Innate immune evasion by hepatitis C virus and West Nile virus

Antiviral immunity in mammals involves several levels of surveillance and effector actions by host factors to detect viral pathogens, trigger /β interferon production, and to mediate innate defenses within infected cells. Our studies have focused on understanding how these processes are regulated during infection by hepatitis C virus (HCV) and West Nile virus (WNV). Both viruses are members of the Flaviviridae and are human pathogens, but they each mediate a very different disease and course of infection. Our results demonstrate common and unique innate immune interactions of each virus that govern antiviral immunity and demonstrate the central role of /β interferon immune defenses in controlling the outcome of infection.     

T-cell transformation by Marek's disease virus

Marek's disease virus (MDV) is an avian herpesvirus that causes rapid development of T-cell lymphomas in chickens. The MDV genes currently thought to be involved in lymphomagenesis include a bZIP transactivator that is homologous to fos and jun oncogenes but do not appear to have counterparts in other oncogenic herpesviruses.     

Kinetics of virus inactivation by ammonia

Ammonia has been shown to be virucidal in sludge and NH(4)Cl solutions, although the rates at which viruses are inactivated have not been thoroughly studied. In the present studies, the kinetics of the poliovirus type 1 (strain CHAT) and bacteriophage f2 inactivation were examined in such a way that the effects of OH(-) and NH(4) (+) could be separated from those of NH(3). Purified virus stocks were placed into solutions of NH(4)Cl and control solutions containing an equivalent concentration of NaCl and incubated at 20 degrees C. The percentage of virus surviving was calculated, and the kinetics were evaluated by constructing semilogarithmic plots of data. At all pH values and NH(3) concentrations studied, the kinetics of the inactivation of both viruses were pseudo-first order. OH(-) had no measurable effect on the viruses, whereas the effects of NH(4) (+) and Na(+) were similar. A dose-response relationship between NH(3) and the viruses was also found. Bacteriophage f2 was approximately 4.5 times more resistant to the effects of NH(3) than was poliovirus.     

流感病毒感染介导的免疫病理损伤研究进展

流感病毒感染(如暴发性流行或高致病性禽流感H5N1感染)可以造成广泛的病理损伤及严重的并发症,其肺部病理损伤以肺水肿及广泛的炎性渗出为特点,并伴有大量的中性粒细胞、巨噬细胞、淋巴细胞浸润及促炎因子和趋化因子的产生．组织学及病理学研究表明,过度的宿主应答反应是介导病理损伤的主要原因之一,而这些在流感病毒感染过程中介导组织损伤的免疫分子与细胞,在病毒的有效清除过程中同样至关重要．主要对甲型流感病毒感染过程中免疫系统的多种效应成分如何引发及加重病理性损伤等有害方面加以综述．为深入了解流感病毒感染防御机制及寻找并设计出既无害又能有效地治疗流感病毒感染的策略提供理论指导．     

Characterization of virus produced by a lymphoma induced by inoculation of AKR MCF-247 virus.

We report the characterization of the virus produced by a lymphoid cell line derived from a lymphoma of an AKR mouse after injection of the polytropic AKR virus MCF-247. The virus displays polytropic host range properties and is indistinguishable from MCF-247 as judged by analysis of the large RNase T1-resistant oligonucleotides of the RNA genome. Restriction enzyme analysis of cellular DNA revealed the presence of sequences homologous to MCF-247 genomic RNA. The EcoRI cleavage fragments were characteristic of MCF-247 DNA provirus cleavage products.     

Protection against respiratory syncytial virus by a recombinant Newcastle disease virus vector

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of severe lower respiratory tract disease in infants and the elderly, but no safe and effective RSV vaccine is yet available. For reasons that are not well understood, RSV is only weakly immunogenic, and reinfection occurs throughout life. This has complicated the search for an effective live attenuated viral vaccine, and past trials with inactivated virus preparations have led to enhanced immunopathology following natural infection. We have tested the hypothesis that weak stimulation of innate immunity by RSV correlates with ineffective adaptive responses by asking whether expression of the fusion glycoprotein of RSV by Newcastle disease virus (NDV) would stimulate a more robust immune response to RSV than primary RSV infection. NDV is a potent inducer of both alpha/beta interferon (IFN-alpha/beta) production and dendritic cell maturation, while RSV is not. When a recombinant NDV expressing the RSV fusion glycoprotein was administered to BALB/c mice, they were protected from RSV challenge, and this protection correlated with a robust anti-F CD8+ T-cell response. The effectiveness of this vaccine construct reflects the differential abilities of NDV and RSV to promote dendritic cell maturation and is retained even in the absence of a functional IFN-alpha/beta receptor.