Induction of interferon production in mouse spleen cell cultures by corynebacterium parvum.

Spleen cells of CS7BL/6 mice produced considerable amounts of interferon (IF) in vitro when tested 5 to 20 days after injection of killed Corynebacterium parvum. Interferon was also produced when C. parvum was added in vitro to spleen cell cultures of previously untreated mice. High levels were detected after 1 day of culture with some increment during subsequent days. In a number of experiments IF was also produced in untreated control cultures but only after prolonged cultivation and not after 1 day. The highest levels of IF were usually obtained when spleen cells of C. parvum-treated mice were challenged with additional C. parvum in vitro. The IF induced by C. parvum shared certain physicochemical properties with a tested immune IF and was not neutralized by an antiserum raised against a type I IF. Spleen cells of nu/nu mice and spleen cells treated by anti-θ serum plus complement did not differ from their respective controls, indicating that production of IF did not require mature T lymphocytes. Removal of B lymphocytes by nylon wool columns abolished the capacity of spleen cells to produce IF. When spleen cells were freed of adherent cells by the use of plastic surfaces, they no longer produced IF. Peritoneal exudate macrophages (PEC), which by themselves did not produce IF, in small numbers reconstituted nonadherent spleen cells. Nylon column-treated spleen cells, however, could not be restored by PEC. It is concluded that IF upon challenge with C. parvum is produced by B lymphocytes and requires the help of macrophages.     

Decigram quantities of pure foot-and-mouth disease virus from cell cultures

Baby-hamster kidney (BHK) cell cultures grown in rolling 2-liter Baxter bottles are used for the production of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) which is subsequently purified. The bottles are held securely in round wire racks (19 per rack) and rotated on a three-tiered roller mill. The use of a strongly buffered growth medium makes changes of the medium unnecessary. A sheet of aluminum foil is used to seal the cultures. It is pressed tightly over all the bottles in a rack by means of a polyurethane foam sheeting bonded to the underside of a rigid snap-on cover. Special equipment eliminates removing the bottles from the racks at any stage in their use. The loaded racks fit directly onto headers of a glassware washer. Spent cell growth media and virus fluids are collected by inverting an entire rack of bottles-Current production is 400 BHK cultures (21 racks) containing 8 × 10⁸ cells each after 6 days growth. About 344 of these cultures (18 racks) are used to grow virus. The purification process yields about 113 mg of pure FMDV per week; the overall recovery based on infectivity is 32%. The projected maximum production of purified virus in the present facilities is approximately 2.5 times greater than this amount.     

Typing foot-and-mouth disease virus by fluorescent antibody technique.

Typing of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus was performed by the direct fluorescent antibody (FA) technique. Type-specific FA was prepared from the following two sorts of procedures: (1) FA against live virus (FA-live) was prepared from hyperimmune serum taken from guinea pigs having received live FMD virus. Then it was adsorbed with concentrated heterotype antigen. (2) FA against inactivated virus (FA-Inact) was prepared from antiserum taken from guinea pigs immunized with purified FMD virus inactivated with acetylethyleneimine. Seventeen strains of FMD virus (seven strains of type A, seven strains of type O, and three strains of thpe C) were used. Type-specific FMD virus antigen was detected distinctly from the monolayer of BHK cells infected with each type of virus and fixed in acetone, in spite of negative results obtained from the cells fixed in methyl alcohol. All the 17 strains were typed successfully by the implementation of these two FA methods.     

Inhibition of foot-and-mouth disease virus infections in cell cultures with antisense morpholino oligomers

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious viral disease of cloven-hoofed ungulates that can lead to severe losses in the livestock production and export industries. Although vaccines have been extensively used to control FMD, there is no antiviral therapy available to treat ongoing infections with FMD virus (FMDV). Six peptide-conjugated morpholino oligomers (PPMOs) with sequences complementary to various 21-nucleotide segments of the 5' and 3' untranslated regions (UTRs) of the FMDV genome (strain A(24) Cruzeiro/Brazil/1955 [A(24)Cru]) were evaluated in cell cultures. Three of the PPMOs, targeting domain 5 of the internal ribosome entry site (5D PPMO), and the two translation start codon regions (AUG1 and AUG2 PPMOs), showed high levels of anti-FMDV activity. A dose-dependent and sequence-specific reduction in viral titers of greater than 5 log(10), with a concomitant reduction of viral protein and RNA expression, was achieved at low micromolar concentrations. Under identical conditions, three other PPMOs targeting the 5'-terminal region of the genome, the cis-acting replication element in the 5' UTR, and the 3' "ab" stem-loop showed less dramatic titer reductions of 1.5 log(10) to 2 log(10). Treatment with 5D PPMO reduced the titers of FMDV strains representing five different serotypes by 2 log(10) to 4 log(10) compared to those of the controls. A(24)Cru-infected BHK-21 cells treated repeatedly with 5D or AUG2 PPMO generated resistant viruses for which phenotypic and genotypic properties were defined. Notably, three passages with low concentrations of the AUG1 PPMO extinguished all traces of detectable virus. The results indicate that PPMOs have potential for treating FMDV infections and that they also represent useful tools for studying picornaviral translation and evolution.     

Efficient neutralization of foot-and-mouth disease virus by monovalent antibody binding.

Neutralization of an aphthovirus by monovalent binding of an antibody is reported. Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) clone C-S8c1 was neutralized by monoclonal antibody (MAb) SD6, which was directed to a continuous epitope within a major antigenic site of the G-H loop of capsid protein VP1. On a molar basis, the Fab fragment was at most fivefold less active in neutralization than the intact antibody, and both blocked virus attachment to cells. Neither the antibody nor the Fab fragment caused aggregation of virions, as evidenced by sucrose gradient sedimentation studies of the antibody-virus complex formed at antibody to virion ratios of 1:50 to 1:10,000. The results of neutralization of infectivity and of ultracentrifugation are fully consistent with structural data based on X-ray crystallographic and cryoelectron microscopy studies, which showed monovalent interaction of the antibody with a critical receptor binding motif Arg-Gly-Asp. The conclusions of these neutralization studies are that (i) bivalent binding of antibody is not a requisite for strong neutralization of aphthoviruses and (ii) aggregation of viral particles, which has been proposed to be the dominant neutralization mechanism of antibodies that bind monovalently to virions, is not necessary for the neutralization of FMDV C-S8c1 by MAb SD6.     

Immune and antibody responses to an isolated capsid protein of foot-and-mouth disease virus.

The purified capsid proteins VP1, VP2, and VP3 of foot-and-mouth disease virus type A12 strain 119 emulsified with incomplete Freund's adjuvant were studied in swine and guinea pigs. Swine inoculated on days 0, 28, and 60 with 100-mug doses of VP3 were protected by day 82 against exposure to infected swine. Serums from animals inoculated with VP3 contained viral precipitating and neutralizing antibodies, but such serums recognized fewer viral antigenic determinants than did antiviral serums. Capsid proteins VP1 and VP2 did not produce detectable antiviral antibody in guinea pigs, and antiviral antibody responses in swine to a mixture of VP1, VP2, and VP3 were lower than the responses to VP3 alone. However, when swine were inoculated with VP1, VP2, and VP3 separately at different body sites, no interference with the response to VP3 was observed. Vaccine containing VP3 isolated from acetylethylenimine-treated virus appeared less protective for swine than vaccine containing VP3 from nontreated virus. Trypsinized virus, which contains the cleaved peptides VP3a and VP3b rather than intact VP3, produced approximately the same levels of antiviral antibody responses in guinea pigs as did virus. Conversely, an isolated mixture of VP3a and VP3b did not produce detectable antiviral antibody responses in guinea pigs. The VP3a-VP3b mixture did, however, sensitize guinea pigs to elicit such responses following reinoculation with a marginally effective dose of trypsinized virus.     

In vitro Induction of primary antibody responses to particulate and soluble protein antigens in T cell—replaced murine spleen cell cultures

Specific antibody responses could be induced in serumfree condition.Specific anti-SRBC or anti-SRBC ghost antibody were induced from anti-Thy treated (T-depleted) murine spleen cells in serum-free culture in the presence of Con A conditioned medium.This induction system may facilitate the study of lymphokine functions on antigen triggered B cells. In T cell-replaced cultures,the antibody responses of B cells could be successfully induced when soluble SRBC membrane proteins were used as antigens.It thus indicates that antigen together with lymphokines are sufficient to drive B cells to become antibody secreting cells in the absence of T cells.The T cell-replaced system provides a more stable way for in vitro immunization and may be applied to monoclonal antibody production when in vivo immunization is difficult to be carried out.     

Develope monoclonal antibody against foot-and-mouth disease virus a type

In order to develop an anti-FMDV A Type monoclonal antibo by (mAb),BABL/c mice were immunized with FMDV A type.Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) 7B11 and 8H4 against Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) serotype A were produced by fusing SP2/O myeloma cells with splenocyte from the mouse immunized with A/AV88.The microneutralization titer of the mAbs 7B11 and 8H4 were 1024 and 512,respectively.Both mAbs contain kappa light chains,the mAbs were IgG1.In order to define the mAbs binding epitopes,the reactivity of these mAbs against A Type FMDV,were examined using indirect ELISA,the result showed that both mAbs reacted with A Type FMDV.These mAbs may be used for further vaccine studies,diagnostic methods,prophylaxis,etiological and immunological research on FMDV.Characterization of these ncindicated that prepared anti-FMDV A mAbs had no cross-reactivity with Swine Vesicular Disease (SVD) or FMDV O,Asial and C Type antigens.Their titers in abdomen liquor were 1:5×106 and 1:2×106,respectively.7B11 was found to be of subtype IgG1,8H4 was classified as IgG2b subtype.The mAbs prepared in this study,are specific for detection of FMDV serotype A,and is potentially useful for pen-side diagnosis.     

Induction of antibody responses to influenza virus in human lymphocyte cultures. I. Role of interleukin 2

The in vitro T cell-dependent antibody response of human lymphocytes to influenza virus X31 was used to study the role of T cell-derived lymphokines in antigen-specific responses. Supernatant from cultures of phytohaemagglutinin-stimulated, pooled human tonsil cells (PHA-MLR) was capable of replacing T cells and inducing T-depleted tonsil cells to secrete influenza-specific antibody. The T cell-replacing activity of PHA-MLR supernatant co-purified with interleukin 2 (IL 2) on Ultrogel AcA54 gel filtration and reversed phase-high performance liquid chromatography. PHA-MLR supernatant and IL 2 also enhanced B cell proliferation induced by anti-mu or Staphylococcal aureus strain Cowan I (SAC). A murine monoclonal antibody directed against the human IL 2 receptor (Mab 2A3) was used to completely block the enhancement of influenza-specific antibody production mediated by PHA-MLR supernatant, purified IL 2, and recombinant human IL 2. Mab 2A3 did not affect the T-independent B cell proliferation induced by anti-mu or SAC, but abrogated the enhancing effect of the PHA-MLR supernatant and IL 2 in this culture system. Immunofluorescence studies failed to demonstrate binding of Mab 2A3 to B cells activated by the X31 influenza virus and IL 2, or by SAC. By using Mab 2A3 to mask out IL 2 effects in the influenza-specific culture system, no other B cell differentiating activities were revealed in supernatants from lymphocytic cultures stimulated with a variety of mitogens. Thus, our results indicate that the production of influenza-specific antibodies by T-depleted human lymphocyte cultures is absolutely dependent on the presence of both antigen and IL 2.     

Hexokinase activity as marker to assess time of harvest of foot-and-mouth disease virus in BHK21 Cl13 cell cultures

Hexokinase (B.C. 2.7.1.1) activity as a marker enzyme during FMD viral infection has been observed spectrophotometrically in a system coupled with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, in supernatants of BHK(21)Cl(13) suspension as well as anchored cell culture at a minimum of 10(4) infective virus particles/ml. Specific activity increased with virus concentration in culture supernatants and abruptly decreased with a fall in virus titer, as has been noted by TCID/50,146 S concentration, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) readings.     

Primary in vitro immunogenicity of liposomal model membranes in mouse spleen cell cultures.

Neither 2,4-dinitrophenyl-6-N-aminocaproylphosphatidylethanolamine (DNP-Cap-PE) nor fluoresceinthiocarbamylphosphatidylethanolamine (F1-PE) induces hapten-specific plaque-forming cells (PFC) when incubated with suspensions of spleen cells from unimmunized C57BL/6J mice. However, PFC are produced after incorporation of these synthetic lipid antigens into liposomal model membranes. The in vitro response is characterized by the following: a) it is time and dose dependent; b) the frequency of IgM PFC exceeds IgG PFC; c) both nonadherent and adherent cells are required (2-mercaptoethanol can replace the requirement for adherent cells in some experiments); d) depletion of thymus-derived cells by treatment with anti-theta antiserum plus complement does not diminish the response; e) spleen cells from nude BALB/c mice also produce PFC. Thus, the essential features of the in vivo immunogenicity of DNP-Cap-PE and F1-PE sensitized liposomes, which have been previously described, can be replicated in an in vitro cell culture system.     

Extensive cell heterogeneity during persistent infection with foot-and-mouth disease virus.

Coevolution of viruses and the host cells occurred in BHK-21 cell cultures persistently infected with foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) (J. C. de la Torre, E. Martínez-Salas, J. Diez, A. Villaverde, F. Gebauer, E. Rocha, M. Dávila, and E. Domingo, J. Virol. 62:2050-2058, 1988). In the present report we provide evidence of an extreme phenotypic heterogeneity of the cells, which was generated in the course of persistence. A total of 248 stable cell clones isolated from FMDV carrier cultures at early or late passages were analyzed. At least six distinct cell phenotypes were distinguished with regard to cell morphology, resistance to FMDV strain C-S8c1, and cell growth characteristics. No infectious FMDV or viral RNA was detected in variant cell clones, suggesting that the altered phenotypes were caused by inheritable cell modifications, selected in the course of persistence. Thus, the FMDV-BHK-21 carrier cell system must be described as a dynamic interaction between an evolving heterogeneous population of virus and multiple cell variants. We suggest that cell heterogeneity confers a selective advantage for long-term virus and cell survival by providing the cell population with a range of responses toward FMDV.     

Multiple proteases in foot-and-mouth disease virus replication.

Translation of foot-and-mouth disease virus RNA in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate for short time intervals resulted in the production of the peptides P20a , P16, and P88 (Lab, Lb, and P1) (R. R. Rueckert , Recommendations of the 3rd European Study Group on Molecular Biology of Picornavirus, Urbino , Italy, 1983). If further translation was prevented, the structural protein precursor P88 was not cleaved, even after prolonged incubation. This result indicates that the mechanism of the cleavage between P20a -P16 and P88 and of that between P88 and P52 (P2) differs from the mechanism of the secondary cleavages which produce the structural proteins. Furthermore, treatment of foot-and-mouth disease virus-infected cells with the protease inhibitor D-valyl phenylalanyl lysyl chloromethyl ketone prevented the in vivo cleavage between P20a -P16 and P88 but had no effect on any of the other cleavage events. These results suggest that the cleavage of the foot-and-mouth disease virus polyprotein utilizes two different host proteases.     

Induction of protective immunity in swine by recombinant bamboo mosaic virus expressing foot-and-mouth disease virus epitopes

Background

Plants are increasingly being examined as alternative recombinant protein expression systems. Recombinant protein expression levels in plants from Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV)-based vectors are much higher than those possible from plant promoters. However the common TMV expression vectors are costly, and at times technically challenging, to work with. Therefore it was a goal to develop TMV expression vectors that express high levels of recombinant protein and are easier, more reliable, and more cost-effective to use.

Results

We have constructed a Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter-driven TMV expression vector that can be delivered as a T-DNA to plant cells by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Co-introduction (by agroinfiltration) of this T-DNA along with a 35S promoter driven gene for the RNA silencing suppressor P19, from Tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV) resulted in essentially complete infection of the infiltrated plant tissue with the TMV vector by 4 days post infiltration (DPI). The TMV vector produced between 600 and 1200 micrograms of recombinant protein per gram of infiltrated tissue by 6 DPI. Similar levels of recombinant protein were detected in systemically infected plant tissue 10–14 DPI. These expression levels were 10 to 25 times higher than the most efficient 35S promoter driven transient expression systems described to date.

Conclusion

These modifications to the TMV-based expression vector system have made TMV vectors an easier, more reliable and more cost-effective way to produce recombinant proteins in plants. These improvements should facilitate the production of recombinant proteins in plants for both research and product development purposes. The vector should be especially useful in high-throughput experiments.     

Antigenic stability of foot-and-mouth disease virus variants on serial passage in cell culture.

Two neutralizing monoclonal antibody (MAb)-resistant variants selected from an isolate of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) type A5 were repeatedly passaged in cell culture and monitored for susceptibility to neutralization by the selecting MAb. A variant isolated with a MAb to a conformational epitope (1-OG2) lost resistance in 20 passages, while a variant isolated with a MAb to a linear epitope (1-HA6) persisted for 30 passages. In both cases, the virus population emerging after passage was antigenically and genetically indistinguishable from the original wild-type parental virus (FMDV A5 Spain-86). Coinfection assays with the wild type and each variant, and between the variants, showed rapid conversion to a homogeneous population. Wild-type virus prevailed over the variants and for coinfection between the variants, the linear epitope variant 1-HA6. While both variants arose from a single nucleotide substitution and reversion to wild type occurred for each, it appears that the variant based on the continuous epitope (1-HA6) was more stable. We discuss the implications of these results for the antigenic diversity of FMDV and its relationship to virus evolution.