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Uukuniemi virus maturation: accumulation of virus particles and viral antigens in the Golgi complex.

We studied the maturation of Uukuniemi virus and the localization of the viral surface glycoproteins and nucleocapsid protein in infected cells by electron microscopy, indirect immunofluorescence, and immunoelectron microscopy with specific antisera prepared in rabbits against the two glycoproteins G1 and G2 and the nucleocapsid protein N. Electron microscopy of thin sections from infected cells showed virus particles maturing at smooth-surfaced membranes close to the nucleus. Localization of the G1/G2 and N proteins by indirect immunofluorescence at different stages after infection showed the antigens to be present throughout the cell interior but concentrated in the juxtanuclear region. The G1/G2 antiserum also appeared to stain the nuclear and plasma membranes. Double staining with tetramethylrhodamine isothiocyanate-conjugated wheat germ agglutinin, which preferentially stains the Golgi complex, and fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated anti-rabbit immunoglobulin G, which stained the G1/G2 or N proteins, showed that the staining of the juxtanuclear region coincided. Similarly, double staining for thiamine pyrophosphatase, an enzyme activity specific for the Golgi complex, showed the fluorescence and the cytochemical stain to coincide in the juxtanuclear region. Immunoperoxidase electron microscopy of cells permeabilized with saponin revealed that the viral glycoproteins were present in the rough endoplasmic reticulum and the nuclear and Golgi membranes; the latter was heavily stained. With this method, the N protein was localized to the cytoplasm, especially around smooth-surfaced vesicles in the Golgi region. Taken together, the results indicate that Uukuniemi virus and its structural proteins accumulate in the Golgi complex, supporting the idea that this compartment rather than the plasma membrane is the site of virus maturation. This raises the interesting possibility that deficient transport of the glycoproteins to the plasma membrane and hence their accumulation in the Golgi complex determines the site of virus maturation.

Animals↗

Viral stress-inducible protein p56 inhibits translation by blocking the interaction of eIF3 with the ternary complex eIF2.GTP.Met-tRNAi.

Viral stress-inducible protein p56 is produced in response to viral stress-inducing agents such as double-stranded RNA and interferon, as well as other poorly understood mechanisms of viral infection. It has been shown previously that p56 is able to bind the eukaryotic initiation factor 3e(eIF3e) (p48/Int-6) subunit of the eukaryotic translation initiation factor eIF3 and function as an inhibitor of translation in vitro and in vivo. The exact mechanism by which p56 is able to interfere with protein synthesis is not understood. Based on the known roles of eIF3 in the initiation pathway, we employed assays designed to individually look at specific functions of eIF3 and the effect of p56 on these eIF3-mediated functions. These assays examined the effect of p56 on ribosome dissociation, the eIF3.eIF4F interaction, and enhancement of the ternary complex eIF2.GTP.Met-tRNAi formation. Here we report that p56 is able to inhibit translation initiation specifically at the level of eIF3.ternary complex formation. The effect of p56-mediated inhibition was also examined in two different contexts, cap-mediated and encephalomyocarditis virus internal ribosomal entry site-mediated translation. Whereas cap-dependent initiation was severely inhibited by p56, internal ribosomal entry site-mediated translation appeared to be insensitive to p56.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗

Systemic administration of HVJ viral coat-liposome complex containing human insulin vector decreases glucose level in diabetic mouse: A model of gene therapy.

In this study, we examined the feasibility of a systemic administration of HVJ-liposome complex containing human insulin construct into the blood in mice via the tail vein. Transfection of human insulin vector resulted in a transient decrease in serum glucose in streptozotocin (SZT)-induced diabetic mice, accompanied by the detection of human insulin in the liver and spleen. In accordance with the decreased glucose, plasma immunoreactive insulin could be detected up to 14 days after a single transfection in mice transfected with insulin vector. Repeated intravenous injection of human insulin vector every week resulted in a sustained decrease in serum glucose over a 4-week period, accompanied by the detection of C-peptide fragments and a significant decrease in BUN and creatinine. Here, we demonstrated the feasibility of intravenous systemic administration of an insulin vector that results in a sustained improvement of diabetic glucose metabolism.

Animals↗

Synchronous loss of quasispecies memory in parallel viral lineages: a deterministic feature of viral quasispecies.

Viral quasispecies are endowed with a memory of their past evolutionary history in the form of minority genomes of their mutant spectra. To determine the fate of memory genomes in evolving viral quasispecies, we have measured memory levels of antigenic variant of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) RED, which includes an Arg-Glu-Asp (RED) at a surface antigenic loop of the viral capsid. The RED reverted to the standard Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD), and the RED remained as memory in the evolving quasispecies. In four parallel evolutionary lineages, memory reduction followed a strikingly similar pattern, and at passage 60 memory levels were indistinguishable from those of control populations (devoid of memory). Nucleotide sequence analyses indicated that memory loss occurred synchronously despite its ultimate molecular basis being the stochastic occurrence of mutations in the evolving quasispecies. These results on the kinetics of memory levels have unveiled a deterministic feature of viral quasispecies. Molecular mechanisms that may underlie synchronous memory loss are the averaging of noise signals derived from mutational input, and constraints to genome diversification imposed by a nucleotide sequence context in the viral genome. Possible implications of the behaviour of complex, adaptive viral systems as experimental models to address primary mechanisms of neurological memory are discussed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Degradation of endocytosed epidermal growth factor and virally ubiquitinated major histocompatibility complex class I is independent of mammalian ESCRTII.

Models for protein sorting at multivesicular bodies in the endocytic pathway of mammalian cells have relied largely on data obtained from yeast. These data suggest the essential role of four ESCRT complexes in multivesicular body protein sorting. However, the putative mammalian ESCRTII complex (hVps25p, hVps22p, and hVps36p) has no proven functional role in endosomal transport. We have characterized the human ESCRTII complex and investigated its function in endosomal trafficking. The human ESCRTII proteins interact with one another, with hVps20p (a component of ESCRTIII), and with their yeast homologues. Our interaction data from yeast two-hybrid studies along with experiments with purified proteins suggest an essential role for the N-terminal domain of hVps22p in the formation of a heterotetrameric ESCRTII complex. Although human ESCRTII is found in the cytoplasm and in the nucleus, it can be recruited to endosomes upon overexpression of dominant-negative hVps4Bp. Interestingly, we find that small interference RNA depletion of mammalian ESCRTII does not affect degradation of epidermal growth factor, a known cargo of the multivesicular body protein sorting pathway. We also show that depletion of the deubiquitinating enzymes AMSH (associated molecule with the SH3 domain of STAM (signal transducing adaptor molecule)) and UBPY (ubiquitin isopeptidase Y) have opposite effects on epidermal growth factor degradation, with UBPY depletion causing dramatic swelling of endosomes. Down-regulation of another cargo, the major histocompatibility complex class I in cells expressing the Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus protein K3, is unaffected in ESCRTII-depleted cells. Our data suggest that mammalian ESCRTII may be redundant, cargo-specific, or not required for protein sorting at the multivesicular body.

Animals↗

The sv40 transcription complex. I. Effect of viral chromatin proteins on endogenous RNA polymerase activity.

SV40 chromatin obtained from infected monkey cells was used to study the effect of the viral chromatin proteins on endogenous RNA polymerase II. Ammonium sulfate activated the rate of transcription by endogenous RNA polymerase in two ways: 1) by direct action on the enzyme; and 2) by causing a reversible conformational change in the viral chromatin. Under optimal reaction conditions, the viral chromatin proteins did not limit the rate of RNA chain elongation, and high molecular weight RNA (1.6 X 10(6) d) was synthesized by the SV40 chromatin.

Cell Line↗

Human TATA binding protein inhibits human papillomavirus type 11 DNA replication by antagonizing E1-E2 protein complex formation on the viral origin of replication.

The human papillomavirus (HPV) protein E2 possesses dual roles in the viral life cycle. By interacting directly with host transcription factors in basal keratinocytes, E2 promotes viral transcription. As keratinocyte differentiation progresses, E2 associates with the viral helicase, E1, to activate vegetative viral DNA replication. How E2's major role switches from transcription to replication during keratinocyte differentiation is not understood, but the presence of a TATA site near the viral origin of replication led us to hypothesize that TATA-binding protein (TBP) could affect HPV replication. Here we show that the C-terminal domain of TBP (TBPc) is a potent inhibitor of E2-stimulated HPV DNA replication in vitro (50% inhibitory concentration = 0.56 nM). Increasing the E1 concentration could not overcome TBPc inhibition in replication assays, indicating that TBPc is a noncompetitive inhibitor of E1 binding. While direct E2-TBPc association could be demonstrated, this interaction could not fully account for the mechanism of TBPc-mediated inhibition of viral replication. Because E2 supports sequence-specific binding of E1 to the viral ori, we proposed that TBPc antagonizes E1-ori association indirectly through inhibition of E2-DNA binding. Indeed, TBPc potently antagonized E2 binding to DNA in the absence (K(i) = 0.5 +/- 0.1 nM) and presence (K(i) = 0.6 +/- 0.3 nM) of E1. Since E2 and TBPc cannot be coadjacent on viral sequences, direct DNA-binding competition between TBPc and E2 was responsible for replication inhibition. Given the ability of TBPc to inhibit HPV DNA replication in vitro and data indicating that TBPc antagonized E2-ori association, we propose that transcription factors regulate HPV DNA replication as well as viral transcription.

DNA Replication↗

[Complex therapy of chronic viral hepatitis, occurring in combination with opisthorchosis].

AIM: To design and substantiate an effective combined therapy scheme for patients with chronic viral hepatitis (CVH) and chronic opisthorchiasis (CO). MATERIAL AND METHODS: 10 patients with CHB and 12 patients with CHB + C in the presence of CO. All the patients have undergone clinical and device examinations before the treatment and in the course of therapy with biltricide and reaferon. RESULTS: Patients with CVH at the stage of moderate activity and in the phase of virus replication received antihelminthic therapy with biltricide which caused neither complications nor deterioration, antihelminthic effect was observed in 20 of 22 patients. In a month, the patients started on reaferon given for therapy of hepatitis. As a result, all the patients improved clinically with normalization of biochemical blood parameters. Markers of viral hepatitides disappeared in 17 of 22 patients. CONCLUSION: Combined therapy of CVH in active process in the presence of CO may include antihelminthic and antiviral treatment and should be staged.

Anthelmintics↗

Retroviral DNA integration: reaction pathway and critical intermediates.

The key DNA cutting and joining steps of retroviral DNA integration are carried out by the viral integrase protein. Structures of the individual domains of integrase have been determined, but their organization in the active complex with viral DNA is unknown. We show that HIV-1 integrase forms stable synaptic complexes in which a tetramer of integrase is stably associated with a pair of viral DNA ends. The viral DNA is processed within these complexes, which go on to capture the target DNA and integrate the viral DNA ends. The joining of the two viral DNA ends to target DNA occurs sequentially, with a stable intermediate complex in which only one DNA end is joined. The integration product also remains stably associated with integrase and likely requires disassembly before completion of the integration process by cellular enzymes. The results define the series of stable nucleoprotein complexes that mediate retroviral DNA integration.

Blotting, Western↗

Antibodies to varicella-zoster virus modulate antigen distribution but fail to induce viral persistence in vitro.

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) persists in human sensory ganglia. One of the hypotheses to explain the induction or the maintenance of VZV latency is that it could be promoted by the immune response itself. It is known that in the case of viruses which bud off the infected cell membrane, virus-specific antibodies can induce antigenic modulation, i.e., spatial redistribution of viral antigens and modulation of their synthesis. To determine whether antigenic modulation occurs during VZV infection in vitro and could possibly be involved in viral persistence, we have grown infected cells in the presence of anti-VZV antibodies either transiently or permanently. The distribution of immune complexes and viral proteins was then analyzed. In transient immunomodulation experiments, the distribution of one or more viral antigens was modified not only in the cytoplasmic membranes but also in the cytoplasm and nucleoplasm of infected cells. When infected cells were kept permanently in the presence of antibodies, the same pattern of redistribution of immune complexes was observed and the localization of internal viral glycoproteins was significantly modified. However, antibodies did not prevent the lytic effect of infection; they altered neither the infectious virus yield nor the Western immunoblot pattern of viral proteins, suggesting that immunomodulation is not the primary effector of viral persistence.

Antibodies, Viral↗

The nonstructural NS5A protein of hepatitis C virus: an expanding, multifunctional role in enhancing hepatitis C virus pathogenesis.

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS5A gene product is a phosphorylated 56- to 58-kD nonstructural protein that displays a multitude of activities related to enhancement of viral pathogenesis. Although associated with other viral encoded proteins as part of the viral replicase complex positioned on the cytoplasmic side of the endoplasmic reticulum, a role for NS5A in viral replication has not been defined. Post-translational modifications of NS5A include phosphorylation and potential proteolytic processing to smaller molecular weight forms able to translocate to the nucleus. Both the identification of a putative interferon (IFN) sensitivity-determining region within NS5A, as well as the direct interaction with and inhibition of the IFN-induced double-stranded RNA-dependent protein kinase (PKR) by NS5A remain controversial. Truncated versions of NS5A can act as transcriptional activators, while other recently characterized interactions of NS5A with cellular proteins indicate its pleiotropic role in HCV-host interactions. NS5A itself has no direct effect on IFN-alpha signaling or activation, but other abundant interactions with members of the cellular signaling apparatus, transcription activation machinery and cell cycle-regulatory kinases have been described (e.g. growth factor receptor-bound protein 2, p53, p21/waf and cyclins). Many of these interactions block the apoptotic cellular response to persistent HCV infection. More recently, another altogether different mechanism attenuating the IFN-alpha response was reported based on induction of interleukin (IL)-8. IL-8, in model systems, potentiates viral replication and mutes the nonspecific intracellular IFN antiviral response. Evidence supporting a complex multimechanistic role of NS5A in promoting viral persistence, pathogenesis and, indirectly, viral-related hepatocarcinogenesis indicates its key role in HCV pathobiology.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗

Detecting artificial anti-dengue IgM immune complexes using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

A variety of methods have been employed to detect viral immune complexes (IC) in clinical specimens. However, most techniques used were not antigen-specific. We developed a simple, specific double antibody sandwich technique to detect artificial anti-dengue (DEN) IgM immune complex (IgM-IC). Positive reactivity with IgM-ICs prepared with live DEN-1, -2, and -3 viruses was found to be related to IgM titers exceeding 1:20 and to the titer of the viruses. Most IgM-ICs prepared with live DEN-4 virus did not react. In contrast, IgM-ICs prepared with hemagglutination antigens, representing all 4 serotypes, reacted positively with amounts of antigens ranging from 2 to 8 units. These IgM-ICs were not type-specific.

Antibodies, Viral↗

Formation of an infectious virus-antibody complex with Rous sarcoma virus and antibodies directed against the major virus glycoprotein.

Preparations of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) can form an infectious viral-antibody complex with antibodies raised against the major glycoprotein, gp85, isolated from avian myeloblastosis virus and Prague-RSV subgroup C. Binding of anti-gp85 antibodies to RSV can be demonstrated by the inhibition of focus-forming activity after addition of goat anti-rabbit immunoglobulin and by a shift in density of virions treated with anti-gp85 serum. Group- rather than subgroup- specific regions of viral gp85 appear to be the site of binding for infectious complex.

Animals↗