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Biomedical subjects

J M Ostrove

Publications and source records attributed to J M Ostrove.

51 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Varicella-zoster virus complements herpes simplex virus type 1 temperature-sensitive mutants.

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) can complement temperature-sensitive mutants of herpes simplex virus. Of seven mutants tested, two, carrying mutations in the immediate-early ICP4 and ICP27 proteins, were complemented. This complementation was not seen in coinfections with adenovirus type 5 or cytomegalovirus. Following transfection into CV-1 cells, a DNA fragment containing the VZV short repeat sequence complemented the ICP4 mutant. These data demonstrate a functional relationship between VZV and herpes simplex virus and have allowed localization of a putative VZV immediate-early gene.

Cell Line↗

Activation of the human immunodeficiency virus by herpes simplex virus type 1.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and some of its immediate-early genes stimulate expression of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) long terminal repeat (LTR) sequences and the replication of HIV itself. To demonstrate this, the HIV LTR was linked to the indicator gene chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) and transfected into Vero cells with or without the trans-activating gene (tat) of HIV. Infection of these cells with HSV-1 strain KOS or temperature-sensitive mutant tsB21 or tsE6 resulted in a large increase in CAT activity in the absence of tat and further augmentation in the presence of tat. This stimulation was seen at both their permissive (34 degrees C) and nonpermissive (39 degrees C) temperatures, implying either that HSV-1 infection or immediate-early gene expression is all that is required. In cotransfection assays in Vero cells, cloned HSV-1 immediate-early genes ICP0 and ICP4 stimulated CAT activity in the presence of tat, while ICP27 had no effect. On the other hand, in SW480 cells, ICP4 and, to a lesser extent, ICP0 genes caused stimulation of CAT activity in the absence of tat. Deletion mutants within the HIV LTR showed that the target for HSV stimulation is distinct from the tat-responsive area and maps near the SP1 binding sites. In Hela cells, ICP0 or ICP4 stimulated the replication of a cotransfected clone of HIV, as shown by an increase in reverse transcriptase activity in the culture supernatant.

Acetyltransferases↗

Progressive encephalitis three months after resolution of cutaneous zoster in a patient with AIDS.

A 37-year-old homosexual man with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) developed progressive, ultimately fatal, neurological deficits 12 weeks after a course of cutaneous zoster. Premortem radiological procedures and cerebrospinal fluid analyses were nondiagnostic. At postmortem examination, several opportunistic infections associated with AIDS were recognized. Throughout the brain, necrotic and demyelinative lesions were present, suggestive of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. However, light microscopical examination showed numerous Cowdry type A intranuclear inclusions in astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and neurons near the periphery of the lesions. Herpes zoster encephalomyelitis was diagnosed and confirmed by electron microscopy, peroxidase-antiperoxidase staining, and by Southern blot analysis of DNA extracted from brain tissue. This case provides insight into the pathogenesis of zoster-associated encephalomyelitis and suggests another agent to be considered in the differential diagnosis of encephalopathy in patients with AIDS and other disorders of immunological impairment.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Mapping of the varicella zoster virus deoxypyrimidine kinase gene and preliminary identification of its transcript.

The varicella-zoster virus (VZV) deoxypyrimidine kinase (dPK) gene was mapped by transfection of cloned viral DNA fragments into thymidine kinase-deficient mouse L (LTK-) cells and subsequent biochemical transformation of these cells to the LTK+ phenotype. Such transforming activity was limited to the BamHI-H and EcoRI-D fragments of the VZV genome, which overlap by 2.2 kb between map units 0.50 and 0.52. Biochemically transformed cells were shown to contain a high copy number of viral DNA sequences that had integrated into the cellular DNA. Extracts of these cells showed a higher level of dPK activity than did extracts of parental LTK- cells. With the use of Northern hybridization analysis of transformed and VZV-infected cell RNAs, it was possible to tentatively assign a 1.8-kb transcript to the VZV dPK.

Animals↗

Trans-activation of the human immunodeficiency virus long terminal repeat sequence by DNA viruses.

To investigate whether DNA viruses can augment gene expression of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), cotransfection experiments were carried out in which a recombinant plasmid containing the HIV long terminal repeat (LTR) linked to the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene was transfected into cultured cells along with plasmids containing DNA from various distinct classes of DNA viruses. Molecular clones containing JC virus, BK virus, lymphotropic papovavirus, bovine papilloma virus, type 1 herpes simplex virus (HSV-1), and varicella-zoster virus sequences increased CAT expression directed by the HIV LTR. Trans-activation of the HIV LTR varied in different cell lines, but in each case the HIV tat gene product elicited the greatest stimulation. Primer-extension assays specific for HIV LTR mRNA revealed increased levels of steady-state RNA following transfection with HIV tat as well as with several of the DNA viruses. Virus-specific RNA expression paralleled the stimulation of CAT activity. More-than-additive effects were observed at both the RNA and protein levels when tat plus type 1 herpes simplex virus DNAs or tat plus JC virus DNAs were transfected into cells with the HIV LTR-CAT plasmid. These data suggest that coinfection of cells by HIV and some DNA viruses can stimulate the expression of HIV.

Antigens, Viral, Tumor↗

Putative glycoprotein gene of varicella-zoster virus with variable copy numbers of a 42-base-pair repeat sequence has homology to herpes simplex virus glycoprotein C.

A strain variation of varicella-zoster virus that maps to the UL region of the genome was found to be due to different copy numbers of a high GC 42-base-pair repeat. DNA sequence analysis of this variable region showed the sequence to be 5-GCGGGATCGGGCTTTCGGG(A/T)AGCGGCCGAGGTGGGCGCGACG-3. Strains Scott and Webster both contain 7 and 32/42 copies of the repeat, whereas strain Oka has exactly 4 copies less. Microheterogeneity exists within the repeated sequences, depending on the strain and the repeat number. Sequencing of the entire EcoRI P fragment (which contains the repeated sequences) and part of the adjacent EcoRI M and EcoRI Q fragments from strain Scott showed that the repeats are part of a large open reading frame that could code for a polypeptide core with a molecular weight of 66,000. Several potential TATA boxes exist upstream and two polyadenylation signals are found downstream of the open reading frame. The predicted protein bears several characteristics of a glycoprotein. The region is transcriptionally active in varicella-zoster virus-infected cells, specifying at least three RNA species of 1.7, 1.95, and 2.5 kilobases, which are transcribed from the same DNA strand. Part of the predicted protein has a high degree of homology to the herpes simplex virus type 1 glycoprotein gC.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Transcription mapping of the varicella-zoster virus genome.

RNA was isolated from varicella-zoster virus-infected Flow 5000 cells (diploid fibroblasts) at late times after infection. With the use of overlapping DNA probes representing all regions of the varicella-zoster genome, an extensive Northern blot analysis of the RNA was carried out. The analysis revealed at least 58 discrete transcripts ranging in size from approximately 0.8 to 6.5 kilobases. RNAs were found to be homologous to all probes used except for those mapping at approximately map unit 0.3, where no RNA transcripts could be detected. Comparison of the sizes and locations of RNA transcripts mapping in the right-hand ends of the varicella-zoster virus and the herpes simplex virus DNAs shows a number of striking analogies, suggesting their similar genomic organization.

Chromosome Mapping↗

In vitro complementation as an assay for purification of adenovirus DNA replication proteins.

As an approach to the purification of adenovirus-encoded DNA replication proteins, we have developed in vitro complementation assays that make use of viral mutants defective in DNA replication in vivo. Nuclear extracts prepared from cells infected with H5ts36 or H5ts125, two such mutants belonging to different complementation groups, were found to be defective in viral DNA replication in vitro. However, replication activity could be restored by mixing the two extracts. Replication activity in either extract also could be restored by addition of appropriate replication-deficient fractions purified from cells infected with wild-type adenovirus. By using such assays, H5ts36- and H5ts125-complementing activities were extensively purified. As expected, purified H5ts125-complementing activity consisted of a single major polypeptide, the 72-kilodalton (kDal) adenovirus DNA binding protein. The purified H5ts36-complementing activity consisted of the 80-kDal adenovirus terminal protein precursor and two other major polypeptides with apparent molecular masses of 140 and 65 kDal. Formation of the 80-kDal terminal protein-dCMP complexes, the proposed initial step in adenovirus DNA replication, required components in the purified H5ts36-complementing fraction and a cellular factor(s) but did not require the adenovirus DNA binding protein. The complete in vitro adenovirus DNA replication reaction was reconstituted from the purified H5ts36-complementing activity, the adenovirus DNA binding protein, and an extract from uninfected cells.

Adenoviruses, Human↗

Initiation of adenovirus DNA replication: detection of covalent complexes between nucleotide and the 80-kilodalton terminal protein.

We have previously shown that the 5'-terminal deoxycytidine residue of each nascent adenovirus 5 DNA strand synthesized in vitro is covalently linked to the 80-kilodalton (kd) terminal protein precursor via a phosphodiester bond to a serine residue in the protein. When extracts prepared from adenovirus 5-infected cells are incubated with [alpha-33P]dCTP as the only added deoxynucleoside triphosphate, complexes consisting of nucleotide covalently linked to the 80-kd protein can be detected. The nucleotide moieties present in such complexes include d(pC) and d(pCpA), the 5'-terminal nucleotide and dinucleotide of adenovirus 5 DNA, respectively, as well as some longer oligonucleotides. The formation of these complexes requires the presence of adenovirus DNA containing the attached 55-kd terminal protein and ATP. Extracts from H5ts125-infected cells which are defective in DNA replication catalyze complex formation to the same extent as extracts prepared from wild-type infected cells; thus, the presence of the adenovirus-coded 72-kd DNA-binding protein is apparently not required. Most, if not all, of the 80-kd protein-nucleotide complexes that are formed are noncovalently bound to the input viral DNA. These observations are consistent with the protein-priming model for the initiation of adenovirus DNA replication.

Adenoviridae↗

Effect of oral acyclovir treatment on symptomatic and asymptomatic virus shedding in recurrent genital herpes.

Twenty-six men and women with recurrent genital herpes maintained diaries of their symptoms and signs of infection and submitted 6,515 self-collected cultures during a one-year study of acyclovir therapy. As compared with periods before or after treatment, the mean rates of experiencing symptoms or lesions, and of shedding virus were significantly lower during treatment. Acyclovir treatment reduced the rate of symptomatic shedding from 95 positive cultures to six per 1,000 cultures, but the rate of asymptomatic shedding remained relatively constant, averaging eight per 1,000 cultures. Among the isolates of herpes simplex virus studied, there was no differences in sensitivity to acyclovir between strains recovered on or off therapy or during symptomatic or asymptomatic recurrences. The endonuclease cleavage profiles of asymptomatically shed viruses were essentially the same as those of the symptomatically shed viruses from the same individual. Chronic acyclovir therapy significantly reduced the symptoms and signs of recurrent genital herpes but did not eliminate virus shedding, nor, therefore, the possibility of disease transmission.

Acyclovir↗