Transient host range selection for genetic engineering of modified vaccinia virus Ankara

Recombinant vaccinia viruses are extremely valuable tools for research in molecular biology and immunology. The extension of vaccinia vector technology to replication-deficient and safety-tested virus strains such as modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) have made this versatile eukaryotic expression system even more attractive for basic and clinical research. Here, we report on easily obtaining recombinant MVA using stringent growth selection on rabbit kidney RK-13 cells. We describe the construction and use of new MVA vector plasmids that carry an expression cassette of the vaccinia virus host range gene, K1L, as a transient selectable marker. These plasmids allow either stable insertion of additional recombinant genes into the MVA genome or precisely targeted mutagenesis of MVA genomic sequences. Repetitive DNA sequences flanking the K1L gene were designed to remove the marker gene from the viral genome by homologous recombination under nonselective growth conditions. The convenience of this new selection technique is demonstrated by isolating MVA recombinants that produce green fluorescent protein and by generating MVA deletion mutants.     

Immunogenicity and safety of defective vaccinia virus lister: comparison with modified vaccinia virus Ankara

Potent and safe vaccinia virus vectors inducing cell-mediated immunity are needed for clinical use. Replicating vaccinia viruses generally induce strong cell-mediated immunity; however, they may have severe adverse effects. As a vector for clinical use, we assessed the defective vaccinia virus system, in which deletion of an essential gene blocks viral replication, resulting in an infectious virus that does not multiply in the host. The vaccinia virus Lister/Elstree strain, used during worldwide smallpox eradication, was chosen as the parental virus. The immunogenicity and safety of the defective vaccinia virus Lister were evaluated without and with the inserted human p53 gene as a model and compared to parallel constructs based on modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA), the present "gold standard" of recombinant vaccinia viruses in clinical development. The defective viruses induced an efficient Th1-type immune response. Antibody and cytotoxic-T-cell responses were comparable to those induced by MVA. Safety of the defective Lister constructs could be demonstrated in vitro in cell culture as well as in vivo in immunodeficient SCID mice. Similar to MVA, the defective viruses were tolerated at doses four orders of magnitude higher than those of the wild-type Lister strain. While current nonreplicating vectors are produced mainly in primary chicken cells, defective vaccinia virus is produced in a permanent safety-tested cell line. Vaccines based on this system have the additional advantage of enhanced product safety. Therefore, a vector system was made which promises to be a valuable tool not only for immunotherapy for diseases such as cancer, human immunodeficiency virus infection, or malaria but also as a basis for a safer smallpox vaccine.     

修饰的痘苗病毒安卡拉株（MVA）基因组中高频的同源重组

痘苗病毒由于其外源基因容量大,表达产物后加工完善等优势而广泛用于基因工程的研究以及基因治疗,痘苗病毒基因组的同源重组现象为其基因操作带来了方便,也被用于很多痘苗病毒基因结构和功能的研究,痘苗病毒安卡拉株（MVA）是一种修饰的复制限制的痘苗病毒,由于极高的安全性,正在实验室和临床应用的很多领域取代普通的痘苗病毒,为提高重组MVA系统的安全性以及筛选重组MVA的效率,发展了一种暂时选择系统,此系统利用分子内2段同向的相同序列发生同源重组去除选择标记k1l基因,从而消除选择标记对宿主可能的危害。利用此暂时表达系统构建了4个携带编码不同长度外源多蛋白质序列的重组MVA,并估算了每次传代的重组频率,结果显示,MVA同源重组频率虽然比其他痘苗病毒株要低,但仍然是较斋的,将带有k1l基因的重组MVA经3-4次盲传（blind passage),即可获得完全去除选择标记的重组MVA。进一步证明上述利用暂时选择标记k1l基因构建重组MVA的系统具有十分可靠的安全性,适合作为人体活疫苗开发和基因治疗的载体,而且,通过盲传进行筛选,能大大提高去除选择标记的效率,降低鸺建重组MVA的成本。     

改良型痘苗病毒安卡拉株表达系统可删除筛选标记的双表达穿梭载体

为了构建改良型痘苗病毒安卡拉株表达系统可删除筛选标记的双表达穿梭载体,利用Cre/LoxP DNA重组系统以及本实验室表达Cre酶的BHK-21细胞系 (BHK-Cre),以大肠杆菌黄嘌呤-鸟嘌呤磷酸核糖转移酶 (Eco gpt) 为筛选标记构建可删除筛选标记的双表达穿梭载体pLR-gpt。将Eco gpt 基因以及调控其表达的启动子基因置于2个同向的LoxP位点之间,2个独立的多克隆位点位于2个LoxP位点之外,最终获得的重组病毒可以在BHK-Cre细胞系上删除筛选标记Eco gpt。为了验证系统的有效     

密码子偏性对痘苗病毒载体表达效率影响的研究

为了研究密码子偏性对痘苗病毒载体表达效率的影响,分别采用痘苗病毒及其宿主细胞的优势密码子对绿色荧光蛋白基因进行改造,利用荧光、Western blot和FCM等方法分析其在痘苗病毒载体系统的表达水平。结果显示,全部采用痘苗病毒优势密码子(富含A T)和全部采用宿主细胞优势密码子(富含G C),以及部分使用宿主细胞优势密码子的三种绿色荧光蛋白基因都能够有效表达,表达水平相近,表明痘苗病毒载体对目的基因密码子的使用具有很好宽容性。为了探讨这种宽容性的机理,分别利用在胞核内和在胞浆内转录的质粒载体对不同密码子偏性的绿色荧光蛋白基因进行表达分析。结果显示,胞核内转录目的基因的pcDNA3质粒载体能有效表达富含G C的绿色荧光蛋白基因,不能有效表达富含A T的绿色荧光蛋白基因,而胞浆内转录目的基因的pSCA质粒载体能同样有效表达上述不同密码子偏性的目的基因。这些结果表明,位于胞浆内的富含A U的转录产物能够有效表达,细胞核内生成的富含A U的转录产物可能受核膜屏障或其它核内因素影响而不能有效表达。因此,胞浆内繁殖的特性是痘苗病毒载体具有密码子宽容性的主要原因。此研究为痘苗病毒载体和常用真核表达载体的选择使用提供了重要实验依据。     

人癌胚抗原-重组痘苗病毒的构建和制备

痘苗病毒的基因组庞大,结构复杂而特殊,不可能将外源基因直接插入它的基因组,必须利用一种特殊的痘苗病毒质粒,才能构建成功重组痘苗病毒．在分析了痘苗病毒质粒ｐＪ１２０〔含有我国天花疫苗－痘苗病毒天坛株７６１的启动子和胸苷激酶（ｔｈｙｍｉｄｉｎｅｋｉｎａｓｅ,简称ＴＫ基因）,及含有人癌胚抗原（ｃａｒｃｉｎｏｅｍｂｒｙｎｉｃａｎｔｉｇｅｎ,简称ＣＥＡ）ｃＤＮＡ全序列的质粒ｐ９１０２３Ｂ－ｃｅａ－１７结构的基础上,设计出三步法构建了重组疫苗病毒质粒ｐＪ－ＣＥＡ．经酶切及ＰＣＲ鉴定ｐＪ－ＣＥＡ中ＣＥＡｃＤ－ＮＡ的存在,进一步用同源重组方法构建了表达人ＣＥＡ的重组痘苗病毒,并以人体成纤维细胞作为宿主细胞,对ＣＥＡ－重组痘苗病毒进行了大量培养．再次证实痘苗病毒是良好的真核表达载体,可以高效而准确地表达细胞膜糖蛋白ＣＥＡ．     

适用于疫苗株筛选的痘苗病毒载体的构建

为构建适用于疫苗株筛选的痘苗病毒载体,利用标记瞬时稳定的原理,在痘苗病毒单选择标记载体psc65的基础上,构建成带有neo和LacZ双选择标记的痘苗病毒载体pVI75.为检验载体pVI75的有效性,将HIV-1合成基因syngpnef插入到载体pVI75上,构建成转移质粒pVI75-syngpnef,并与天坛株752-1痘苗病毒共转染CEF细胞.筛选得到的重组病毒经PCR和Dot blot检验表明,标记基因已被删除,而目的基因被整合到痘苗病毒基因组上.Westem blot检测结果表明,目的基因的表达正确.痘苗病毒载体pVI75的构建使得疫苗株筛选的工作量大为降低,时间大大缩短,为利用痘苗病毒载体构建重组病毒疫苗株的研究提供了参考.     

Direct comparison of antigen production and induction of apoptosis by canarypox virus- and modified vaccinia virus ankara-human immunodeficiency virus vaccine vectors

Recombinant poxvirus vectors are undergoing intensive evaluation as vaccine candidates for a variety of infectious pathogens. Avipoxviruses, such as canarypox virus, are replication deficient in mammalian cells by virtue of a poorly understood species-specific restriction. Highly attenuated vaccinia virus strains such as modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) are similarly unable to complete replication in most mammalian cells but have an abortive-late phenotype, in that the block to replication occurs post-virus-specific DNA replication. In this study, an identical expression cassette for human immunodeficiency virus gag, pro, and env coding sequences was placed in canarypox virus and MVA vector backbones in order to directly compare vector-borne expression and to analyze differences in vector-host cell interactions. Antigen production by recombinant MVA was shown to be greater than that from recombinant canarypox virus in the mammalian cell lines and in the primary human cells tested. This observation was primarily due to a longer duration of antigen production in recombinant MVA-infected cells. Apoptosis induction was found to be more profound with the empty canarypox virus vector than with MVA. Remarkably, however, the inclusion of a gag/pro/env expression cassette altered the kinetics of apoptosis induction in recombinant MVA-infected cells to levels equal to those found in canarypox virus-infected cells. Antigen production by MVA was noted to be greater in human dendritic cells and resulted in enhanced T-cell stimulation in an in vitro antigen presentation assay. These results reveal differences in poxvirus vector-host cell interactions that should be relevant to their use as immunization vehicles.     

Expression of structural proteins of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in mammalian cells

ＨＣＶｉｓｔｈｅｍａｊｏｒｃａｕｓｅｏｆｐｏｓｔｔｒａｎｓｆｕｓｉｏｎｎｏｎＡ,ｎｏｎＢｈｅｐａｔｉｔｉｓ[1].Ａｂｏｕｔ50%ｏｆｔｈｅｉｎｆｅｃｔｉｏｎｓｗｉｌｌｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｉｎｔｏｃｈｒｏｎｉｃｈｅｐａｔｉｔｉｓａｎｄａｍｏｎｇｔｈｅｍａｂｏｕｔ20%ｗｉｌｌｒｅｓｕｌｔｉｎｌｉｖｅｒｃｉｒｒｈｏｓｉｓａｎｄｈｅｐａｔｏｃｅｌｌｕｌａｒｃａｒｃｉｎｏｍａ[2].ＢｅｃａｕｓｅｔｈｅｔｉｔｅｒｏｆＨＣＶｐａｒｔｉｃｌｅｉｎｐａｔｉｅｎｔ’ｓｂｌｏｏｄｉｓｅｘｔｒｅｍｅｌｙｌｏｗ,ａｎｄｔｈｅｒｅｉｓｎｏ…     

In vivo dose-response of insects to Hz-2V infection

Background

Vaccinia virus, the prototype member of the family Poxviridae, was used extensively in the past as the Smallpox vaccine, and is currently considered as a candidate vector for new recombinant vaccines. Vaccinia virus has a wide host range, and is known to infect cultures of a variety of cell lines of mammalian origin. However, little is known about the virus tropism in human leukocyte populations. We report here that various cell types within leukocyte populations have widely different susceptibility to infection with vaccinia virus.

Results

We have investigated the ability of vaccinia virus to infect human PBLs by using virus recombinants expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP), and monoclonal antibodies specific for PBL subpopulations. Flow cytometry allowed the identification of infected cells within the PBL mixture 1–5 hours after infection. Antibody labeling revealed that different cell populations had very different infection rates. Monocytes showed the highest percentage of infected cells, followed by B lymphocytes and NK cells. In contrast to those cell types, the rate of infection of T lymphocytes was low. Comparison of vaccinia virus strains WR and MVA showed that both strains infected efficiently the monocyte population, although producing different expression levels. Our results suggest that MVA was less efficient than WR in infecting NK cells and B lymphocytes. Overall, both WR and MVA consistently showed a strong preference for the infection of non-T cells.

Conclusions

When infecting fresh human PBL preparations, vaccinia virus showed a strong bias towards the infection of monocytes, followed by B lymphocytes and NK cells. In contrast, very poor infection of T lymphocytes was detected. These finding may have important implications both in our understanding of poxvirus pathogenesis and in the development of improved smallpox vaccines.     

Vectors for recombinational cloning and gene expression in mammalian cells using modified vaccinia virus Ankara

Modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) is a safe vector for high-level expression of proteins in mammalian cells. To simplify the molecular cloning procedures for shuttling genes into the MVA genome, we constructed generic destination plasmids that allow in vitro recombinational cloning (Gateway) and quick isolation of expression plasmids for any gene to be incorporated into the virus. Downstream purification steps were simplified by including N-terminal peptide tags (His, Strep, and Flag) in the generic plasmids. We demonstrate the ability to produce 10 mg of β-glucuronidase from 10⁸ hamster cells and to purify tagged proteins with affinity gels.     

一种新型慢病毒载体制备体系的初步建立

为了建立新型、高产量的慢病毒载体制备体系,将构建好的主框架质粒pVECRNA、包装质粒pGAGPOL及包膜质粒pVSVG通过脂质体共转染至BHK21细胞.再用含有T7RNA聚合酶基因的重组痘苗病毒vTF-3感染细胞,培养4天后,收集培养上清.提取培养上清的RNA,进行RT-PCR反应,将培养上清进行免疫印迹鉴定,将培养上清感染正常的293T细胞、HepG2细胞、Vero细胞,荧光显微镜下观察细胞GFP的表达情况,采取3×3×3析因分析方法,优化系统产量,Real-timePCR方法测定细胞培养上清中病毒载体的拷贝数,利用流式细胞术检测病毒载体滴度.RT-PCR及p24免疫印迹结果均提示在细胞上清中存在慢病毒载体;通过荧光显微镜观察到感染组293T细胞、HepG2细胞、Vero细胞均表达绿色荧光蛋白GFP,说明此系统制备出的慢病毒载体具有感染性;系统经优化后,培养上清中慢病毒载体拷贝数达到1.1×1012/ml,培养上清原始滴度达到1.3×108tu/ml,高出目前常用制备体系产量1个数量级.上述结果表明,新型慢病毒载体制备体系已初步建立,为今后该系统的大规模应用提供客观的科学依据.     

The C11R Gene, Which Encodes the Vaccinia Virus Growth Factor, Is Partially Responsible for MVA-Induced NF-κB and ERK2 Activation

MVA is an attenuated strain of vaccinia virus (VACV) that is a popular vaccine vector. MVA infection activates NF-κB. For 293T cells, it is known that MVA early gene expression activates extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2 (ERK2), resulting in NF-κB activation. However, other viral and cellular mechanisms responsible for this event are ill defined. The data presented here show that the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is at least one apical trigger in this pathway: ERK2 and NF-κB activation was diminished when MVA infections occurred in cells devoid of the EGFR (CHO K1 cells) or in the presence of a drug that inhibits EGFR activation (AG1478) in 293T cells. The expression of dominant negative Ras or Raf proteins still permitted NF-κB activation, suggesting that a nonclassical EGFR-based signal transduction pathway triggered ERK2-NF-κB activation. C11R is an early gene present in MVA and other orthopoxviruses. It encodes the soluble, secreted vaccinia virus growth factor (VGF), a protein that binds to and stimulates the EGFR. Here it was observed that NF-κB was activated in 293T cells transfected with a plasmid encoding the C11R gene. Silencing by small interfering RNA (siRNA) or deletion of the C11R gene (MVAΔC11R) reduced both MVA-induced ERK2 and NF-κB activation in 293T cells or the keratinocyte line Hacat, suggesting that this mechanism of MVA-induced NF-κB activation may be common for several cell types.     

Expression of the M gene of vesicular stomatitis virus cloned in various vaccinia virus vectors.

Initial attempts to clone the matrix (M) gene of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) in a vaccinia virus expression vector failed, apparently because the expressed M protein, and particularly a carboxy-terminus-distal two-thirds fragment, was lethal for the virus recombinant. Therefore, a transient eucaryotic expression system was used in which a cDNA clone of the VSV M protein mRNA was inserted into a region of plasmid pTF7 flanked by the promoter and terminator sequences for the T7 bacteriophage RNA polymerase. When CV-1 cells infected with recombinant vaccinia virus vTF1-6,2 expressing the T7 RNA polymerase were transfected with pTF7-M3, the cells produced considerable amounts of M protein reactive by Western blot (immunoblot) analysis with monoclonal antibodies directed to VSV M protein. Evidence for biological activity of the plasmid-expressed wild-type M protein was provided by marker rescue of the M gene temperature-sensitive mutant tsO23(III) at the restrictive temperature. Somewhat higher levels of M protein expression were obtained in CV-1 cells coinfected with a vaccinia virus-M gene recombinant under control of the T7 polymerase promoter along with T7 polymerase-expressing vaccinia virus vTF1-6,2.     

柯萨奇B3病毒基因在重组痘苗病毒中的表达

将编码柯萨奇Ｂ３病毒（ＣＶＢ３）衣壳蛋白ＶＰ１和ＶＰ２的基因,分别克隆到具有７．５ｋ启动子的痘苗病毒表达载体ｐＧＪＰ５上;将ＣＶＢ３衣壳蛋白全基因克隆到具有Ｔ７启动子的痘苗表达载体ｐＴＭ１上,并筛先到相应的重组痘苗病毒ＶＶＰ１、ＶＶＰ２和ＶＶＰ／４／２／３／１。ＶＶＰ１和ＶＶＰ２稳定表达产物为ＣＶＢ３衣壳蛋白ＶＰ１和ＶＰ２,而ＶＶＰ４／２／３／１为一无分泌性的多聚蛋白,且这三种表达产物均属无分泌性     

Transfection-independent production of alphavirus replicon particles based on poxvirus expression vectors

This report describes a transfection-independent system for packaging alphavirus replicon vectors using modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) vectors to express all of the RNA components necessary for the production of Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) virus replicon particles (VRP). Infection of mammalian cells with these recombinant MVA vectors resulted in robust expression of VEE structural genes, replication of the alphavirus vector and high titers of VRP. In addition, VRP packaging was achieved in a cell type (fetal rhesus lung) that has been approved for the manufacturing of vaccines destined for human use.     

Self-assembly of sapovirus recombinant virus-like particles from polyprotein in mammalian cells

The SaV genome is a positive-sense, non-segmented single-strand RNA molecule of approximately 7.5 kb that is polyadenylated at its 3' terminus. The major capsid (VP1) of SaV is thought to be produced as the ORF1 polyprotein followed by cleavage, or translation from subgenomic RNA (3'-coterminal with the virus genome), or both. We have recently reported the formation of SaV VLP from subgenomic-like RNA in mammalian cells. In the present study, we demonstrated that the VP1 cleaved from a part of ORF1 polyprotein self-assembled into VLP in mammalian cells when a transient expression system using a recombinant vaccinia virus encoding T7 RNA polymerase was used.     

Isolation of vaccinia MVA recombinants using the viral F13L gene as the selective marker

Modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) is a highly attenuated vaccine vector that has an excellent vaccine safety record. Also, as a eukaryotic gene expression vector, MVA can be used in a biosafety level 1 setup, in contrast to more virulent vaccinia virus strains. Isolation of recombinant MVA involves repeated plaquing of the virus and is burdensome because virus plaques are slow to develop and difficult to recognize. To facilitate the generation of MVA recombinants, we have developed a cloning system for MVA based on the selection of the viral F13L gene. Deletion of F13L in MVA produced a small plaque phenotype and a reduction in extracellular virus formation, indicating a severe block in cell-to-cell spread. When using the F13L knockout virus as the parental virus, reintroduction of the F13L gene in the original locus was used as an efficient selection for the isolation of virus recombinants. The selection procedure can be done entirely in the permissive baby hamster kidney (BHK)-21 cell line, does not require plaque isolation, and rendered close to 100% recombinant virus.     

Recombinant vaccinia DIs expressing simian immunodeficiency virus gag and pol in mammalian cells induces efficient cellular immunity as a safe immunodeficiency virus vaccine candidate

A highly attenuated vaccinia virus substrain of Dairen-I (DIs) shows promise as a candidate vector for eliciting positive immunity against immune deficiency virus. DIs was randomly obtained by serial 1-day egg passages of a chorioarantoic membrane-adapted Dairen strain (DIE), resulting in substantial genomic deletion, including various genes regulating the virus-host-range. To investigate the impact of that deletion and of the subsequent insertion of a foreign gene into that region of DIs on the ability of the DIs recombinant to induce antigen-specific immunity, we generated a recombinant vaccinia DIs expressing fulllength gag and pol genes of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) (rDIsSIV gag/pol) and studied the biological and immunological characteristics of the recombinant natural mutant. The rDIsSIV gag/pol developed a tiny plaque on the chick embryo fibroblast (CEF). Viral particles of rDIsSIV gag/pol as well as SIV Gag-like particles were electromicroscopically detected in the cytoplasm. Interestingly, the recombinant DIs strain grows well in CEF cells but not in mammalian cells. While rDIsSIV gag/pol produces SIV proteins in mammalian HeLa and CV-1 cells, recombinant modified vaccinia Ankara strain (MVA) expressing SIV gag and pol genes (MVA/SIV239 gag/pol) clearly replicates in HeLa and CV-1 cell lines under synchronized growth conditions and produces the SIV protein in all cell lines. Moreover, intradermal administration of rDIsSIV gag/pol or of MVA/SIV239 gag/pol elicited similar levels of IFN-gamma spot-forming cells specific for SIV Gag. If the non-productive infection characteristically induced by recombinant DIs is sufficient to trigger immune induction, as we believe it is, then a human immunodeficiency virus vaccine employing the DIs recombinant would have the twin advantages of being both effective and safe.     

痘苗病毒载体研究进展

制备高活性的真核蛋白,必须使用哺乳动物细胞,痘苗病毒为这一工作提供了简便、实用的工具．痘菌病毒宿主范围广,无致癌性,插入长达20多kb的外源基因后仍有感染性,能够高效表达外源蛋白,有效地加工表达产物．而且,痘菌病毒的表达产物可刺激机体免疫系统产生良好的体液免疫和细胞免疫．利用这些特点构建成的哺乳动物细胞高效表达系统将是基因工程药物和基因工程疫苗的有效工具.