Viruses of Entamoeba histolytica. VII. Novel beaded virus.

A third amoebal virus type was isolated from four different strains of Entamoeba histolytica. The virus was most frequently seen as a linear structure about 235 nm long and consisting of 14 beadlike structures about 19 nm in diameter. A "dimer" of twice the length and consisting of 28 beads was occationally encountered. The virus replicated in the nucleus, forming ordered arrays. Acridine orange staining of viral aggregates in infected nuclei suggested the presence of double-stranded nucleic acid.     

Different Subcellular Localization of Theiler's Murine Encephalomyelitis Virus Leader Proteins of GDVII and DA Strains in BHK-21 Cells

The highly virulent GDVII strain of Theiler''s murine encephalomyelitis virus causes acute and fatal encephalomyelitis, whereas the DA strain causes mild encephalomyelitis followed by a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease with virus persistence. The differences in the amino acid sequences of the leader protein (L) of the DA and GDVII strains are greater than those for any other viral protein. We examined the subcellular distribution of DA L and GDVII L tagged with the FLAG epitope in BHK-21 cells. Wild-type GDVII L was localized predominantly in the cytoplasm, whereas wild-type DA L showed a nucleocytoplasmic distribution. A series of the L mutant experiments demonstrated that the zinc finger domain, acidic domain, and C-terminal region of L were necessary for the nuclear accumulation of DA L. A GDVII L mutant with a deletion of the serine/threonine (S/T)-rich domain showed a nucleocytoplasmic distribution, in contrast to the predominant cytoplasmic distribution of wild-type GDVII L. A chimeric DA/GDVII L, D/G, which encodes the N region of DA L including the zinc finger domain and acidic domain, followed by the GDVII L sequence including the S/T-rich domain, was distributed exclusively throughout the cytoplasm but not in the nucleus, as observed with wild-type GDVII L. Another chimeric L, G/D (which is the converse of the D/G construct), accumulated in the nucleus as well as the cytoplasm, as was observed for wild-type DA L. The findings suggest that the differential distribution of DA L and GDVII L is determined primarily by the S/T-rich domain. The S/T-rich domain may be important for the viral activity through the regulation of the subcellular distribution of L.Theiler''s murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) belongs to the genus Cardiovirus of the family Picornaviridae, and its strains are divided into two subgroups on the basis of their different biological activities. The neurovirulent strains, such as GDVII and FA, produce acute and fatal encephalomyelitis in mice. The persistent strains, such as TO, DA, BeAn, etc., induce mild and nonfatal encephalomyelitis, followed by a chronic demyelinating disease with virus persistence in the spinal cords of mice. This late demyelinating disease is thought to be an excellent experimental model for the human demyelinating disease multiple sclerosis (MS) (5, 17, 20).The TMEV genome is a single-stranded RNA molecule and translated as a long precursor polyprotein to yield 12 viral proteins by autoproteolytic cleavage (23). Two subgroup strains of TMEV have a sequence identity of approximately 95% at the amino acid level. The amino acid sequences of the proteins encoded by the P1, P2, and P3 regions of both strains are highly conserved and show 94, 96, and 98% identity, respectively. The genome has another coding region, designated the leader (L), at the most amino-terminal location of the precursor polyprotein. The L coding region encodes 76 amino acids (aa) and shows a low sequence identity of only 85% to the above-described three regions (16, 19, 22). Therefore, L has the greatest difference in amino acid sequence among any of the viral proteins and may play an important role in subgroup-specific biological activities of TMEV. In this study, we have investigated the subcellular localization of the L proteins of GDVII and DA strains and characterized the functional domains involved in the differential distribution between DA L and GDVII L in BHK-21 cells by a series of deletion mutant and chimeric construct experiments.     

反义寡核苷酸体外抗流感病毒活性

为了获得具有抗流感病毒活性的反义寡核苷酸,针对A型流感病毒基因组3′和5′端保守序列,设计并合成了多条硫代寡核苷酸(ODN)：3′端反义ODN(IV3#)与3′端正义ODN(IV3S);5′端反义ODN(IV4#)与5′端正义ODN(IV4S)以及由5′和3′端正义/反义保守序列组成的复合序列ODN(IV6#和IV7#)。测定了PSODN的体外细胞毒性和在MDCK细胞中对流感病毒复制的影响。结果表明：(1)PSODN浓度高达50μmol/L时对MDCK细胞末表现有毒性作用;(2)与流感病毒基因组5′端互补的ODN IV4#以及由5′和3′端保守序列构成的IV6#ODN和IV7#ODN均具有较高的抗病毒活性;如IV4#ODN浓度为1μmol/L时对流感病毒A/京防/861(H1N1)抑制率近50%,浓度为10μmol/L或更高时抑制率超过70%,且IV4#抑制病毒活性呈现明显的序列和剂量依赖性;(3)IV4#ODN不仅对A型流感病毒H1N1亚型有抑制作用,对H3N2亚型也表现较高的抑制活性;(4)病毒感染复数(MOI)对IV4#ODN抗病毒活性有一定影响,当MOI较低时,IV4#ODN表现的剂量效应关系更加明显。抗流感病毒反义寡核苷核IV4#ODN的发现为进一步研究流感新型药物奠定了实验基础。〖HTH〗关键词〖HTSS〗：流感病毒, 反义寡核苷酸, 体外细胞毒性, 抗病毒活性, 感染复数     

Development of resistance against diketo derivatives of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 by progressive accumulation of integrase mutations

The diketo acid L-708,906 has been reported to be a selective inhibitor of the strand transfer step of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) integration process (D. Hazuda, P. Felock, M. Witmer, A. Wolfe, K. Stillmock, J. A. Grobler, A. Espeseth, L. Gabryelski, W. Schleif, C. Blau, and M. D. Miller, Science 287:646-650, 2000). We have now studied the development of antiviral resistance to L-708,906 by growing HIV-1 strains in the presence of increasing concentrations of the compound. The mutations T66I, L74M, and S230R emerged successively in the integrase gene. The virus with three mutations (T66I L74M S230R) was 10-fold less susceptible to L-708,906, while displaying the sensitivity of the wild-type virus to inhibitors of the RT or PRO or viral entry process. Chimeric HIV-1 strains containing the mutant integrase genes displayed the same resistance profile as the in vitro-selected strains, corroborating the impact of the reported mutations on the resistance phenotype. Phenotypic cross-resistance to S-1360, a diketo analogue in clinical trials, was observed for all strains. Interestingly, the diketo acid-resistant strain remained fully sensitive to V-165, a novel integrase inhibitor (C. Pannecouque, W. Pluymers, B. Van Maele, V. Tetz, P. Cherepanov, E. De Clercq, M. Witvrouw, and Z. Debyser, Curr. Biol. 12:1169-1177, 2002). Antiviral resistance was also studied at the level of recombinant integrase. Single mutations did not appear to impair specific enzymatic activity. However, 3' processing and strand transfer activities of the recombinant integrases with two (T66I L74M) and three (T66I L74M S230R) mutations were notably lower than those of the wild-type integrase. Although the virus with three mutations was resistant to inhibition by diketo acids, the sensitivity of the corresponding enzyme to L-708,906 or S-1360 was reduced only two- to threefold. As to the replication kinetics of the selected strains, the replication fitness for all strains was lower than that of the wild-type HIV-1 strain.     

In vitro selection of novel RNA ligands that bind human cytomegalovirus and block viral infection

Ribonuclease-resistant RNA molecules that bind to infectious human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) were isolated in vitro from a pool of randomized sequences after 16 cycles of selection and amplification. The two ligands (L13 and L19) characterized exhibited high HCMV-binding affinity in vitro and effectively inhibited viral infection in tissue culture. Their antiviral activity was also specific as they only reacted with two different strains of HCMV but not with the related herpes simplex virus 1 and human cells. These two ligands appeared to function as antivirals by blocking viral entry. Ultraviolet (UV) crosslinking studies suggested that L13 and L19 bind to HCMV essential glycoproteins B and H, respectively. Thus, RNA ligands that bind to different surface antigens of HCMV can be simultaneously isolated by the selection procedure. Our study demonstrates the feasibility of using these RNA ligands as a research tool to identify viral proteins required for infectivity and as an antiviral agent to block viral infection.     

人H5N1亚型禽流感病毒安徽株NS1基因的克隆及在原核系统的表达

利用RT-PCR方法,从人H5N1亚型禽流感病毒安徽株扩增到了NS1基因,对其进行了克隆、序列测定和分析,并在原核系统高效表达和纯化了NS1蛋白。进化分析表明,A/Anhui/01/2005毒株与近些年国内分离的水禽H5N1病毒进化关系更为接近。NS1与福建、湖南分离的禽流感病毒同源性最高,分别达到99.1%和98.2%。序列分析表明,与病毒的致病性相关的92位氨基酸为Asp,与病毒的细胞因子抗性相关的80~84位氨基酸发生缺失,与断裂/多聚腺苷酸化特异性因子结合的基序改变为GFEWN,和病毒致死性相关的PL基序为ESEV。随后在大肠杆菌高效表达并纯化了NS1蛋白。NS1基因及其编码产物的特性分析以及在原核系统的表达,为进一步研究NS1的致病机制和抗病毒药物研制奠定了基础。     

Lipid and lipopolysaccharide composition of Acholeplasma oculi.

The total lipid content of Acholeplasma oculi comprises 13.3% of the dry weight of the organism and is about equally distributed between the neutral lipids plus glycolipids and the phospholipids. The phospholipids were identified as phosphatidyl glycerol and diphosphatidyl glycerol. The glycolipid fraction contained O-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 leads to 1)-2,3-diacyl glycerol and O-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 leads to 2)-O-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 leads to 1)-2,3-diacyl glycerol. The neutral lipid contained pigmented carotenoids. Hot aqueous phenol extraction of lipid-extracted whole cells yielded a polymeric carbohydrate comprising 2.3% of the dry weight of the organism. The A. oculi lipopolysaccharide was found to contain only neutral sugars and no amino sugar, in contrast to other acholeplasmas. The neutral sugars consisted of fucose, galactose, and glucose in a ratio of 2:19:3.     

Vaccinia Virus A19 Protein Participates in the Transformation of Spherical Immature Particles to Barrel-Shaped Infectious Virions

The A19L open reading frame of vaccinia virus encodes a 9-kDa protein that is conserved in all sequenced chordopoxviruses, yet until now it has not been specifically characterized in any species. We appended an epitope tag after the start codon of the A19L open reading frame without compromising infectivity. The protein was synthesized after viral DNA replication and was phosphorylated independently of the vaccinia virus F10 kinase. The A19 protein was present in purified virions and was largely resistant to nonionic detergent extraction, suggesting a location within the core. A conditional lethal mutant virus was constructed by placing the A19 open reading frame under the control of the Escherichia coli lac repressor system. A19 synthesis and infectious virus formation were dependent on inducer. In the absence of inducer, virion morphogenesis was interrupted, and spherical dense particles that had greatly reduced amounts of the D13 scaffold accumulated in place of barrel-shaped mature virions. The infectivity of purified A19-deficient particles was more than 2 log units less than that of A19-containing virions. Nevertheless, the A19-deficient particles contained DNA, and except for the absence of A19 and decreased core protein processing, they appeared to have a similar protein composition as A19-containing virions. Thus, the A19 protein participates in the maturation of immature vaccinia virus virions to infectious particles.     

L* protein of Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus is required for virus growth in a murine macrophage-like cell line

We sought to confirm the importance of L* protein for growth of Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) in a macrophage-like cell line, J774-1. The protein is out of frame with the polyprotein and synthesized in DA but not GDVII subgroup strains of TMEV. A recombinant virus, DANCL*/GD, which substitutes the DA 5' noncoding and L* coding regions for the corresponding regions of GDVII and synthesizes L* protein, grew with little restriction in J774-1 cells. In contrast, another recombinant virus, DANCL*-1/GD, which has an ACG rather than an AUG as the starting codon of L* protein at nucleotide 1079, resulting in no synthesis of L* protein, did not grow well. No significant difference between the rates of adsorption to J774-1 cells of these viruses was observed. RNase protection assay demonstrated that DANCL*/GD viral RNA significantly increased, whereas only a minimal increase was observed for DANCL*-1/GD. The present study suggests that L* protein is required for virus growth in macrophages.     

3种菊花病毒/类病毒实时荧光定量RT-PCR检测体系的构建与准确性评价

菊花容易受到病毒感染而造成品质下降,目前国内对菊花病毒的检测主要根据外观表现或者定性PCR检测,无法准确判定病毒载量。为构建一种可同时用于检测菊花B病毒(Chrysanthemum virus B,CVB)、番茄不孕病毒(Tomato aspermy virus,TAV)和菊花褪绿斑驳类病毒(Chrysanthemum chloritic mottle viroid,CChMVd)的实时荧光定量RT-PCR检测方法,本研究分别以保守区域作为靶标设计相应的引物探针,通过优化扩增体系中CVB、TAV、CChMVd 3种病毒/类病毒探针浓度、引物浓度、Mg²⁺浓度、dNTPs浓度,摸索扩增程序中反转录时间、退火温度和扩增循环数,构建了一种可同时用于CVB、TAV、CChMVd的3重实时荧光定量RT-PCR检测体系,优化后的扩扩增体系中CVB、TAV和CChMVd的探针浓度分别为100 nmol/L、120 nmol/L和80 nmol/L,引物浓度分别为200 nmol/L、240 nmol/L和160 nmol/L,Mg²⁺浓度为3.0 mmol/L;dNTPs浓度200μmol/L;最适反转录时间为25 min,退火温度为60℃,循环数为40。敏感性实验结果表明,该反应体系对3种病毒/类病毒的敏感性为1.0×¹⁰3拷贝/mL,敏感性好;定量线性范围为1.0×¹⁰3拷贝/mL~1.0×¹⁰10拷贝/mL,线性范围宽;特异性好,对菊花矮化类病毒、烟草花叶病毒和黄瓜花叶病毒核酸检测结果为阴性;对1.0×¹⁰4拷贝/mL的低浓度参考品平行检测10次,定量结果lg值偏差(CV%)为4.81%,重复性好。在南京农业大学"中国菊花种质资源保存中心"基地随机选择菊花20株进行本研究试剂检测,检出6例CVB病毒株和4例TAV病毒株,其病毒载量为2.5×¹⁰4拷贝/mL~5.5×¹⁰7拷贝/mL,随机选择1株CVB病毒株定量PCR,产物进行TA克隆后经测序与NCBI Blast比对,其与MH678704.1的同源性为100%。因此,本研究建立了一种能同时检测CVB、TAV、CChMVd 3种菊花常见病毒/类病毒的灵敏、快速、可定量的检测方法。     

Comparative Study on Coat Proteins of an Attenuated, a Temperature Sensitive and Their Parent Strains of Tobacco Mosaic Virus

An attenuated strain (L₁₁A) of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) induces no remarkable symptoms on tomato plants (Goto and Nemoto 1971) and has been used to protect tomato against virulent strains of TMV (Oshima 1981), A temperature sensitive strain (Ls1) of TMV was isolated and found to have a malfunction of virus movement from cell to cell (NISHI-GUCHI et al. 1978, 1980). Those two strains are derived from a wild virulent strain (L). Coat proteins of them were compared with one another and with that of Dahlemense (D) strain of TMV, in order to see whether coat protein was associated with their respective characters. The coat proteins of the four strains behaved similar in both SDS-polyacrylamide gel and 8 M urea polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, suggesting that they are similar in molecular weight and charging effect in the gels. There was no significant difference in chromatographic pattern of tryptic peptides among the four strains. Amino acid compositions of tryptic peptides revealed that three strains, L₁₁A, Ls1 and L, were identical to one another and that they differed from D slightly. These results suggest that coat protein is related neither to virus attenuation of L₁₁A nor to the malfunction of Ls1.     

Sensitive enzyme immunoassay for the rapid diagnosis of influenza a virus infections in clinical specimens

Samples of nasopharyngeal secretion (NPS) from 100 infants and small children admitted for acute respiratory disease during the period from January to March 1989 were examined for the presence of influenza A virus. All samples were tested by enzyme immunoassay (EIA), fluorescent antibody (FA) technique and by isolation in cell culture 3–6 h after they were obtained from the patients. Of 24 influenza strains found by isolation, 21 were detected by EIA and 19 were FA⁺. In comparison with virus isolation, EIA gave the following values: sensitivity 88 %, specificity 100 %, positive prognostic value (PPV) 100 %, and negative prognostic value (NPV) 96 %. A rabbit anti-influenza-A serum (A-13) was used as catching antibody and a monoclonal anti-influenza-A pool against NP protein was used as detector antibody in EIA. A-13 gave bands corresponding to influenza A core proteins (NP and M1) in Western blot (WB) studies when different H3N2 strains were employed as antigens. A-13 gave only a band corresponding to the NP protein when H1N1 strains were examined by WB. The detection level by EIA for both H3N2 and H1N1 strains precipitated by polyethylene glycol from tissue culture maintenance medium was 1–2 ng.     

Interaction of mycoplasma virus type 2 with cellular components of Acholeplasma laidlawii strain JA1.

Mycoplasma virus type 2 was shown to adsorb specifically to intact cells, membranes, and lipoglycan of Acholeplasma laidlawii strain JA1 but not to these components of Acholeplasma oculi. The oligosaccharide chain of the lipoglycan defined the specificity of the receptor site since deacylation not only did not reduce adsorption but increased it threefold. Actual adsorption of virus to lipoglycan was demonstrated by sucrose density gradient separation of the virus-lipoglycan complex. A strain of A. laidlawii, JA1r, resistant to infection with mycoplasma virus type 2, was incapable of adsorbing the virus and was devoid of lipoglycan.     

Mycoplasmatales virus,MV-M1: Discovery inAcholeplasma modicum and preliminary characterization

A new virus, Mycoplasmatales virus-modicum 1 (MV-M1), was recovered from spontaneous plaques in lawns ofAcholeplasma modicum. Strain “mod” produced plaques onA. modicum strains but not on strains ofAcholeplasma laidlawii. Only MV-L3 of the three knownA. laidlawii viruses (MV-L1, MV-L2, and MV-L3) produced plaques onA. modicum. The MV-M1 virus was serologically distinct from the threeA. laidlawii viruses; filterable at 0.1 μm; partially sensitive to heat and Nonidet P-40; and chloroform labile. Spherical particles ranging from 105 to 160 nm were observed in electron micrographs of negatively stained preparations.     

Virus-like particle capsid proteins encoded by different L double-stranded RNAs of Saccharomyces cerevisiae: their roles in maintenance of M double-stranded killer plasmids.

The plasmid determinants of killer phenotypes in type K1 and K2 killer yeast cells are the 1.9-kilobase (kb) M1 and 1.7-kb M2 double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs), respectively. These are dependent for their maintenance and encapsidation, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae virus ScV-M1 or ScV-M2 virus-like particles, on the capsid provided by one of a group of moderately related 4.7-kb dsRNAs called LA. The L1A and L2A dsRNAs found in naturally isolated K1 and K2 killers encode 88-kilodalton VL1A-P1 and 86-kilodalton VL2A-P1 capsids, respectively. These are competent for encapsidating homologous LA dsRNAs as well as M dsRNAs. Most strains of S. cerevisiae, including killers, contain one of a second group of closely related 4.7-kb dsRNAs called LBC. These encode their own 82-kilodalton capsid protein, VLBC-P1, which, at least in strains containing only LBC, encapsidates homologous dsRNA in ScV-LBC virus-like particles. In a K1 killer strain containing both L1A and LBC, ScV-M1 particles contain only VL1A-P1. In such strains it is probable that each virus-like particle contains a single capsid type and that each L dsRNA is encapsidated by a homologous capsid.     

Reversion from erythromycin dependence in Escherichia coli: strains altered in ribosomal sub-unit association and ribosome assembly

A mutant of Escherichia coli dependent on erythromycin for growth spontaneously gives erythromycin-independent strains with altered or missing ribosomal proteins. strains with defects in ribosome assembly were sought and obtained from among these revertants. Two organisms in which ribosomal protein L19 is altered and absent respectively have 70S ribosomes whose dissociation into sub-units is particularly sensitive to pressures generated during centrifuging. The mutant that lacks protein L19 also accumulates ribosome precursor particles during exponential growth as do others including mutants that lack proteins S20 or L1. These strains also show unbalanced synthesis of RNA and so will be useful in investigating both the pathways and the regulation of ribosome assembly.     

Cytotoxic T cell recognition of the influenza nucleoprotein and hemagglutinin expressed in transfected mouse L cells

L cells expressing either the A/NT/60/68 nucleoprotein or the A/PR/8/34 (H1) hemagglutinin by DNA mediated gene transfer were used to investigate recognition by influenza A specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). A subpopulation of CTL that recognized the H1 hemagglutinin was detected in mice primed with either A/PR/8/34 (H1N1) or A/JAP/305/57 (H2N2) influenza viruses. However, neither CTL from mice primed with A/NT/60/68 (H3N2) nor the recombinant virus X31 (H3N2) showed any activity on L cells expressing H1. These results showed that the majority of fully crossreactive CTL do not recognize the hemagglutinin molecule. A comparison between nucleoprotein and hemagglutinin transfected L cells reveals the nucleoprotein as the major target for CTL that are crossreactive on the three pandemic strains of human influenza A virus.     

Induction and biological properties of defective interfering particles of rabies virus.

A method for obtaining large quantities of defective interfering (DI) rabies virus particles that fulfill all the criteria delineated by Huang and Baltimore (1970) is described. The purified rabies DI virion was found to be much shorter (60 to 80 nm) than the complete virion (180 nm) and to have a viral genome of about half the size of normal rabies RNA but with all of the structural proteins of standard virions. Rabies DI virions were noninfectious for both cells in culture and for animals. As determined by in vitro and in vivo techniques, interference with the replication of standard virus was specific to rabies virus. The possible role of rabies DI virion in the pathogenicity of rabies virus infection and in the establishment of attenuated strains for use as live rabies vaccines is discussed.     

Non-AUG-initiated internal translation of the L* protein of Theiler's virus and importance of this protein for viral persistence

Theiler's virus is a neurotropic murine picornavirus which, depending on the strain, causes either acute encephalitis or persistent demyelinating disease. Persistent strains of Theiler's virus (such as DA) produce an 18-kDa protein called L* from an open reading frame overlapping that encoding the viral polyprotein. Neurovirulent strains (such as GDVII) are thought not to produce the L* protein, as the alternative open reading frame of these strains starts with an ACG codon instead of an AUG codon. However, we observed that both persistent and neurovirulent strain derivatives can produce two forms of the L* protein through unusual type II internal ribosome entry site-mediated translation. A full-length 18-kDa protein can be expressed from an ACG or an AUG initiation codon, whereas an N-terminally truncated 15-kDa product can be translated from a downstream AUG initiation codon. The expression of the 18-kDa form is required for efficient persistence of DA virus derivatives in the central nervous system.