AXENIC REARING OF INSECT VECTORS OF PLANT VIRUSES.
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In the present study we have investigated the role of the hydrophobic domains of the fowl plague virus (FPV) haemagglutinin (HA) on its intracellular transport and maturation in insect cells. To this end processing of full-length HA (A+) has been compared to that of two truncated forms lacking either the cytoplasmic domain and the transmembrane domain (A-) or lacking the entire HA2 subunit, i.e. the transmembrane domain and the fusion peptide (HA2-). All glycosylation sites present on A- and HA2- were glycosylated, indicating that both truncated forms were completely translocated in the endoplasmic reticulum. Unlike A+, A- and HA2- did not form trimers as indicated by cross-linking, gradient centrifugation and studies employing conformation-specific antibodies. Whereas HA2- was efficiently secreted, A- was retained in the cells in an apparently membrane-bound form. The data show that the carboxy-terminal transmembrane region is essential for the formation and stability of the trimers of the FPV HA. These observations also indicate that, under certain conditions, the fusion peptide of the FPV HA can serve as a membrane anchor.
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Orthobunyviruses and alphaviruses cause encephalitis, neuronal apoptosis and mortality in mammals, but fail to kill the mosquitoes that transmit these viruses. Therefore, host cell factors, as well as viral factors, regulate the outcome of infection. Drosophila Reaper is a pro-death factor in the Drosophila nervous system during development but homologues were not previously known to exist outside flies. Recent discovery of a Reaper protein encoded by orthobunyaviruses provides interesting insight into the mechanisms by which viruses modulate the death pathway in both vertebrate and invertebrate hosts.
A group of lambs was immunized with the F protein of bovine respiratory syncytial virus expressed in a baculovirus (Bac-F) and their humoral and cellular immune responses to bovine RSV studied before and after challenge with infectious bovine RSV. Immunization with Bac-F resulted in significant humoral immune responses as measured by virus neutralization and cellular immune responses as measured by lympho-proliferation against inactivated bovine RSV and specific cytotoxicity against autologous targets. Challenge infection with bovine RSV was characterized by significant anamnestic responses in Bac-F immunized lambs and virus shedding in nasal secretions was significantly lower in Bac-F immunized lambs than in control lambs.
The coding region of the gene for the nucleocapsid protein of Lassa virus has been inserted into the genome of Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcNPV) using the transfer vector pAcYM1, so that expression of the foreign DNA is under the control of the promoter of the AcNPV polyhedrin gene. Infection of cultured Spodoptera frugiperda cells with recombinant virus resulted in the synthesis of high levels of a protein that was indistinguishable from the authentic Lassa virus protein by SDS gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting with a variety of specific immune sera and monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). The kinetics of appearance of the protein were comparable to those of polyhedrin production in wild-type AcNPV-infected cells. The recombinant material was antigenic when used in ELISA for Lassa virus-specific antibodies, reacting well with MAbs specific for the nucleocapsid protein and with sera from experimentally infected guinea-pigs. The recombinant ELISA was able to clearly distinguish sera from human cases of Lassa fever against a panel of known negative sera of African origin. Recombinant-infected insect cells were an effective substitute for mammalian cells infected with Lassa virus itself in the immunofluorescence assay for Lassa virus-specific antibodies. This system offers attractive alternatives to the use of Lassa virus-infected materials as reagents in diagnostic procedures.
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The development of bovine leukemia virus (BLV) infection was studied in 14 noninfected young adult cattle exposed to 25 to 30 BLV-infected cows in an area of approximately 0.5 ha. Of 7 cattle (group 1) exposed beginning in July and August (midsummer) of 1976, 4 were infected by October, and all 7 by November (4 months' exposure). Of 7 cattle (group 2) exposed from February 1977 (midwinter), all remained negative for 3 months, and only 1 was positive after 6 months. By October 1977, however, 4 cattle in this group were infected, indicating that contact transmission of BLV is prevalent during the summer months. This, and the fact that BLV-infected lymphocytes were recovered from tabanids allowed to feed on a BLV-positive cow, supports the idea that bloodsucking insects play a major role in the spread of BLV.
The human immunodeficiency virus envelope gene was expressed in insect cells by using a Baculovirus expression vector. The protein has an apparent molecular mass of 160 kDa, appears on the surface of infected insect cells, and does not appear to be cleaved to glycoproteins gp120 and gp41. Goats immunized with the 160-kDa protein have high titers of antibody that neutralizes virus infection as measured by viral gene expression or cell cytolysis. In addition, immune sera can block fusion of human immunodeficiency virus-infected cells in culture. Both neutralization and fusion-blocking activities are bound to and eluted from immobilized gp120.
A cDNA encoding the cytoplasmic polyhedrin of Bombyx mori cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus (BmCPV) strain H was introduced into an improved baculovirus expression vector which can be utilized to express foreign genes in the Spodoptera frugiperda cell line IPLB-SF-21AE (Sf21 cells) and the B. mori cell line BmN. A recombinant virus produced large, cubic inclusion body-like structures in infected Sf21 and BmN cells. Western blot analysis showed that these structures were BmCPV polyhedra. This result suggested that the supramolecular assembly of BmCPV polyhedrin is responsible for its properties.
The complete genome of an insect picorna-like virus, Plautia stali intestine virus (PSIV), was cloned and sequenced. The genome had 8797 nucleotides including two consecutive long open reading frames. The deduced amino acid sequence of the first open reading frame (nucleotides 571 to 6003) contained conserved sequence motifs for picornavirus RNA helicase, cysteine protease, and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. The order of the three motifs in the genome was the same as those of mammalian picornaviruses. The coding regions of four capsid proteins (33, 30, 26, and 4.5 kDa) were mapped by determining their N-terminal sequences. Unlike mammalian picornaviruses, the genes for these proteins were in the 3' region of the PSIV genome. In vitro translation assay suggested that the capsid protein precursor of PSIV would be translated by internal initiation. The deduced amino acid sequence of the capsid proteins showed homology to those of the proteins encoded in the 3' part of the genomes of widely distributed insect picorna-like viruses, cricket paralysis virus, and Drosophila C virus. Some insect picorna-like viruses would have the same unique coding strategy as PSIV.
Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) cDNA cassettes containing sequences encoding the capsid precursor P1-2A with and without those encoding the proteases L and 3C were introduced into Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV) expression vectors. Procapsid proteins 1AB, 1C and 1D were produced in cells infected with recombinant baculoviruses, when L and 3C were present in the constructs, indicating that these FMDV proteases were active in insect cells. Unlike P1 processing in poliovirus, which has been shown to be catalysed mainly by the 3CD gene product, the 3C protease of FMDV was able to process P1 independently of 3D. Cytotoxicity of the L protease for insect cells prevented the use of the optimized transfer vector, pAcRP23, for inserting L-containing cassettes into AcMNPV. By contrast, viable AcMNPV-FMDV recombinants could be made without restriction on choice of the transfer vector when the L gene was either not expressed or inactivated by an inframe deletion. In the latter case, normal cleavage at the L-P1 junction no longer occurred in cis, and a new processing event, probably catalysed by 3C, was observed within the C-terminal region of the residual L protein. Analysis of baculovirus-expressed products in sucrose gradients showed that a fraction of the capsid proteins is present in an aggregated form, migrating at 70S and possibly resembling FMDV empty capsid particles.
A recombinant infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) glycoprotein (G protein) was produced in insect cells using a baculovirus vector (Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus). Characteristics of this protein were evaluated in relation to native viral G protein. A full-length (1.6 kb) cDNA copy of the glycoprotein gene of IHNV was inserted into the baculovirus vector under control of the polyhedrin promoter. High levels of G protein (approximately 0.5 microgram/1 x 10(5) cells) were produced in Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) cells following recombinant baculovirus infection. Analysis of cell lysates by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and Western blot revealed a recombinant IHNV G of slightly higher mobility on the gel than the viral G protein. Differences in mobility were abrogated by endoglycosidase treatment. When the recombinant G protein was produced in insect cells at 20 degrees C (RecGlow), immunostaining and cell fusion activity demonstrated surface localization of the protein. In contrast, when recombinant protein was produced at 27 degrees C (RecGhigh), G protein was sequestered within the cell, suggesting that at the 2 different temperatures processing differences may exist. Eleven monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) were tested by immunoblotting for reactivity to the recombinant G protein. All 11 MAbs reacted to the reduced proteins. Four MAbs recognized both RecGhigh and RecGlow under non-reducing conditions; however, 1 neutralizing MAb (92A) recognized RecGlow but failed to react to RecGhigh under non-reducing conditions. This suggests that differences exist between RecGlow and RecGhigh which may have implications in the development of a properly folded recombinant G protein with the ability to elicit protective immunity in fish.