5 avian virus and in 1999 an H9 virus caused outbreaks of respiratory disease in Hong Kong. We have determined the three-dimensional structures of the haemagglutinins (HAs) from H5 avian and H9 swine viruses closely related to the viruses isolated from humans in Hong Kong. We have compared them with known structures of the H3 HA from the virus that caused the 1968 H3 pandemic and of the HA--esterase--fusion (HEF) glycoprotein from an influenza C virus. Structure and sequence comparisons suggest that HA subtypes may have originated by diversification of properties that affected the metastability of HAs required for their membrane fusion activities in viral infection.     

Rapid and sensitive detection of avian influenza virus subtype H7 using NASBA

Nucleic acid sequence-based amplification with electrochemiluminescent detection (NASBA/ECL) is an isothermal technique allowing rapid amplification and detection of specific regions of nucleic acid from a diverse range of sources. It is especially suitable for amplifying RNA. A NASBA/ECL technique has been developed allowing the detection of RNA from avian influenza virus subtype H7 derived from allantoic fluid harvested from inoculated chick embryos and from cell cultures. Degenerate amplification primers and amplicon capture probes were designed enabling the detection of low and highly pathogenic avian influenza of the H7 subtype from the Eurasian and North American lineages and the Australian sub-lineage. The NASBA/ECL technique is specific for subtype H7 and does not cross-react with other influenza subtypes or with viruses containing haemagglutinin-like genes. The assay is 10- to 100-fold more sensitive than a commercially available antigen capture immunoassay system. The NASBA/ECL assay could be used in high throughput poultry screening programmes.     

PrimerHunter: a primer design tool for PCR-based virus subtype identification

Rapid and reliable virus subtype identification is critical for accurate diagnosis of human infections, effective response to epidemic outbreaks and global-scale surveillance of highly pathogenic viral subtypes such as avian influenza H5N1. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has become the method of choice for virus subtype identification. However, designing subtype-specific PCR primer pairs is a very challenging task: on one hand, selected primer pairs must result in robust amplification in the presence of a significant degree of sequence heterogeneity within subtypes, on the other, they must discriminate between the subtype of interest and closely related subtypes. In this article, we present a new tool, called PrimerHunter, that can be used to select highly sensitive and specific primers for virus subtyping. Our tool takes as input sets of both target and nontarget sequences. Primers are selected such that they efficiently amplify any one of the target sequences, and none of the nontarget sequences. PrimerHunter ensures the desired amplification properties by using accurate estimates of melting temperature with mismatches, computed based on the nearest neighbor model via an efficient fractional programming algorithm. Validation experiments with three avian influenza HA subtypes confirm that primers selected by PrimerHunter have high sensitivity and specificity for target sequences.     

Human CD8+ and CD4+ T lymphocyte memory to influenza A viruses of swine and avian species.

Recently, an avian influenza A virus (A/Hong Kong/156/97, H5N1) was isolated from a young child who had a fatal influenza illness. All eight RNA segments were of avian origin. The H5 hemagglutinin is not recognized by neutralizing Abs present in humans as a result of infection with the human H1, H2, or H3 subtypes of influenza A viruses. Subsequently, five other deaths and several more human infections in Hong Kong were associated with this avian-derived virus. We investigated whether influenza A-specific human CD8+ and CD4+ T lymphocytes would recognize epitopes on influenza A virus strains derived from swine or avian species, including the 1997 H5N1 Hong Kong virus strains. Our results demonstrate that adults living in an urban area of the U.S. possess influenza A cross-serotype reactive CD8+ and CD4+ CTL that recognize multiple epitopes on influenza A viruses of other species. Bulk culture cytotoxicity was demonstrated against avian and human influenza A viruses. Enzyme-linked immunospot assays detected precursor CTL specific for both human CTL epitopes and the corresponding A/HK/97 viral sequences. We hypothesize that these cross-reactive CTL might provide partial protection to humans against novel influenza A virus strains introduced into humans from other species.     

Evaluation of Commercial Diagnostic Assays for the Specific Detection of Avian Influenza A (H7N9) Virus RNA Using a Quality-Control Panel and Clinical Specimens in China

A novel avian influenza A H7N9-subtype virus emerged in China in 2013 and threatened global public health. Commercial kits that specifically detect avian influenza A (H7N9) virus RNA are urgently required to prepare for the emergence and potential pandemic of this novel influenza virus. The safety and effectiveness of three commercial molecular diagnostic assays were evaluated using a quality-control panel and clinical specimens collected from over 90 patients with confirmed avian influenza A (H7N9) virus infections. The analytical performance evaluation showed that diverse influenza H7N9 viruses can be detected with high within- and between-lot reproducibility and without cross-reactivity to other influenza viruses (H1N1 pdm09, seasonal H1N1, H3N2, H5N1 and influenza B). The detection limit of all the commercial assays was 2.83 Log₁₀ copies/μl [0.7 Log₁₀TCID₅₀/mL of avian influenza A (H7N9) virus strain A/Zhejiang/DTID-ZJU01/2013], which is comparable to the method recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, using a WHO-Chinese National Influenza Center (CNIC) method as a reference for clinical evaluation, positive agreement of more than 98% was determined for all of the commercial kits, while negative agreement of more than 99% was observed. In conclusion, our findings provide comprehensive evidence for the high performance of three commercial diagnostic assays and suggest the application of these assays as rapid and effective diagnostic tools for avian influenza A (H7N9) virus in the routine clinical practice of medical laboratories.