Detection of Animal Viruses in Coastal Seawater and Sediments

Animal viruses, predominantly enteroviruses, were detected in shallow water at bottom depths and in clastic marine sediments. Viruses accumulated in sandy and slimy deposits of the sea bottom near the shore and could be easily released into water by means of simple mechanical shaking.     

Development of Norwalk Virus-Specific Monoclonal Antibodies with Therapeutic Potential for the Treatment of Norwalk Virus Gastroenteritis

Passive immunoprophylaxis or immunotherapy with norovirus-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) could be a useful treatment for high-risk populations, including infants and young children, the elderly, and certain patients who are debilitated or immunocompromised. In order to obtain antinorovirus MAbs with therapeutic potential, we stimulated a strong adaptive immune response in chimpanzees to the prototype norovirus strain Norwalk virus (NV) (genogroup I.1). A combinatorial phage Fab display library derived from mRNA of the chimpanzees'' bone marrow was prepared, and four distinct Fabs reactive with Norwalk recombinant virus-like particles (rVLPs) were recovered, with estimated binding affinities in the subnanomolar range. Mapping studies showed that the four Fabs recognized three different conformational epitopes in the protruding (P) domain of NV VP1, the major capsid protein. The epitope of one of the Fabs, G4, was further mapped to a specific site involving a key amino acid residue, Gly365. One additional specific Fab (F11) was recovered months later from immortalized memory B cells and partially characterized. The anti-NV Fabs were converted into full-length IgG (MAbs) with human γ1 heavy chain constant regions. The anti-NV MAbs were tested in the two available surrogate assays for Norwalk virus neutralization, which showed that the MAbs could block carbohydrate binding and inhibit hemagglutination by NV rVLP. By mixing a single MAb with live Norwalk virus prior to challenge, MAbs D8 and B7 neutralized the virus and prevented infection in a chimpanzee. Because chimpanzee immunoglobulins are virtually identical to human immunoglobulins, these chimpanzee anticapsid MAbs may have a clinical application.     

猴副流感病毒SV5 PCR检测方法的建立与初步应用

目的建立检测SV5的PCR方法并加以初步应用。方法根据GenBank中报道的SV5序列,针对其中的SH基因设计引物进行PCR反应,扩增产物进行测序并用BLAST软件进行同源性比对,同时利用限制性内切酶的酶切反应以证实此PCR反应的特异性。在此基础上设计巢式PCR提高此方法的灵敏度。利用此方法对20份猴肾源细胞培养物和40份血清标本进行检测。结果利用设计的引物扩增出的序列测序结果证实与报道的SV5SH基因相对位置的序列一致。AccⅢ限制性内切酶可对PCR产物进行特异性酶切。巢式PCR比一次PCR的敏感度有所提高。用此方法检测的20份猴肾源细胞培养物和40份血清标本结果为阴性。结论初步建立了检测SV5病毒的PCR方法,排除实验室用20份猴肾源细胞培养物和40份血清标本SV5的污染。     

Virus Decay and Its Causes in Coastal Waters

Recent evidence suggests that viruses play an influential role within the marine microbial food web. To understand this role, it is important to determine rates and mechanisms of virus removal and degradation. We used plaque assays to examine the decay of infectivity in lab-grown viruses seeded into natural seawater. The rates of loss of infectivity of native viruses from Santa Monica Bay and of nonnative viruses from the North Sea in the coastal seawater of Santa Monica Bay were determined. Viruses were seeded into fresh seawater that had been pretreated in various ways: filtration with a 0.2-(mu)m-pore-size filter to remove organisms, heat to denature enzymes, and dissolved organic matter enrichment to reconstitute enzyme activity. Seawater samples were then incubated in full sunlight, in the dark, or under glass to allow partitioning of causative agents of virus decay. Solar radiation always resulted in increased rates of loss of virus infectivity. Virus isolates which are native to Santa Monica Bay consistently degraded more slowly in full sunlight in untreated seawater (decay ranged from 4.1 to 7.2% h(sup-1)) than nonnative marine bacteriophages which were isolated from the North Sea (decay ranged from 6.6 to 11.1% h(sup-1)). All phages demonstrated susceptibility to degradation by heat-labile substances, as heat treatment reduced the decay rates to about 0.5 to 2.0% h(sup-1) in the dark. Filtration reduced decay rates by various amounts, averaging 20%. Heat-labile, high-molecular-weight dissolved material (>30 kDa, probably enzymes) appeared responsible for about 1/5 of the maximal decay. Solar radiation was responsible for about 1/3 to 2/3 of the maximal decay of nonnative viruses and about 1/4 to 1/3 of that of the native viruses, suggesting evolutionary adaptation to local light levels. Our results suggest that sunlight is an important contributing factor to virus decay but also point to the significance of particles and dissolved substances in seawater.     

免疫胶体金试剂的制备及应用胶体金免疫电镜技术检测戊型肝炎病毒

报道了用胶体金免疫电镜技术检测戊型肝炎病毒（ＨＥＶ）的方法。实验采用１０ｎｍ胶体金标记纯化兔抗鼠ＩｇＧ制备了免疫胶体金探针试剂。用本法从戊型肝炎患者粪便提取物中检出ＨＥＶ呈球形,直径３２±５ｎｍ。此方法具有快速、灵敏、直观等特点,在ＨＥＶ生物学性质研究中,有一定的应用价值。     

SYBR Green I荧光RT-PCR检测犬瘟热方法的建立和应用

根据GenBank发表的犬瘟热病毒（CDV）的F基因序列,经过分析在F片段的保守区域内设计引物,建立了SYBR Green I荧光RT-PCR检测CDV的方法,并通过对厦门市宠物医院收集的临床发病和疑似发病的犬病料（包括眼分泌物、鼻拭子、唾液、血液、尿液等）的检测,结果表明,本研究建立的快速检测CDV的SYBR Green I荧光RT-PCR方法具有特异性强、灵敏度高、操作简便等优点,值得推广应用。     

香茄环斑病毒HC—RT—PCR—ELISA检测

番茄环斑病毒（ToRSV)是我国对外检疫一类有害生物。目前国内尚无存在的报道。PCR技术是一种快速灵敏的植物病毒检测方法,但核酸内的聚合酶抑制物会导致漏检现象。而只通过凝胶电泳进行结果判定会出现假阳性,这两方面限制了PCR技术在对外检疫中的应用,利用共价结合在PCR管壁上的引物特异性杂交诱捕核酸粗提液中的靶标核酸,洗掉杂质及抑制物质,在同一管内作RT-PCR,凝胶电泳检测液相产物的同时对固相产物进行杂交检测。提高了结果的可靠性及灵敏度。利用所建立的HC-RT-PCR-ELISA成功地从法国进口葡萄苗中检出ToRSV。本方法可用于其他植物病毒及转基因产品的检测。     

SYBR GreenⅠ荧光RT-PCR检测犬瘟热方法的建立和应用

根据GenBank发表的犬瘟热病毒(CDV)的F基因序列,经过分析在F片段的保守区域内设计引物,建立了SYBR GreenⅠ荧光RT-PCR检测CDV的方法,并通过对厦门市宠物医院收集的临床发病和疑似发病的犬病料(包括眼分泌物、鼻拭子、唾液、血液、尿液等)的检测,结果表明,本研究建立的快速检测CDV的SYBR GreenⅠ荧光RT-PCR方法具有特异性强、灵敏度高、操作简便等优点,值得推广应用.     

聚丙烯酰胺凝胶碎块吸收洗脱法浓缩病毒的实验研究及应用

本文报告聚丙烯酰胺凝胶(PAG)碎块吸收洗脱法在浓缩新城鸡瘟病毒(NDV)和人轮状病毒(HRV)方面的实验研究及应用。我们通过一次和二次浓缩,分别将NDV感染的鸡胚尿液稀释液浓缩了12.1倍和90.2倍,血凝滴度相应增高,总病毒回收率分别达到90.2％84.9％。用二次浓缩后的含HRV粪便上清液进行RNA PAGE银染色检测,获得了HRV RNA电泳型检测阳性稀释度提高32倍左右的结果。据此,采用这一方法,对临床RNA PAGE检测阴性的33例婴幼儿腹泻粪便进行PAG浓缩处理后再检测,发现有12例转为阳性,阳转率为36.4％。从而,使HRV总检出率由67％增至79％。     

李痘病毒实时荧光定量RT-PCR检测方法的建立

目的:建立李痘病毒(PPV)特异、灵敏、快速的实时荧光定量RT-PCR检测方法,用于核果类种苗的健康评测及李痘病毒疫情监测。方法:根据PPV-D株系和PPV-M株系的外被蛋白(CP)基因保守序列,设计特异性引物和TaqMan探针,扩增全长CP基因片段,并将其克隆到pMD18-T载体上,构建质粒标准品,建立PPV的实时荧光定量RT-PCR检测方法,并对该方法的特异性、灵敏度和重复性进行评估。结果:此荧光定量RT-PCR方法对PPV检测呈现高灵敏度和高特异性,与马铃薯Y病毒和马铃薯X病毒无交叉反应,最低检出限可达1.6×102拷贝/μL,标准曲线的相关系数为0.999 18。结论:建立了李痘病毒的荧光定量RT-PCR检测方法,可望应用于检验检疫部门对李痘病毒的快速检测。     

Dimethyl Sulfide Production from Dimethylsulfoniopropionate in Coastal Seawater Samples and Bacterial Cultures

Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) was produced immediately after the addition of 0.1 to 2 μM β-dimethylsulfonio-propionate (DMSP) to coastal seawater samples. Azide had little effect on the initial rate of DMS production from 0.5 μM added DMSP, but decreased the rate of production after 6 h. Filtration of water samples through membrane filters (pore size, 0.2 μm) greatly reduced DMS production for approximately 10 h, after which time DMS production resumed at a high rate. Autoclaving completely eliminated the production of DMS. The antibiotics chloramphenicol, tetracycline, kanamycin, and vancomycin all had little effect on the accumulation of DMS over the first few hours of incubation, but produced significant inhibition thereafter. The effects of individual antibiotics were additive. Chloroform over a range of concentrations (0.25 to 1.25 mM) had no effects on DMS production. Similarly, organic amendments, including acrylate, glucose, protein, and starch, did not affect DMS accumulation from DMSP. Acrylate, a product of the enzymatic cleavage of DMSP, was metabolized in seawater samples, and two strains of bacteria were isolated with this compound as the growth substrate. These bacteria produced DMS from DMSP. The sensitivity to inhibitors with respect to growth and DMSP-lyase activity varied from strain to strain. These results illustrate the significant potential for microbial conversion of dissolved DMSP to DMS in coastal seawater.     

Monitoring Antigenic Variations of Enterovirus 71: Implications for Virus Surveillance and Vaccine Development

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) causes life-threatening epidemics in Asia and can be phylogenetically classified into three major genogroups (A∼C) including 11 genotypes (A, B1∼B5, and C1∼C5). Recently, EV71 epidemics occurred cyclically in Taiwan with different genotypes. In recent years, human studies using post-infection sera obtained from children have detected antigenic variations among different EV71 strains. Therefore, surveillance of enterovirus 71 should include phylogenetic and antigenic analysis. Due to limitation of sera available from children with EV71 primary infection, suitable animal models should be developed to generate a panel of antisera for monitoring EV71 antigenic variations. Twelve reference strains representing the 11 EV71 genotypes were grown in rhabdomyosarcoma cells. Infectious EV71 particles were purified and collected to immunize rabbits. The rabbit antisera were then employed to measure neutralizing antibody titers against the 12 reference strains and 5 recent strains. Rabbits immunized with genogroup B and C viruses consistently have a lower neutralizing antibody titers against genogroup A (≧8-fold difference) and antigenic variations between genogroup B and C viruses can be detected but did not have a clear pattern, which are consistent with previous human studies. Comparison between human and rabbit neutralizing antibody profiles, the results showed that ≧8-fold difference in rabbit cross-reactive antibody ratios could be used to screen EV71 isolates for identifying potential antigenic variants. In conclusion, a rabbit model was developed to monitor antigenic variations of EV71, which are critical to select vaccine strains and predict epidemics.     

猕猴结核分枝杆菌PCR检测方法的建立与初步应用

目的建立猕猴结核分枝杆菌PCR快速检测方法。方法根据GenBank中报道的人型结核分枝杆菌标准株H37RV全基因序列,针对其中致病性结核分枝杆菌所特有的保守区域ESAT-6设计一对引物进行TouchdownPCR反应,利用此方法对100份野生来源猕猴全血标本进行检测,并与传统的PPD实验和咽拭子抗酸染色实验结果作比对。结果抽取33份野生来源猕猴的外周血,提取DNA进行扩增,扩增片段经纯化、回收克隆测序后用BLAST软件进行同源性对比,与GenBank中报道的序列基本相同,检测标本中有4份（4／33）为阳性,其中3份（3／33）标本与结核菌素试验和咽拭子抗酸染色试验结果相符合。结论建立了从猴全血中直接检测猴结核分枝杆菌DNA的TouchdownPCR方法,具有敏感性和特异性高,且简便的优点。     

检测猪繁殖与呼吸综合征病毒RT-PCR的建立及应用

根据GenBank上PRRSV的保守序列,设计1对引物,建立了PRRSV的RT-PCR方法。试验结果表明,该RT-PCR方法敏感、特异,适于临床样品检测,为PRRSV的临床诊断和流行病学调查奠定了基础。     

Development of an Aptamer-Based Concentration Method for the Detection of Trypanosoma cruzi in Blood

Trypanosoma cruzi, a blood-borne parasite, is the etiological agent of Chagas disease. T. cruzi trypomastigotes, the infectious life cycle stage, can be detected in blood of infected individuals using PCR-based methods. However, soon after a natural infection, or during the chronic phase of Chagas disease, the number of parasites in blood may be very low and thus difficult to detect by PCR. To facilitate PCR-based detection methods, a parasite concentration approach was explored. A whole cell SELEX strategy was utilized to develop serum stable RNA aptamers that bind to live T. cruzi trypomastigotes. These aptamers bound to the parasite with high affinities (8-25 nM range). The highest affinity aptamer, Apt68, also demonstrated high specificity as it did not interact with the insect stage epimastigotes of T. cruzi nor with other related trypanosomatid parasites, L. donovani and T. brucei, suggesting that the target of Apt68 was expressed only on T. cruzi trypomastigotes. Biotinylated Apt68, immobilized on a solid phase, was able to capture live parasites. These captured parasites were visible microscopically, as large motile aggregates, formed when the aptamer coated paramagnetic beads bound to the surface of the trypomastigotes. Additionally, Apt68 was also able to capture and aggregate trypomastigotes from several isolates of the two major genotypes of the parasite. Using a magnet, these parasite-bead aggregates could be purified from parasite-spiked whole blood samples, even at concentrations as low as 5 parasites in 15 ml of whole blood, as detected by a real-time PCR assay. Our results show that aptamers can be used as pathogen specific ligands to capture and facilitate PCR-based detection of T. cruzi in blood.     

Development and Evaluation of a Pseudovirus-Luciferase Assay for Rapid and Quantitative Detection of Neutralizing Antibodies against Enterovirus 71

The level of neutralizing antibodies (NtAb) induced by vaccine inoculation is an important endpoint to evaluate the efficacy of EV71 vaccine. In order to evaluate the efficacy of EV71 vaccine, here, we reported the development of a novel pseudovirus system expression firefly luciferase (PVLA) for the quantitative measurement of NtAb. We first evaluated and validated the sensitivity and specificity of the PVLA method. A total of 326 serum samples from an epidemiological survey and 144 serum specimens from 3 clinical trials of EV71 vaccines were used, and the level of each specimen''s neutralizing antibodies (NtAb) was measured in parallel using both the conventional CPE-based and PVLA-based assay. Against the standard neutralization assay based on the inhibition of the cytopathic effect (CPE), the sensitivity and specificity of the PVLA method are 98% and 96%, respectively. Then, we tested the potential interference of NtAb against hepatitis A virus, Polio-I, Polio-II, and Polio-III standard antisera (WHO) and goat anti-G10/CA16 serum, the PVLA based assay showed no cross-reactivity with NtAb against other specific sera. Importantly, unlike CPE based method, no live replication-competent EV71 is used during the measurement. Taken together, PVLA is a rapid and specific assay with higher sensitivity and accuracy. It could serve as a valuable tool in assessing the efficacy of EV71 vaccines in clinical trials and disease surveillance in epidemiology studies.