Molecular mechanisms of transcription and replication of the influenza A virus genome

Influenza A virus is one of the major pathogens that pose a large threat to human health worldwide and has caused pandemics.Influenza A virus is the Orthomyxoviridae prototype,and has 8 segmented negat...     

The NB protein of influenza B virus is not necessary for virus replication in vitro

The NB protein of influenza B virus is thought to function as an ion channel and therefore would be expected to have an essential function in viral replication. Because direct evidence for its absolute requirement in the viral life cycle is lacking, we generated NB knockout viruses by reverse genetics and tested their growth properties both in vitro and in vivo. Mutants not expressing NB replicated as efficiently as the wild-type virus in cell culture, whereas in mice they showed restricted growth compared with findings for the wild-type virus. Thus, the NB protein is not essential for influenza B virus replication in cell culture but promotes efficient growth in mice.     

Determination of influenza virus proteins required for genome replication.

An artificial vaccinia virus vector-driven replication system for influenza virus RNA has been developed. In this system, a synthetic NS-like gene is replicated and expressed by influenza virus proteins supplied through infection with vaccinia virus recombinant vectors. The minimum subset of influenza virus proteins needed for specific replication and expression of the viral ribonucleoprotein was found to be the three polymerase proteins (PB1, PB2, and PA) and the nucleoprotein.     

IFIT家族基因抑制A型流感病毒WSN毒株的复制和转录

IFIT(Interferon induced proteins with tetratricopeptide repeats)家族基因是一组较早发现的干扰素刺激基因,它在抗病毒和免疫调节中发挥了重要作用。为研究IFIT家族基因抑制A型流感病毒复制的机理,利用高通量RNA深度测序(RNA-Seq)技术发现A型流感病毒A/WSN/33(WSN)毒株感染293T细胞后,IFIT家族基因均出现明显上调。同时发现在IFIT2、IFIT3过表达后,流感病毒的复制和转录均有明显下调,并对v RNP聚合酶活性具有剂量依赖型的抑制作用。进一步研究证明在感染IFIT2、IFIT3编码蛋白与流感病毒非结构蛋白(NS1)存在细胞内共定位,证明二者存在相互作用的可能。综上所述,IFIT家族基因可以抑制A型流感病毒的复制和转录,有助于进一步阐明宿主因子对流感病毒感染的调节机制。     

In vitro inhibition of human influenza A virus replication by chloroquine

Inhibition of the human cytomegalovirus UL97 kinase by maribavir is thought to be responsible for the antiviral activity of this compound. Some mutations that confer resistance to maribavir map to UL97, however additional mutations that also confer resistance to the drug were mapped to UL27. These open reading frames share a low level of homology, yet the function of pUL27 remains unknown. A recombinant virus with a deletion in the UL27 open reading frame was reported previously to exhibit a slight replication deficit, but a more important function in vivo was hypothesized given its homology to the UL97 kinase. The potential for an important function in vivo was investigated by determining if these knockout viruses could replicate in human tissue implanted in SCID mice. None of the AD169 derived viruses replicated well in the implanted thymus/liver tissue, and is consistent with previous observations, although all of the viruses replicated to some degree in retinal tissue implants. Replication of the parent viruses was observed at 7 days post inoculation, whereas no replication was detected with any of the recombinant viruses with deletions in UL27. By day 14, replication was detected in two of the three knockout viruses and in all of the viruses by day 42. These data are consistent with minimal defects observed in cell culture, but are not consistent with an important role for UL27 in vivo. We conclude that UL27 is not required for viral replication in vivo.     

蛋白激酶抑制剂Flavopiridol对流感病毒复制的体外抑制作用

【目的】在细胞水平上研究黄酮类化合物flavopiridol的抗流感病毒效果,初步探索了其抗流感病毒的机制。【方法】首先用Western blot初步检测了在蛋白激酶抑制剂flavopiridol处理下流感病毒NP和M1蛋白的水平,然后通过免疫荧光实验观察了宿主细胞中流感病毒vRNP的合成,又利用噬斑实验检测了flavopiridol对病毒复制的影响,最后通过检测flavopiridol处理的宿主细胞内RNA聚合酶Ⅱ的磷酸化状态和病毒各种RNA的合成量,探究了flavopiridol抑制流感病毒复制的机理。【结果】结果表明,flavopiridol在细胞水平上可以显著抑制流感病毒蛋白质和vRNP的合成及病毒的复制,同时flavopiridol也可以抑制宿主RNA聚合酶Ⅱ大亚基CTD结构域七肽重复序列中的2位丝氨酸的磷酸化来抑制聚合酶的转录延伸活性,显著地减少病毒vRNA的合成。【结论】Flavopiridol可以通过抑制宿主细胞RNA聚合酶Ⅱ的转录延伸活性有效地抑制流感病毒的复制。     

RNA病毒基因组和转录复制多样性的分子基础

自然界中RNA病毒的种类和数量比DNA病毒多得多,根据基因组类型,RNA病毒可分为多种类型,许多研究者认为,存在于古细菌Myxobacteria中,仅仅有一个逆转录酶基因的反转子（Retron)可能是所有病毒的祖先,进化的模式如下,反转子→反座子→反转录转座子→反转录病毒→副反转录病毒→DNA病毒,RNA病毒转录。／复制在很多特征上与DNA病毒迥然不同,依赖于RNA的RNA聚合酶是RNA病转录／复制的主要催化剂,RNA病毒基因组转录和复制都从3'端poly(A)或类tRNA结构或其他结构起始,内部终止是转录,通读到5'末端终止是复制,RNA病毒的模板有正链病毒（RNA模板,负链病毒RNA模板和全长正负链反基因组RNA模板,RNA模板的选择调控机制非常复杂,目前知之甚少,选择模板,RNA聚合酶与转录因子结合形成复制体是两种主要的调控方法,另外,5'UTR和3'UTR也可以调控RNA病毒的转录。