衣壳蛋白靶向灭活策略应用于抗登革病毒感染的研究

衣壳蛋白靶向病毒灭活是近年来新兴的抗病毒策略。为探索该策略在抗登革病毒感染中的应用 ,首先建立了稳定表达登革 2型病毒衣壳蛋白 (D2C)与葡萄球菌核酸酶 (SN)融合蛋白D2C_SN的哺乳动物细胞系 ,然后以登革病毒攻击上述细胞系 ,研究表达的融合蛋白D2C_SN对产生的子代病毒颗粒感染性的影响。结果表明融合蛋白D2C_SN能够在病毒装配过程中与野生型衣壳蛋白共组装入子代病毒颗粒内部 ,并导致病毒基因组的降解。与正常BHK细胞相比较 ,融合蛋白D2C_SN可导致产生的子代病毒感染性滴度降低 10 3～ 10 4 ,显示出很强的抗病毒效果     

衣壳蛋白:抗HIV感染的新靶点

HIV是由病毒衣壳蛋白（capsid protein,CA）形成的一个蛋白质外壳包绕着内部的核蛋白复合体所构成。HIV-1的CA在病毒的组装和成熟中起着至关重要的作用。同时,病毒传染性很大程度上取决于衣壳的结构和稳定性,因此,衣壳蛋白成为潜在的抗HIV药物研究的重要靶点之一。     

SARS冠状病毒中的核衣壳蛋白

严重急性呼吸综合征(SARS)的元凶是一种新冠状病毒,研究病毒结构蛋白的功能有助于了解病毒的感染、复制和包装等生理过程。其中核衣壳蛋白是SARS冠状病毒中含量最丰富和最保守的结构蛋白,自身聚合后包被病毒RNA基因组形成螺旋状核壳体是SARS冠状病毒成熟的关键步骤;核衣壳蛋白能与病毒或宿主细胞中多种蛋白质相互作用,还能影响宿主细胞的多个通路。因此核衣壳蛋白是一个重要的多功能蛋白质,参与了病毒感染、复制和病毒包装等过程。     

杆状病毒核衣壳组装相关蛋白研究进展

杆状病毒生命周期中会产生包埋型和芽生型两种病毒粒子,这两种病毒粒子的包膜组成存在明显的差异,但拥有相同的核衣壳结构.杆状病毒核衣壳是由衣壳蛋白和杆状病毒基因组两部分组成,核衣壳的正常组装对两种病毒粒子的形成都是不可或缺的,因此核衣壳的正常组装在病毒的整个感染传播过程中发挥着重要作用.尽管越来越多参与核衣壳组装的蛋白被鉴定出来,目前还有许多核衣壳组装细节不明了,例如这些衣壳蛋白之间的互作关系是怎样的,宿主通过何种方式参与到病毒核衣壳组装过程等.本文主要以杆状病毒模式物种苜蓿银纹夜蛾核型多角体病毒(Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus,AcMNPV)为例综述了参与杆状病毒核衣壳组装的相关蛋白,并对一些参与核衣壳运输有关的核衣壳蛋白也做了阐述.     

圆环病毒Cap基因及其编码的衣壳蛋白研究进展

圆环病毒负义链上的Cap基因是基因组中变化最大的基因,其编码病毒的衣壳蛋白,具有良好的免疫原性,N端的核定位信号与病毒的定位有关。本文对圆环病毒Cap基因的序列特点、编码衣壳蛋白氨基酸序列的特点、基本功能、在病毒复制、运输中的作用以及与MKRN1蛋白、热激蛋白Hsp40、受体蛋白gC1qR、补体因子C1qB的相互作用进行了总结,旨在阐明衣壳蛋白在病毒吸附、复制以及运输中发挥着重要作用,为今后深入研究提供重要的理论依据。     

登革2型病毒衣壳蛋白在哺乳动物细胞中的表达与鉴定

从构建的重组质粒pLEX—C中高保真PCR获得编码登革2型病毒43株C基／E／（D2C）DNA片段,通过基因重组的方法将其克隆入真核表达载体pcDNA6／V5-His获得了重组真核表达载体pc／D2C。经电穿孔的方法转染BHK21细胞后,分别通过RT—PCR、免疫荧光和western印迹鉴定表达的蛋白。结果重组蛋白在BHK21细胞中获得表达,表达的蛋自主要存在于胞浆中,并具有较好的抗原性,能够被抗登革病毒衣壳蛋白单克隆抗体特异识别。此研究为深入了解登革病毒衣壳蛋白在病毒复制及组装过程中的生物学功能奠定了基础。     

一些抗植物病毒剂对烟草花叶病毒衣壳蛋白体外聚合过程的影响

一些抗植物病毒剂对烟草花叶病毒衣壳蛋白体外聚合过程的影响江山,郭雪柳,韩熹莱（北京农业大学基础科技学院,北京１０００９４）关键词抗植物病毒剂,烟草花叶病毒,病毒衣壳蛋白,体外聚合研究表明,有些植物病毒的核酸对寄主植物的侵染活性只有装配完整的病毒颗粒的...     

蓝藻抗病毒蛋白 N

蓝藻抗病毒蛋白N(cyanovirin-N)是Boyd等1997年在蓝藻中发现的一种抗病毒蛋白,其抗病毒机制是与病毒表面衣壳蛋白上的甘露寡糖结合,阻止病毒与宿主细胞表面的受体结合。由于近年不断发现它对各种严重的RNA逆转录病毒的抗病毒活性而倍受关注。     

人巨细胞病毒病毒体的组装研究新进展

阐明人巨细胞病毒（HCMV）病毒体的组装过程对研究HCMV致病分子机制有重要意义,同时可为抗病毒药物的设计与运用提供新的思路。HCMV组装可概括为两大阶段：初期为入核阶段,主要为核衣壳的组装。在胞质中表达的病毒蛋白形成多种形式的多聚体进入细胞核,在核内相互作用形成衣壳并将病毒DNA装入衣壳中,核衣壳初步形成。第二阶段为出核阶段,主要涉及被膜与包膜的组装。在核中形成的原始核衣壳出核移至胞质,最终在胞质中组装完成,此过程极其复杂,涉及众多蛋白间相互作用及宿主细胞的参与。值得一提的是,组装过程中多种蛋白的变异会导致病毒复制失败。组装完成的病毒体经修饰成熟释放出细胞后,再感染新的宿主细胞。本文对HCMV病毒体组装机制的最新研究作一综述。     

肾综合征出血热病毒核衣壳蛋白在抗感染免疫中的应用

采用区带离心纯化的肾综合征出血热（ＨＲＲＳ）汉滩病毒ＬＲ１株核衣壳蛋白（ＮＰ）分别免疫新西兰白家兔和昆明种小鼠。以ＮＰ免疫家兔后用ＬＲ１株病毒攻击,实验显示,免疫后的家兔可保护１００ＩＤ５０同株病毒的攻击;ＮＰ免疫母鼠所产的乳鼠能抵抗１０＾４－１０＾５ＬＤ５０同株病毒的攻击。以上结果表明：ＨＲＲＳ的病毒ＮＰ组分在抗感染免疫中起重要作用。     

Therapeutic Effect of a Gag-Nuclease Fusion Protein against Retroviral Infection In Vivo

Recently, remarkable progress has been made in developing effective combination drug therapies that can control but not cure retroviral replication. Even when effective, these drug regimens are toxic, they require demanding administration schedules, and resistant viruses can emerge. Thus the need for new gene-based therapies continues. In one such approach, capsid-targeted viral inactivation (CTVI), nucleases fused to viral coat proteins are expressed in infected cells and become incorporated during virion assembly. CTVI can eliminate infectious murine retrovirus titer in tissue culture. Here we describe transgenic mice expressing fusions of the Moloney murine leukemia virus (Mo-MuLV) Gag protein to staphylococcal nuclease. This work tests the protective effect and demonstrates in vivo proof-of-principle of CTVI in transgenic mice expressing endogenous proviral copies of Mo-MuLV. The antiviral protein-expressing mice are phenotypically normal, attesting to the lack of toxicity of the fusion protein. The Mo-MuLV infection was much less virulent in transgenic littermates than in nontransgenic littermates. Gag-nuclease expression reduced infectious titers in blood up to 10-fold, decreased splenomegaly and leukemic infiltration, and increased life spans up to 2.5-fold in transgenic relative to nontransgenic infected animals. These results suggest that gene therapies based on similar fusion proteins, designed to attack human immunodeficiency virus or other retroviruses, could provide substantial therapeutic benefits.     

Expression of a murine leukemia virus Gag-Escherichia coli RNase HI fusion polyprotein significantly inhibits virus spread.

The antiviral strategy of capsid-targeted viral inactivation (CTVI) was designed to disable newly produced virions by fusing a Gag or Gag-Pol polyprotein to a degradative enzyme (e.g., a nuclease or protease) that would cause the degradative enzyme to be inserted into virions during assembly. Several new experimental approaches have been developed that increase the antiviral effect of the CTVI strategy on retroviral replication in vitro. A Moloney murine leukemia virus (Mo-MLV) Gag-Escherichia coli RNase HI fusion has a strong antiviral effect when used prophylactically, inhibiting the spread of Mo-MLV and reducing virus titers 1,500- to 2,500-fold. A significant (approximately 100-fold) overall improvement of the CTVI prophylactic antiviral effect was produced by a modification in the culture conditions which presumably increases the efficiency of delivery and expression of the Mo-MLV Gag fusion polyproteins. The therapeutic effect of Mo-MLV Gag-RNase HI polyproteins is to reduce the production of infectious Mo-MLV up to 18-fold. An Mo-MLV Gag-degradative enzyme fusion junction was designed that can be cleaved by the Mo-MLV protease to release the degradative enzyme.     

Development of cell lines stably expressing staphylococcal nuclease fused to dengue 2 virus capsid protein for CTVI

Dengue virus (DV) is one of the most significanthuman viral pathogens transmitted by arthropod vectorsand now present in over 100 countries. Half of the world’spopulation live in areas at risk of dengue virus infection[1]. The infection of DV causes a spectrum of diseasesranging from a debilitating, self-limited illness (denguefever), and life-threaten syndromes (dengue haemorrhagicfever/dengue shock syndrome). Annually, the fourserotypes of DV collectively cause 50–100 million casesof inf…     

Cellular gene transfer mediated by influenza virosomes with encapsulated plasmid DNA

Reconstituted influenza virosomes (virus membrane envelopes) have been used previously to deliver pDNA (plasmid DNA) bound to their external surface to a variety of target cells. Although high transfection efficiencies can be obtained with these complexes in vitro, the virosome-associated DNA is readily accessible to nucleases and could therefore be prone to rapid degradation under in vivo conditions. In the present study, we show a new method for the production of DNA-virosomes resulting in complete protection of the DNA from nucleases. This method relies on the use of the short-chain phospholipid DCPC (dicaproylphosphatidylcholine) for solubilization of the viral membrane. The solubilized viral membrane components are mixed with pDNA and cationic lipid. Reconstitution of the viral envelopes and simultaneous encapsulation of pDNA is achieved by removal of the DCPC from the mixture through dialysis. Analysis by linear sucrose density-gradient centrifugation revealed that protein, phospholipid and pDNA physically associated to particles, which appeared as vesicles with spike proteins inserted in their membranes when analysed by electron microscopy. The DNA-virosomes retained the membrane fusion properties of the native influenza virus. The virosome-associated pDNA was completely protected from degradation by nucleases, providing evidence for the DNA being highly condensed and encapsulated in the lumen of the virosomes. DNA-virosomes, containing reporter gene constructs, transfected a variety of cell lines, with efficiencies approaching 90%. Transfection was completely dependent on the fusogenic properties of the viral spike protein haemagglutinin. Thus, DNA-virosomes prepared by the new procedure are highly efficient vehicles for DNA delivery, offering the advantage of complete DNA protection, which is especially important for future in vivo applications.     

Predictors of Hepatitis B Cure Using Gene Therapy to Deliver DNA Cleavage Enzymes: A Mathematical Modeling Approach

Most chronic viral infections are managed with small molecule therapies that inhibit replication but are not curative because non-replicating viral forms can persist despite decades of suppressive treatment. There are therefore numerous strategies in development to eradicate all non-replicating viruses from the body. We are currently engineering DNA cleavage enzymes that specifically target hepatitis B virus covalently closed circular DNA (HBV cccDNA), the episomal form of the virus that persists despite potent antiviral therapies. DNA cleavage enzymes, including homing endonucleases or meganucleases, zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), TAL effector nucleases (TALENs), and CRISPR-associated system 9 (Cas9) proteins, can disrupt specific regions of viral DNA. Because DNA repair is error prone, the virus can be neutralized after repeated cleavage events when a target sequence becomes mutated. DNA cleavage enzymes will be delivered as genes within viral vectors that enter hepatocytes. Here we develop mathematical models that describe the delivery and intracellular activity of DNA cleavage enzymes. Model simulations predict that high vector to target cell ratio, limited removal of delivery vectors by humoral immunity, and avid binding between enzyme and its DNA target will promote the highest level of cccDNA disruption. Development of de novo resistance to cleavage enzymes may occur if DNA cleavage and error prone repair does not render the viral episome replication incompetent: our model predicts that concurrent delivery of multiple enzymes which target different vital cccDNA regions, or sequential delivery of different enzymes, are both potentially useful strategies for avoiding multi-enzyme resistance. The underlying dynamics of cccDNA persistence are unlikely to impact the probability of cure provided that antiviral therapy is given concurrently during eradication trials. We conclude by describing experiments that can be used to validate the model, which will in turn provide vital information for dose selection for potential curative trials in animals and ultimately humans.     

Shope fibroma virus. II. Role of the virion-associated nucleases.

The effect of Shope fibroma virus (SFV) infection on host DNA synthesis was investigated. The cytocidal strain, SFV-I, inhibited the incorporation of [3H]thymidine into nuclear DNA very shortly (2 h) after infection, whereas the noncytocidal strain, SFV-W, did so later (10 h postinfection) and to a lesser extent. Furthermore, a two- to threefold stimulation of host DNA synthesis was recorded in SFV-W-infected cells 3 to 4 h after infection. Since virion-associated nucleases have been implicated in the shutoff of host synthesis, these and other enzymatic activities were measured in purified virion preparations. The SFV strains and vaccinia virus contained equivalent amounts of DNA-dependent RNA polymerase, ATPase, and protein kinase activities. However, in SFV-W the pH 4.5 exonuclease activity was lower than in SFV-I and vaccinia virus, and the level of pH 7.8 endonuclease was almost undetectable. To test whether the lack of endonucleolytic activity had some effect on the removal of the cross-links in the parental DNA that occurs after viral penetration, the fate of the virion SFV DNA was followed. The majority (80%) of the SFV-I and SFV-W DNA molecules extracted after viral adsorption sedimented in alkaline sucrose gradients as cross-linked. After 3 h of infection, 75% of the SFV-I DNA molecules lacked cross-links, whereas 78% of the SFV-W DNA still remained cross-linked. The same results were obtained when the presence of cross-links was tested in restriction fragments. Taken together, these results indicate that virion-associated nucleases are involved in the early shutoff of host DNA synthesis and in the elimination of cross-links from the parental viral DNA.     

A removable virus vector suitable for plant genome editing

Plant genome editing is achieved by the expression of sequence‐specific nucleases (SSNs). RNA virus vector‐mediated expression of SSNs is a promising approach for transgene integration‐free targeted mutagenesis in plants. However, the removal of virus vectors from infected plants is challenging because no antiviral drugs are available against plant viruses. Here, we developed a removable RNA virus vector that carries the target site of tobacco microRNA398 (miR398) whose expression is induced during shoot regeneration. In the inoculated leaves in which expression of miR398 is not induced, insertion of the miR398 target site did not affect the practicability of the virus vector. When shoots were regenerated from the infected leaves, miR398 was expressed and viral RNA was eliminated. The virus vector successfully expressed SSNs in inoculated leaves, from which virus‐free genome‐edited plants were regenerated via tissue culture.     

Excision of amplified viral DNA at palindromic sequences from the adenovirus type 12-transformed hamster cell line T637.

In the DNA of the adenovirus type 12 (Ad12)-transformed hamster cell line T637 approximately 20-22 viral DNA molecules per cell are covalently linked to cellular DNA. Spontaneously arising morphological revertants of T637 cells have lost the bulk of the viral DNA. We have been able to mimic the excision event of viral DNA, as it occurs during reversion, by autoincubation of isolated nuclei from T637 cells. The same Ad12 DNA sequences, which had been deleted in morphological revertants, proved highly sensitive to endogenous nucleases in isolated nuclei of T637 cells. Viral DNA sequences, which persisted in the revertants, are resistant to endogenous nucleases in isolated T637 nuclei. All attempts to clone the nuclease-sensitive sites of Ad12 DNA in cell line T637 have so far failed. After denaturation and renaturation of T637 DNA followed by treatment with S1 nuclease, large fold-back structures of DNA have been found. These snap-back structures were derived from precisely those viral DNA restriction fragments which were uncloneable. The fragments containing palindromic sequences were both highly sensitive to endogenous nucleases in isolated T637 nuclei and were absent from the DNA of all revertant cell lines. Moreover, the palindromic sequences are susceptible to the phage T4-specific endonuclease VII which specifically attacks cruciform structures in DNA. The peculiar structures at the termini of integrated Ad12 DNA molecules are highly sensitive to endogenous nucleases in isolated nuclei. These nucleases may be related to the reversion event.