Characterization of monoclonal antibodies against human parvovirus B19

Eleven hybridoma cell lines producing mouse monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against human parvovirus B19 were established. Their specificity was as follows. Approximately 5% of fetal erythroid cells inoculated with B19 reacted with all the mAbs and with anti-B19 positive human serum, but not with negative serum by indirect double immunofluorescence staining. All the mAbs recognized both VP-1 (84 kDa) and VP-2 (58 kDa) capsid proteins of B19 virions propagated in vitro and in vivo by Western blotting, and immunoprecipitated B19 virions.     

Characterization of the early steps of hepatitis C virus infection by using luciferase reporter viruses

The lack of an efficient system to produce hepatitis C virus (HCV) particles has impeded the analysis of the HCV life cycle. Recently, we along with others demonstrated that transfection of Huh7 hepatoma cells with a novel HCV isolate (JFH1) yields infectious viruses. To facilitate studies of HCV replication, we generated JFH1-based bicistronic luciferase reporter virus genomes. We found that RNA replication of the reporter construct was only slightly attenuated and that virus titers produced were only three- to fivefold lower compared to the parental virus, making these reporter viruses an ideal tool for quantitative analyses of HCV infections. To expand the scope of the system, we created two chimeric JFH1 luciferase reporter viruses with structural proteins from the Con1 (genotype 1b) and J6CF (genotype 2a) strains. Using these and the authentic JFH1 reporter viruses, we analyzed the early steps of the HCV life cycle. Our data show that the mode of virus entry is conserved between these isolates and involves CD81 as a key receptor for pH-dependent virus entry. Competition studies and time course experiments suggest that interactions of HCV with cell surface-resident glycosaminoglycans aid in efficient infection of Huh7 cells and that CD81 acts during a postattachment step. The reporter viruses described here should be instrumental for investigating the viral life cycle and for the development of HCV inhibitors.     

人细小病毒B19病毒样颗粒的制备

采用昆虫杆状病毒表达系统,制备人细小病毒B19病毒样颗粒(VLPs)。先通过PCR方法合成细小病毒B19衣壳蛋白基因VP2,将其克隆到pFastBac1质粒,然后转化含杆状病毒穿梭载体Bacmid的E.coliDH10Bac感受态细胞,获得重组杆状病毒表达质粒Bacmid-VP2。在脂质体介导下转染Sf9昆虫细胞,包装重组杆状病毒rBac-VP2。利用rBac-VP2感染Sf9细胞表达B19VP2蛋白,通过间接免疫荧光、Western blotting等方法鉴定目的蛋白表达。采用两次超速离心的方法对表达产物进行纯化,纯化产物在透射电镜下可见直径约22nm的VLPs。本研究成功制备了人细小病毒B19的VLPs,为B19感染血清学检测方法的建立提供了参考。     

Characterization of human mesenchymal stem cell secretome at early steps of adipocyte and osteoblast differentiation

Background  

It is well established that adipose tissue plays a key role in energy storage and release but is also a secretory organ and a source of stem cells. Among different lineages, stem cells are able to differentiate into adipocytes and osteoblasts. As secreted proteins could regulate the balance between both lineages, we aimed at characterizing the secretome of human multipotent adipose-derived stem cell (hMADS) at an early step of commitment to adipocytes and osteoblasts.     

Characterization of mouse parvovirus infection by in situ hybridization.

Infection of young adult BALB/cByJ mice with mouse parvovirus-1, a newly recognized, lymphocytotropic, nonpathogenic parvovirus, was examined by in situ hybridization. Virus appeared to enter through the small intestine and was disseminated to the liver and lymphoid tissues. Strand-specific probes detected virion DNA in a consistently larger number of cells than replicative forms of viral DNA and/or viral mRNA. The number of signal-positive cells in the intestinal mucosa, lymph nodes, spleen, and thymus increased through day 10 after oral inoculation but decreased after seroconversion. Positive cells were still detected, however, in peripheral lymphoid tissues of mice examined at 9 weeks postinoculation. The results underscore the need to assess potential effects of persistent mouse parvovirus-1 infection on immune function in mice.     

Anthrax: early steps of the intracellular stage of infection development

It was shown that spore germination of different Bacillus anthracis strains in macrophage-like cells J774A.1 depended on the genotype of the strains. The virulent B. anthracis strains contain plasmids pXO1 and pX02 responsible for the synthesis of a toxin and a capsule, respectively. The loss of one of the plasmids results in the reduction of strain virulence. It was shown that effective survival of germinating spores in macrophages occurred in the presence of plasmid pXO1 only. The spores of the B. anthracis strains ?Ames and STI-Rif deprived of plasmid pXO1 were least adapted to passing through the intracellular stage. The B. anthracis strains 81/1 and 71/12 (carrying plasmids pXO1 and pXO2 and synthesizing the toxin and capsule) less effectively survived in the cytoplasm of macrophages than the strain STI-1 which has only the plasmid pXO1. It was found that the rate of synthesis of the capsule consisting of polymer gamma-D-glutamic acid depended on the ability of bacterial cells to escape from macrophages. In the B. anthracis strains carrying plasmid pXO2, capsule synthesis by vegetative cells was activated within macrophages that promoted a rapid escape of the vegetative cells from the macrophages. On the contrary, most of capsule-free cells of the vaccine strain STI-1 remained inside macrophages during the whole period of observation. Thus, integrated regulation of two processes, namely synthesis of the toxin components participating in the transition of the germinating cell from phagosome into cytoplasm, and synthesis of the capsule whose presence promotes rapid escape of bacterial cells from macrophages by presently unknown mechanism play the key role in anthrax development at early stages.     

Embryonic malformations in a case of intrauterine parvovirus B19 infection

An incomplete embryo of 9 weeks development from a woman infected by human parvovirus B19 during early pregnancy was histologically examined. B19-DNA was detected in both embryonic and placental tissue by dot-blot hybridization. Focal vascular endothelial damage was found throughout the entire embryo and placenta together with mononuclear infiltrations around the vessels. In the placenta these mononuclear cells belonged for the greater part to the cytotoxic and/or suppressor T-cell group. One eye showed lens abnormalities and retinal folds. The other eye was microphthalmic and aphakic and showed dysplasia of the sclera, anterior segment, and retina. The skeletal muscle cells displayed a general eosinophilic degeneration. Focally, similar changes were found in heart muscle and smooth muscle tissue. In several tissues pathologic effects at a cellular level were noted, as intranuclear vacuole-like inclusions and nuclear ballooning. On the basis of this study it is concluded that human parvovirus B19 may affect several fetal tissues and may even have teratological effects on a developing human embryo.     

Hydrops fetalis caused by intrauterine human parvovirus infection

During a large outbreak of erythema infectiosum in 1987 in Toyama prefecture, Japan, a 32-year-old woman acquired a mild rash on her arms and legs at 18 weeks of gestation. At 26 weeks and 4 days of gestation, the fetus died by hydrops fetalis and pregnancy was terminated. Histological studies of the fetus revealed degeneration of erythroblastic cells in the liver and bone marrow. Extensive extramedullary hematopoiesis and hemosiderin deposits were observed in the liver. Antibody response to human parvovirus B19 virus was demonstrated in maternal sera by ELISA. Furthermore, dot hybridization with the molecularly cloned DNA probe revealed the presence of human parvovirus DNA sequence in the fetal liver, spleen, lung, kidney and placenta. This report describes the first case in Japan of hydrops fetalis caused by human parvovirus B19 infection.     

Protocadherin-19 is essential for early steps in brain morphogenesis

One of the earliest stages of brain morphogenesis is the establishment of the neural tube during neurulation. While some of the cellular mechanisms responsible for neurulation have been described in a number of vertebrate species, the underlying molecular processes are not fully understood. We have identified the zebrafish homolog of protocadherin-19, a member of the cadherin superfamily, which is expressed in the anterior neural plate and is required for brain morphogenesis. Interference with Protocadherin-19 function with antisense morpholino oligonucleotides leads to a severe disruption in early brain morphogenesis. Despite these pronounced effects on neurulation, axial patterning of the neural tube appears normal, as assessed by in situ hybridization for otx2, pax2.1 and krox20. Characterization of embryos early in development by in vivo 2-photon timelapse microscopy reveals that the observed disruption of morphogenesis results from an arrest of cell convergence in the anterior neural plate. These results provide the first functional data for protocadherin-19, demonstrating an essential role in early brain development.     

Human parvovirus (HPV/B19) infection with purpura

A 33-year-old man complained of purpura (petechial hemorrhage) in chelidons, poples, axillae, and bilateral chest in addition to other symptoms such as lumbago, arthralgia, muscular pain, and fever. On the next day of the onset, human parvovirus (HPV/B19) antigen and HPV/B19 DNA were detected in his serum, and twelve days later IgM antibody to HPV/B19 became detectable. This case supports the relationship between purpura and HPV/B19 infection.     

Strategies for antiviral screening targeting early steps of virus infection

Viral infection begins with the entry of the virus into the host target cell and initiates replication.For this reason,the virus entry machinery is an excellent target for antiviral therapeutics.In general,a virus life cycle includes several major steps: cell-surface attachment,entry,replication,assembly,and egress,while some viruses involve another stage called latency.The early steps of the virus life cycle include virus attachment,receptor binding,and entry.These steps involve the initial interactions between a virus and the host cell and thus are major determinants of the tropism of the virus infection,the nature of the virus replication,and the diseases resulting from the infection.Owing to the pathological importance of these early steps in the progress of viral infectious diseases,the development of inhibitors against these steps has been the focus of the pharmaceutical industry.In this review,Herpes Simplex Virus(HSV),Hepatitis C Virus(HCV),and Human Enterovirus 71(EV71)were used as representatives of enveloped DNA,enveloped RNA,and non-enveloped viruses,respectively.The current mechanistic understanding of their attachment and entry,and the strategies for antagonist screenings are summarized herein.     

Characterization of early steps in the poliovirus infection process: receptor-decorated liposomes induce conversion of the virus to membrane-anchored entry-intermediate particles

The mechanism by which poliovirus infects the cell has been characterized by a combination of biochemical and structural studies, leading to a working model for cell entry. Upon receptor binding at physiological temperature, native virus (160S) undergoes a conformational change to a 135S particle from which VP4 and the N terminus of VP1 are externalized. These components interact with the membrane and are proposed to form a membrane pore. An additional conformational change in the particle is accompanied by release of the infectious viral RNA genome from the particle and its delivery, presumably through the membrane pore into the cytoplasm, leaving behind an empty 80S particle. In this report, we describe the generation of a receptor-decorated liposome system, comprising nickel-chelating nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) liposomes and His-tagged poliovirus receptor, and its use in characterizing the early events in poliovirus infection. Receptor-decorated liposomes were able to capture virus and induce a temperature-dependent virus conversion to the 135S particle. Upon conversion, 135S particles became tethered to the liposome independently of receptor by a membrane interaction with the N terminus of VP1. Converted particles had lost VP4, which partitioned with the membrane. The development of a simple model membrane system provides a novel tool for studying poliovirus entry. The liposome system bridges the gap between previous studies using either soluble receptor or whole cells and offers a flexible template which can be extrapolated to electron microscopy experiments that analyze the structural biology of nonenveloped virus entry.     

人细小病毒B19分子生物学研究进展

人细小病毒B19 (Human parvovirus B19,简称B19病毒),是目前为止已知能够感染并引起人类疾病的两种细小病毒科成员之一。B19病毒作为一种重要病原,能够引起如儿童传染性红斑、急性再障危象、胎儿水肿甚至死胎等疾病。文中从B19病毒基因型、病毒受体、基因组结构特点与复制、病毒转录与转录后调控、病毒非结构和结构蛋白特点与功能以及病毒诊断及抗病毒药物研究策略6个方面来综述B19病毒的最新研究进展,以期为B19病毒致病机制的深入研究与治疗诊断策略的制定提供参考。