裂谷热病毒囊膜蛋白基因DNA免疫的研究

分别将裂谷热病毒(Rift Valley Fever Virus,RVFV)囊膜糖蛋白GN、GC和G(N C)基因亚克隆至真核表达载体pCAGGS多克隆位点鸡β-actin转录启动子下游,分别构成pCAGG-RVFV-GN、pCAGG-RVFV-GC和pCAGG-RVFV-G(N C)。免疫沉淀试验结果表明,重组RVFV蛋白GN、GC分别在pCAGG-RVFV-GN、pCAGG-RVFV-G(N C)转染HeLa细胞中获得表达,并具有良好免疫反应性。pCAGG-RVFV-GN、pCAGG-RVFV-GC和pCAGG-RVFV-G(N C)质粒DNA混合物按100μg/只剂量肌肉注射免疫6周龄BALB/c小鼠。每隔4周用相同的剂量加强免疫,第二次加强免疫3周后采血、分离血清备用。分别以杆状病毒表达RVFV囊膜蛋白GN、GC制备的抗原液包被ELISA板,间接ELISA检测DNA免疫鼠血清中RVFV囊膜蛋白G(N C)特异性抗体,具有良好的敏感性和特异性。另外,DNA免疫鼠血清中的特异抗体可有效中和RVFV囊膜蛋白G(N C)介导的伪型VSV重组病毒侵入RVFV易感宿主细胞的感染性。结果表明,pCAGG-RVFV-GN、pCAGG-RVFV-GC和pCAGG-RVFV-G(N C)质粒DNA混合物作为DNA疫苗具有防制裂谷热的潜力。     

Q热疫苗研究进展

本文对Q热疫苗的研究进行了回顾、总结。灭活疫苗能刺激机体产生较强的抗Q热特异性体液免疫和细胞免疫，免疫保护效果好且持续时间长。但是，灭活疫苗有较强的副反应，可引起局部脓肿等副反应。减毒疫苗虽然免疫保护效果好，但可能有毒力恢复的危险。亚单位疫苗主要有CMR、TCAE和LPS，其中CMR和TCAE具有与灭活疫苗相近的保护效果，副反应很小，已进入临床研究。目前研究较多的保护性抗原蛋白有27kD、30kD、34kD、热休克蛋白等主要表面抗原，它们有可能发展成为重组亚单位疫苗。多价亚单位疫苗、DNA疫苗以及以活菌为载体的重组菌苗将是有前途的新型Q热疫苗。     

RT-PCR方法扩增白蛉热病毒M片段的研究

为建立扩增未知序列白蛉热病毒M片段的RT-PCR方法,本研究选取7个血清组成员和8个未分组血清型,共42株白蛉热病毒为RT-PCR检测对象.通过排列GenBank中已知的4型白蛉热病毒M片段氨基酸序列,选择保守区设计引物.根据保守区各已知病毒的cDNA特异序列合成寡核苷酸,将相同区的寡核苷酸等量混合成为"鸡尾酒"引物,用于RT-PCR.扩增产物经电泳检测,纯化后直接测序.引物对Ph-M-2FM和Ph-M-3RM扩增产物长度约为600bp,从42株病毒中扩增出34株,阳性率为81.0%.另一引物对Ph-M-2FM和Ph-M-4R2M扩增产物长度约为1400bp,扩增出22株病毒,阳性率为52.3%.测出序列经BLAST检索,与GenBank中已知白蛉热病毒同源.本研究首次成功地应用RT-PCR扩增不同血清型未知序列白蛉热病毒的部分M片段,并测出扩增产物序列,为白蛉热病毒属成员的基因鉴定和种系发生关系分析提供了实验手段,并将有助于白蛉热病毒感染的基因诊断.     

猪瘟DNA疫苗研究进展

自1990年DNA疫苗问世以来,已有许多研究者构建了不同类型的DNA疫苗。这些载体能诱发机体产生不同程度的特异性体液免疫和(或)细胞免疫。研究者们也在猪瘟DNA疫苗研究方面做出了很多努力并取得了一定的成果。以下从猪瘟DNA疫苗的构建和评价、佐剂在猪瘟DNA疫苗中的应用、猪瘟DNA疫苗与其他疫苗的联合应用以及目前猪瘟DNA疫苗存在的问题和解决途径等方面做了比较全面的阐述。     

动物细小病毒新型疫苗研究进展

细小病毒是动物病毒中最小最简单的一类单链线状DNA病毒,其在自然界的宿主范围广,感染后呈长期隐性感染,对畜牧养殖业有重要影响.目前,对细小病毒的防治仍以接种减毒疫苗和灭活疫苗为主,但它们仍存在一些不足,如:灭活疫苗成本高;减毒疫苗存在返强的可能性.因此,研制更安全、高效、制备方便的新型疫苗是未来研究的趋势.本文介绍了新...     

肽疫苗的研究进展

肽疫苗可分为3大类,即抗病毒相关肽疫苗、抗肿瘤相关肽疫苗、抗细菌及寄生虫感染的肽疫苗。肽疫苗具有安全、廉价、特异性强、易于保存和应用等特点。本主要介绍有关肽疫苗的设计、提高免疫原性及体内的稳定性、复合肽疫苗、临床评价等方面的研究和应用进展。     

HIV疫苗研究进展

自从1983年发现人类免疫缺陷病毒(Human immunodeficiency virus,HIV)以来,HIV一直以惊人的速度在全球蔓延,感染HIV的人数也日益增多。到目前为止,因患艾滋病死亡的人数已达到2500万,到2010年这一数字可能会突破8000万,因此研究预防和治疗艾滋病的药物也正日益迫切地摆在人们面     

治疗性乙型肝炎疫苗研究进展

乙肝疫苗多用于预防乙型肝炎病毒(HBV)。近年来,人们的研究重点转移到了针对慢性乙肝病毒携带和慢性乙肝患的治疗性疫苗的开发上。本就治疗性乙肝疫苗的分类、机制及临床疗效加以综述。     

Host alternation is necessary to maintain the genome stability of rift valley fever virus

Background

Most arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) are RNA viruses, which are maintained in nature by replication cycles that alternate between arthropod and vertebrate hosts. Arboviruses appear to experience lower rates of evolution than RNA viruses that replicate in a single host. This genetic stability is assumed to result from a fitness trade-off imposed by host alternation, which constrains arbovirus genome evolution. To test this hypothesis, we used Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), an arbovirus that can be transmitted either directly (between vertebrates during the manipulation of infected tissues, and between mosquitoes by vertical transmission) or indirectly (from one vertebrate to another by mosquito-borne transmission).

Methodology/Principal Findings

RVFV was serially passaged in BHK21 (hamster) or Aag2 (Aedes aegypti) cells, or in alternation between the two cell types. After 30 passages, these single host-passaged viruses lost their virulence and induced protective effects against a challenge with a virulent virus. Large deletions in the NSs gene that encodes the virulence factor were detectable from the 15^th serial passage onwards in BHK21 cells and from the 10^th passage in Aag2 cells. The phosphoprotein NSs is not essential to viral replication allowing clones carrying deletions in NSs to predominate as they replicate slightly more rapidly. No genetic changes were found in viruses that were passaged alternately between arthropod and vertebrate cells. Furthermore, alternating passaged viruses presenting complete NSs gene remained virulent after 30 passages.

Conclusions/Significance

Our results strongly support the view that alternating replication is necessary to maintain the virulence factor carried by the NSs phosphoprotein.     

Genetic evidence for an interferon-antagonistic function of rift valley fever virus nonstructural protein NSs

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), a phlebovirus of the family Bunyaviridae, is a major public health threat in Egypt and sub-Saharan Africa. The viral and host cellular factors that contribute to RVFV virulence and pathogenicity are still poorly understood. All pathogenic RVFV strains direct the synthesis of a nonstructural phosphoprotein (NSs) that is encoded by the smallest (S) segment of the tripartite genome and has an undefined accessory function. In this report, we show that MP12 and clone 13, two attenuated RVFV strains with mutations in the NSs gene, were highly virulent in IFNAR(-/-) mice lacking the alpha/beta interferon (IFN-alpha/beta) receptor but remained attenuated in IFN-gamma receptor-deficient mice. Both attenuated strains proved to be excellent inducers of early IFN-alpha/beta production. In contrast, the virulent strain ZH548 failed to induce detectable amounts of IFN-alpha/beta and replicated extensively in both IFN-competent and IFN-deficient mice. Clone 13 has a defective NSs gene with a large in-frame deletion. This defect in the NSs gene results in expression of a truncated protein which is rapidly degraded. To investigate whether the presence of the wild-type NSs gene correlated with inhibition of IFN-alpha/beta production, we infected susceptible IFNAR(-/-) mice with S gene reassortant viruses. When the S segment of ZH548 was replaced by that of clone 13, the resulting reassortants became strong IFN inducers. When the defective S segment of clone 13 was exchanged with the wild-type S segment of ZH548, the reassortant virus lost the capacity to stimulate IFN-alpha/beta production. These results demonstrate that the ability of RVFV to inhibit IFN-alpha/beta production correlates with viral virulence and suggest that the accessory protein NSs is an IFN antagonist.     

Tissue tropism and target cells of NSs-deleted rift valley fever virus in live immunodeficient mice

Background

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) causes disease in livestock and humans. It can be transmitted by mosquitoes, inhalation or physical contact with the body fluids of infected animals. Severe clinical cases are characterized by acute hepatitis with hemorrhage, meningoencephalitis and/or retinitis. The dynamics of RVFV infection and the cell types infected in vivo are poorly understood.

Methodology/Principal Findings

RVFV strains expressing humanized Renilla luciferase (hRLuc) or green fluorescent protein (GFP) were generated and inoculated to susceptible Ifnar1-deficient mice. We investigated the tissue tropism in these mice and the nature of the target cells in vivo using whole-organ imaging and flow cytometry. After intraperitoneal inoculation, hRLuc signal was observed primarily in the thymus, spleen and liver. Macrophages infiltrating various tissues, in particular the adipose tissue surrounding the pancreas also expressed the virus. The liver rapidly turned into the major luminescent organ and the mice succumbed to severe hepatitis. The brain remained weakly luminescent throughout infection. FACS analysis in RVFV-GFP-infected mice showed that the macrophages, dendritic cells and granulocytes were main target cells for RVFV. The crucial role of cells of the monocyte/macrophage/dendritic lineage during RVFV infection was confirmed by the slower viral dissemination, decrease in RVFV titers in blood, and prolonged survival of macrophage- and dendritic cell-depleted mice following treatment with clodronate liposomes. Upon dermal and nasal inoculations, the viral dissemination was primarily observed in the lymph node draining the injected ear and in the lungs respectively, with a significant increase in survival time.

Conclusions/Significance

These findings reveal the high levels of phagocytic cells harboring RVFV during viral infection in Ifnar1-deficient mice. They demonstrate that bioluminescent and fluorescent viruses can shed new light into the pathogenesis of RVFV infection.     

Genetic diversity of collaborative cross mice enables identification of novel rift valley fever virus encephalitis model

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an arboviral disease of humans and livestock responsible for severe economic and human health impacts. In humans, RVF spans a variety of clinical manifestations, ranging from an acute flu-like illness to severe forms of disease, including late-onset encephalitis. The large variations in human RVF disease are inadequately represented by current murine models, which overwhelmingly die of early-onset hepatitis. Existing mouse models of RVF encephalitis are either immunosuppressed, display an inconsistent phenotype, or develop encephalitis only when challenged via intranasal or aerosol exposure. In this study, the genetically defined recombinant inbred mouse resource known as the Collaborative Cross (CC) was used to identify mice with additional RVF disease phenotypes when challenged via a peripheral foot-pad route to mimic mosquito-bite exposure. Wild-type Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) challenge of 20 CC strains revealed three distinct disease phenotypes: early-onset hepatitis, mixed phenotype, and late-onset encephalitis. Strain CC057/Unc, with the most divergent phenotype, which died of late-onset encephalitis at a median of 11 days post-infection, is the first mouse strain to develop consistent encephalitis following peripheral challenge. CC057/Unc mice were directly compared to C57BL/6 mice, which uniformly succumb to hepatitis within 2–4 days of infection. Encephalitic disease in CC057/Unc mice was characterized by high viral RNA loads in brain tissue, accompanied by clearance of viral RNA from the periphery, low ALT levels, lymphopenia, and neutrophilia. In contrast, C57BL/6 mice succumbed from hepatitis at 3 days post-infection with high viral RNA loads in the liver, viremia, high ALT levels, lymphopenia, and thrombocytopenia. The identification of a strain of CC mice as an RVFV encephalitis model will allow for future investigation into the pathogenesis and treatment of RVF encephalitic disease and indicates that genetic background makes a major contribution to RVF disease variation.     

Comparison of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay systems using rift valley fever virus nucleocapsid protein and inactivated virus as antigens

Background

Rift Valley Fever (RVF) is a mosquito-borne viral zoonosis. To detect RVF virus (RVFV) infection, indirect immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) which utilize recombinant RVFV nucleocapsid (RVFV-N) protein as assay antigen, have reportedly been used, however, there is still a need to develop more sensitive and specific methods of detection.

Methods

RVFV-N protein was expressed in Escherichia coli (E. coli) and purified by histidine-tag based affinity chromatography. This recombinant RVFV-N (rRVFV-N) protein was then used as antigen to develop an IgG sandwich ELISA and IgM capture ELISAs for human sera. Ninety six serum samples collected from healthy volunteers during the RVF surveillance programme in Kenya in 2013, and 93 serum samples collected from RVF-suspected patients during the 2006–2007 RVF outbreak in Kenya were used respectively, to evaluate the newly established rRVFV-N protein-based IgG sandwich ELISA and IgM capture ELISA systems in comparison with the inactivated virus-based ELISA systems.

Results

rRVFV-N protein-based-IgG sandwich ELISA and IgM capture ELISA for human sera were established. Both the new ELISA systems were in 100% concordance with the inactivated virus-based ELISA systems, with a sensitivity and specificity of 100%.

Conclusions

Recombinant RVFV-N is a safe and affordable antigen for RVF diagnosis. Our rRVFV-N-based ELISA systems are safe and reliable tools for diagnosis of RVFV infection in humans and especially useful in large-scale epidemiological investigation and for application in developing countries.

     

The S segment of rift valley fever phlebovirus (Bunyaviridae) carries determinants for attenuation and virulence in mice

Unlike all the other Rift Valley fever virus strains (Bunyaviridae, Phlebovirus) studied so far, clone 13, a naturally attenuated virus, does not form the filaments composed of the NSs nonstructural protein in the nuclei of infected cells (R. Muller, J. F. Saluzzo, N. Lopez, T. Drier, M. Turell, J. Smith, and M. Bouloy, Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 53:405-411, 1995). This defect is correlated with a large in-frame deletion in the NSs coding region of the S segment of the tripartite genome. Here, we show that the truncated NSs protein of clone 13 is expressed and remains in the cytoplasm, where it is degraded rapidly by the proteasome. Through the analysis of reassortants between clone 13 and a virulent strain, we localized the marker(s) of attenuation in the S segment of this attenuated virus. This result raises questions regarding the role of NSs in pathogenesis and highlights, for the first time in the Bunyaviridae family, a major role of the S segment in virulence and attenuation, possibly associated with a defect in the nonstructural protein.     

Rift valley fever on the east coast of Madagascar

In March 1990, a Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) outbreak was suspected in the district of Fenerive on the east coast of Madagascar after an abnormally high incidence of abortions and disease in livestock. Sera from humans and cattle were tested for RVFV antibodies by immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and ELISA-IgM capture. Sera and mosquitoes collected in the same area were tested for virus isolation by tissue culture and suckling mouse intracerebral inoculation, and for antigen detection by an ELISA antigen capture assay. Among cattle from the area, RVFV antibody prevalence was 58.6 % by IFA and 29.6 % by ELISA-IgM. In contrast, human populations in the same area had a lower RVFV antibody prevalence, with 8.01 % IFA and 5.4 % IgM-positive sera. No RVFV antigen was detected and virus isolation was unsuccessful from the sera and mosquito pools tested. Different hypotheses concerning the emergence and diffusion of RVFV in this area and the occurrence of the outbreak are discussed.