Reverse genetics of negative-stranded RNA viruses: a global perspective

The advent of reverse genetics technology has revolutionized the field of RNA viruses. It is now possible to manipulate even negative-stranded RNA viruses at will, and evaluate the effects of these changes on the biology and pathogenesis of these viruses. The fundamental insights gleaned from the reverse genetics-based studies over the last several years have provided a new momentum for the development of designed therapies for the control and prevention of these viral pathogens. The recombinant viruses have been exploited also as vectors for devising targeted therapies for non-viral diseases such as malignancies, and in gene therapy for inherited disorders. This review provides a brief summary of the stumbling blocks and the successes in the development of the technology for the negative-stranded RNA viruses. The many and varied applications of the recombinant vectors are also outlined.     

Reverse genetics system for human rotaviruses

A reverse genetics technology is an incredibly useful technique both for a proper understanding of different aspects of virus biology and for the generation of complementary DNA (cDNA)-derived infectious viruses, which can act as safe and effective vaccines and viral vectors. Rotaviruses (RVAs), especially human RVAs (HuRVAs), had been very refractory to this technology until very recently. Here, we describe the historical background of the development of a long-awaited HuRVA reverse genetics system, culminating in the generation of replicative HuRVAs entirely from cloned cDNAs.     

一株中华绒螯蟹呼肠孤病毒RNA1 cDNA文库构建及其RNA聚合酶基因部分序列分析

在中华绒螯蟹体内分离一株呼肠孤病毒（命名为EsRV905株）,采用Trizol试剂提取病毒核酸,经聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳,碎胶法回收基因组各节段。随机引物法合成第一节段的cDNA文库,胶回收试剂盒去除小片段,平端连接于载体,化学转化,利用蓝白斑筛选阳性克隆子,酶切鉴定重组质粒。从基因组第一节段的重组质粒中选择2个插入片段为1.5kb的质粒测序,结果得到包括RNA聚合酶主要特征性结构的一段序列。结果说明,这株蟹呼肠孤病毒的RNA聚合酶定位于基因组第一节段。     

用反向遗传操作技术产生致弱的H5亚型重组流感病毒

选择一株鹅源H5N1亚型禽流感病毒 (AIV) ,缺失其HA基因裂解序列的 4个碱性氨基酸、使HA裂解模式由高致病性的PQRERRRKKR↓GL突变为低致病性的PQRESR↓GL ,将修饰的HA基因克隆入转录 表达载体pHW2 0 0 0、构建质粒pHW5 2 4_HA ,将该毒株和H9N2亚型毒株的NA全基因分别克隆入pHW2 0 0 0 ,构建质粒pHW5 0 6_NA和pHW2 0 6_NA。将pHW5 2 4_HA与pHW5 0 6_NA或pHW2 0 6_NA组合、均用A WSN 33(H1N1)提供 6个内部基因 ,两个组合的 8个质粒分别共转染COS_1细胞 ,产生了H5N1和H5N2两个亚型的基因重排病毒。通过在鸡胚中的连续传代和适应 ,2个重组病毒血凝价上升到 1∶2 9、表面基因稳定、对 6周龄SPF鸡不表现致病性 ,H5N2重组病毒对鸡胚的毒力低于H5N1病毒。这种尝试证明反向遗传操作技术是研究AIV致病性和构建疫苗候选株的有用工具     

草鱼呼肠孤病毒RNA聚合酶基因的表达与产物纯化

草鱼呼肠孤病毒是引起草鱼出血病的主要病原,隶属于呼肠孤病毒科水生呼肠孤病毒属。序列分析表明,GCRVS2片段长为3877核苷酸,编码一个分子量为138kDa的蛋白VP2,具有RNA聚合酶性质。为进一步了解该病毒RNA聚合酶特性,本研究在对GCRV RNA聚合酶基因(GCRV—RdRp)保守区(约1．5kb)重组质粒pR／RRp高效表达的基础上,分别构建了编码GCRV RNA聚合酶保守区N端与C端部分基因的pR／RRpN及pR／RRpC重组表达载体,并在原核细胞中获得成功表达。筛选的重组表达菌株经IPTG诱导培养,得到分子量分别为98kDa、103kDa的目的表达融合蛋白。Western blot分析表明,该表达产物与兔抗GCRV—VP2血清呈阳性反应。通过ProBond柱亲和层析,纯化了融合有6个组氨酸的重组表达产物,并获得约90％纯的目的蛋白。上述结果为GCRV RNA聚合酶特性分析提供了依据。     

用表达T7RNA聚合酶细胞系拯救麻疹病毒微复制子

构建稳定表达T7RNA聚合酶的细胞系,用于提高拯救麻疹病毒微复制子效率.PCR扩增T7RNA聚合酶基因,克隆到真核表达载体,转染Vero细胞,用G418筛选到稳定表达的细胞株Vero/pcDNA3-T7.用Westernblotting证明了T7RNA聚合酶在细胞中的表达.将T7启动子控制绿色荧光蛋白表达的质粒转染该细胞后,绿色荧光蛋白在细胞株中得到表达.反向插入报告基因的微复制子转染感染麻疹病毒的Vero/pcDNA3-T7细胞后,细胞中能够检测到报告基因的表达.用细胞系取代痘苗病毒系统,可以提高拯救效率.     

One step engineering of T7-expression strains for protein production: increasing the host-range of the T7-expression system

The T7-expression system has been very useful for protein expression in Escherichia coli. However, it is often desirable to over-express proteins in species other than E. coli. Here, we constructed an inducible broad-host-range T7-expression transposon, which allows simple one-step construction of T7-expression strains in various species, providing the option to over-express proteins of interest in a broader host-range. This transposon contains the T7 RNA polymerase driven by the lacUV5 promoter, which is repressed by the lac-repressor. Leaky expression is prevented by the presence of T7-lysozyme on this construct. The complete T7-expression system is flanked by mariner transposon repeats of the suicidal R6Kgammaori plasmid, pBT20-Deltabla. Stable integration of the whole system is possible by a one-step selection for a Flp-excisable Gm(R)-marker. We showed the engineering of E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Erwinia carotovora, Salmonella choleraesuis, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, and Chromobacterium violaceum strains with this construct and demonstrated the expression of the Burkholderia pseudomallei Asd protein in these hosts, by induction with isopropyl-beta-d-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG).     

构建基于杆状病毒的BV-T7杂合表达体系及利用其在哺乳动物和禽类细胞中表达eGFP基因

【目的】研究重组杆状病毒BV-T7杂合表达体系能否有效转导禽类细胞并在禽类细胞中表达外源基因(eGFP),从而构建能在禽类细胞中高效稳定表达外源基因的重组杆状病毒表达系统。【方法】本研究利用Bac-to-Bac杆状病毒表达系统,结合T7表达系统,通过对eGFP表达水平的调控来把握噬菌体T7 RNA聚合酶(T7 RNAP)的功能。利用两支重组杆状病毒,pFastBac-CMV-T7 RNAP重组杆状病毒为哺乳动物细胞启动子CMV调控的噬菌体T7 RNA聚合酶的cDNA;pFB-T7pro-IRES-GFP-T7ter重组杆状病毒为T7启动子控制的eGFP报告基因。将两支重组杆状病毒共同侵染哺乳动物OL(oligodendrocyte)细胞、鸡胚成纤维细胞和鸡胚骨骼肌细胞。【结果】两支重组杆状病毒利用T7启动子和T7 RNAP,在OL细胞、鸡胚成纤维细胞和鸡胚骨骼肌细胞中成功表达eGFP报告基因,而且未引起细胞病变,但在鸡胚原代细胞中eGFP的表达相对弱于在OL细胞中的表达。在OL细胞中重组杆状病毒对细胞的转导效率为59.5%,在鸡胚成纤维细胞和鸡胚骨骼肌细胞中转导效率分别为23.2%和33.1%。【结论】本研究构建的基于杆状病毒、T7RNA聚合酶、T7启动子(BV-T7)杂合表达体系能够在哺乳类细胞及禽类细胞中表达T7 RNAP,并利用T7RNAP继续高效而稳定地表达外源基因。这为难于体外操作的RNA病毒提供了有效的研究方法,并对新型基因工程疫苗的研制提供了一个高效而稳定的表达载体系统。     

Random mntagenesis of the gene for bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase

Random mutagenesis of the gene for bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase was used to identify functionally essential amino acid residues of the enzyme. A two-plasmid system was developed that permits the straightforward isolation of T7 RNA polymerase mutants that had lost almost all catalytic activity. It was shown that substitutions of Thr and Ala for Pro at the position 563, Ser for Tyr571, Pro for Thr636, Asp for Tyr639 and of Cys for Phe646 resulted in inactivation of the enzyme. It is noteworthy that all these mutations are limited to two short regions that are highly conservative in sequences of monomeric RNA polymerases.     

草鱼呼肠孤病毒RNA聚合酶基因的表达与产物纯化

草鱼呼肠孤病毒是引起草鱼出血病的主要病原,隶属于呼肠孤病毒科水生呼肠孤病毒属.序列分析表明,GCRV S2 片段长为3 877核苷酸,编码一个分子量为138kDa 的蛋白VP2,具有RNA聚合酶性质.为进一步了解该病毒 RNA聚合酶特性,本研究在对GCRV RNA聚合酶基因(GCRV-RdRp)保守区(约1.5kb)重组质粒pR/RRp高效表达的基础上,分别构建了编码GCRV RNA聚合酶保守区N端与C端部分基因的 pR/RRpN及pR/RRpC重组表达载体,并在原核细胞中获得成功表达.筛选的重组表达菌株经IPTG诱导培养,得到分子量分别为98kDa、103kDa的目的表达融合蛋白.Western blot分析表明,该表达产物与兔抗GCRV-VP2血清呈阳性反应.通过ProBond柱亲和层析,纯化了融合有6个组氨酸的重组表达产物,并获得约90%纯的目的蛋白.上述结果为GCRV RNA聚合酶特性分析提供了依据.     

利用重组噬菌体诱导表达的大肠杆菌表达系统

将编码噬菌体T7RNA聚合酶的基因克隆至噬菌体M13mpl8RFDNA中,置于lac启动子的控制之下,得到了可表达T7 RNA聚合酶的重组噬菌体M13HEP。利用该噬菌体感染含T7启动子表达质粒的宿主菌以提供T7RNA聚合酶,可以诱导T7启动子控制下的外源基因的表达。该噬茵体诱导表达系统已成功地表达了多种外源基因,特别是一些表达产物对宿主菌有毒性的基因。同时,通过细菌接合将F',因子从大脑杆菌XL1-blue转至大肠杆菌HMS174,构建了新的大脑杆菌菌株HMSl74F,,使得T7表达质粒构建、表达及单链制备可以在同一菌株中完成,得到了一个完整的T7表达系统。     

T7启动子-11碱基突变对转录影响的研究

T7噬菌体启动子能被T7RNA聚合酶和真核生物RNA聚合酶Ⅱ系统启动转录 ,为研究两个系统转录的关键碱基 ,将合成的T7噬菌体启动子 1 1变异体与报道基因CAT基因连在一起。体内CAT和体外狭缝RNA杂交实验显示 : 1 1碱基是T7RNA聚合酶和真核生物RNA聚合酶Ⅱ系统启动T7启动子的关键碱基之一。