Biomedical subjects

Thomas T Chen

Publications and source records attributed to Thomas T Chen.

24 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed2002

Effect of cecropin B and a synthetic analogue on propagation of fish viruses in vitro.

Cecropins and other natural antimicrobial peptides are widely distributed in animals from insects to mammals. These proteins have been shown to be major constituents of the innate immune systems of animals for nonspecific defense of the host against various bacteria and parasites. Therefore, exploitation of this natural innate defense system may lead to the development of effective methods for protecting fish from invasion by microbial pathogens. Recently, we have demonstrated that the introduction of cecropin transgenes into Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) conferred resistance to infection by fish bacterial pathogens. Aside from a few reports documenting the antiviral effect of antimicrobial peptides including cecropins against mammalian viruses, there is no evidence for the effect of these peptides against fish viruses. In this article we present results of in vitro characterization of native cecropin B and a synthetic analogue, CF17, against several important fish viral pathogens--namely, infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV), viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV), snakehead rhabdovirus (SHRV), and infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV). Upon coincubation of these peptides and viruses, the viral titers yielded in fish cells were reduced from several fold to 104-fold. Direct disruption of the viral envelope and disintegration of the viral capsids may be involved in the inhibition of viral replication by the peptides. Results of our studies demonstrate the potential of manipulating antimicrobial peptide genes by transgenesis to combat viral infection in fish.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2002

Production of transgenic medaka with increased resistance to bacterial pathogens.

Cecropins, first identified in silk moth (Hyalophora cecropia), are a group of antimicrobial peptides with bactericidal activity against a broad spectrum of bacteria. In this study we investigated whether (1) this group of antimicrobial peptides could exhibit bactericidal activity toward known fish bacterial pathogens and (2) expression of cecropin transgenes in transgenic medaka (Oryzias latipas) could result in increasing resistance of the transgenic fish to infection by fish bacterial pathogens. Cecropin gene construct containing silk moth preprocecropin B, procecropin B and cecropin B, and porcine cecropin P1 driven by a cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter were transfected into chinook salmon embryonic cells (CHSE-214) by lipofection, and the resulting permanent transformants were collected. In an "inhibition zone" assay medium isolated from each transformant exhibited strong bactericidal activity toward known fish bacterial pathogens such as Pseudomonas fluorescens, Aeromonas hydrophila, and Vibrio anguillarum. The same cecropin transgene constructs were introduced into newly fertilized medaka eggs by electroporation to produce transgenic fish. About 40% to 60% of the embryos survived from electroporation, and about 5% to 11% of the surviving fish were shown to contain cecropin transgenes by polymerase chain reaction analysis of genomic DNA samples isolated from presumptive transgenic fish. These P1 transgenic fish were used as founder stocks, and following generations of successive breeding, a total of 20 F2 families of transgenic fish were established. Expression of cecropin transgenes was detected in the F2 transgenics by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis. Southern blot analysis of genomic DNA isolated from different F2 fish showed that cecropin transgenes were integrated into the genomes of F2 transgenic fish. To determine whether transgenic fish carrying cecropin transgenes could exhibit resistance to infection by known fish bacterial pathogens, F2 transgenic fish from different families and control fish were challenged with P. fluorescens and V. anguillarum at a 60% lethal dose. Challenge studies showed that while about 40% of the control fish were killed by both pathogens, only up to 10% of the F2 transgenic fish were killed by P. fluorescens and about 10% to 30% by V. anguillarum. These results clearly showed that the transgenic medaka carrying cecropin transgenes had acquired elevated resistance to bacterial infection.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2002

Survival of F2 transgenic common carp (Cyprinus carpio) containing pRSVrtGH1 complementary DNA when subjected to low dissolved oxygen.

The survival and tolerance of F2 transgenic common carp (Cyprinus carpio) containing pRSVrtGH1 complementary DNA were compared with nontransgenic (control) common carp when subjected to low dissolved oxygen. The tolerance of low oxygen was evaluated in 8 families of common carp in rectangular tanks (3 x 1 x 1 m). The absolute mean percentage of survival of transgenic common carp subjected to low oxygen (0.4 mg/L) was higher (P <0.05) than that of control carp in 2 of the 8 families of common carp tested; however, the overall means for all families of transgenic and control carp were not different (P > 0.05). When oxygen tolerance was measured in time to death rather than absolute survival or mortality, the growth hormone transgenic common carp had a longer group mean (P <0.05) than did controls. The mean survival time in minutes for the transgenic genotype was greater (P <0.05) in 5 of the 8 families assessed. Transgenic common carp in some families had higher percentage and longer times of survival than control common carp when subjected to low oxygen. The definition of tolerance of low oxygen and how it is measured is important, and can affect interpretation of results. The pleiotropic effect of pRSVrtGH1 cDNA on superior survival of low oxygen in common carp has important implications for intensive fish culture.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2002

Production of transgenic silver sea bream (Sparus sarba) by different gene transfer methods.

We have been interested in developing convenient mass gene transfer methods for producing strains of silver sea bream (Sparus sarba) with superior genetic traits for aquaculture. A transgene construct carrying rainbow trout growth hormone (rtGH) complementary DNA driven by a common carp b-actin promoter was introduced into silver sea bream by electroporating the sperm with the rtGH transgene and using the treated sperm to fertilize eggs stripped from mature females. The presence of the GH transgene in presumptive transgenic individuals was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. Between 56% and 70% of the animals carried the GH transgene. We refer to this method as sperm-mediated gene transfer (SMGT). Since the handling stress of stripping gametes from female sliver sea bream brood fish could cause severe mortality, an alternative gene transfer method would be highly desirable. We developed a liposome-based method to transfer the GH transgene into the fish. This method, referred as testis-mediated gene transfer (TMGT), involves injecting the liposome-transgene mixture into the gonads of male sea bream at least 48 hours before spawning. The males were mated to reproductively active females, and fertilized eggs were collected for further incubation. Between 59% and 76% of the hatched fry were found by PCR analysis to carry the rtGH transgene. The efficiency of gene transfer was improved more than 80% by injecting multiple doses of the liposome-transgene mixture into the gonads of treated males. Results of Southern blot analysis of DNA isolated from PCR-positive animals showed that the transgene was integrated into the host genome and could be transmitted to its offspring. The rtGH transgene was expressed in many of the rtGH-transgenic fish. Several P1 GH-transgenic silver sea bream exhibited significant growth enhancement compared with nontransgenic controls. Our studies showed that faster-growing silver sea bream could be produced by a variety of mass gene transfer technologies. These gene transfer technologies would be of great value to aquaculture.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2002

Novel biological activities of the fish pro-IGF-I E-peptides: studies on effects of fish pro-IGF-I E-peptide on morphological change, anchorage-dependent cell division, and invasiveness in tumor cells.

E-peptides of proinsulin-like growth factor-I (pro-IGF-I) are proteolytically cleaved from the prohormone after translation and have long been regarded as biologically inactive. Tian et al. [Endocrinology 140 (1999) 3387-3390] recently demonstrated that recombinant rainbow trout pro-IGF-I E-peptides (rtEa-2-, rtEa-3-, and rtEa-4-peptides), like hIGF-I, exhibited a dose-dependent mitogenic activity in several nontransformed mammalian cell lines. We show in this report that treatment of established human and fish cancer cells (MCF-7, HT-29, HepG2, ZR-75-1, SK-N-F1, and HC) and retroviral transformed human embryonic kidney cells (293GP) with recombinant rtEa-2- or rtEa-4-, but not rtEa-3-peptide, resulted in a dose-dependent induction of morphological change and enhanced cell attachment. The E-peptide-induced morphological changes are sensitive to treatment with alpha-amanitin or cycloheximide, known inhibitors of RNA and protein synthesis. The in vitro colony formation activity of established human tumor cells (HT-29 and MDA-MB-231) is greatly reduced or diminished by treatment with the rtEa-4-peptide. Both morphological change and reduction of colony formation activity in MDA-MB-231 cells were also observed following transfection with an Ea-4 transgene construct. Furthermore, the invasive activity of HT1080 cells, known invasive cancer cells, is reduced three to fourfold by treatment with the rtEa-4-peptide. These results suggest that E-peptides of rainbow trout pro-IGF-I possess novel biological activities controlling malignant properties of cancer cells in vitro.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Development of rainbow trout hepatoma cell lines: effect of pro-IGF-I Ea4-peptide on morphological changes and anchorage-independent growth.

Our laboratory has shown previously that recombinant rainbow trout Ea4 (rtEa4)-peptide of pro-insulin-like growth factor-I (pro-IGF-I) exhibited antitumor activities against cancer cell lines derived from various human cancer tissues (Chen et al., 2002; Kuo and Chen, 2002). To confirm that rtEa4-peptide can exhibit the same spectrum of antitumor activities in fish tumor cells, we had developed permanent single-cell clones (RTH1B1A, RTH1B1D, RTH1B2A, and RTH1B2C) from a rainbow trout liver tumor induced by dibenzo[a,l]pyrene treatment. At 135 passages, the doubling time of these single-cell clones in CO2-independent medium at 20 degrees C was 3.9, 3.5, 3.0, and 4.5 d, respectively. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that the expression of liver signature genes (e.g., aldolase B, glucose-6-phosphatase [G-6-Pase], phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase [PEPCK], hepatic nuclear factor-1 [HNF-I], IGF-I, IGF-II, and growth hormone [GH] receptor-2 genes) and CYP1A1 and CYP1A3 genes was detected in these four single-cell clones. Furthermore, results of in vitro colony formation assay in a soft-agar medium showed different degrees of colony formation activities among them. These results confirmed that the single-cell clones were derived from the rainbow trout liver. Treatment of RTH1B1D with recombinant trout Ea4-peptide resulted in the induction of a dose-dependent morphological change and the suppression of colony formation in a soft-agar medium. In addition, both morphological change and reduction of colony formation were also observed in permanent transfectants of RTH1B1D cells carrying a trout Ea4-peptide gene or its human counterpart, hEb-peptide gene. These results confirm our earlier observations that trout pre-IGF-I Ea4-peptide and hEb possess activities counteracting malignant properties of cancer cells in vitro.

Animals↗