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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Phylogenesis and genetic complexity of the nonhuman primate retroviridae.

The three known groups of nonhuman primate retroviruses (simian immunodeficiency virus, simian T cell lymphotropic/leukemic virus type I, and simian foamy virus) are thought to have equivalent human counterparts. This is clearly the case with human immunodeficiency virus types 1 and 2, the causative agents of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and with human T cell lymphotropic/leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I), which causes T cell leukemia and a progressive form of myelopathy (tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV-I-associated myelopathy), and HTLV-II. However, the presence of spumaviruses (foamy viruses) in humans remains uncertain. Data accumulated in the last 5 years suggest the possibility that the human retroviruses are indeed the result of transmission of simian retroviruses to humans. In this article we attempt to parallel the genetic features of the simian retroviridae with their human counterparts and argue for the possibility of horizontal transmission of these viruses from monkeys to humans.

Animals↗

Isolation and characterization of an antigenically distinct 68-kd protein from nonviral intracytoplasmic inclusions in Boa constrictors chronically infected with the inclusion body disease virus (IBDV: Retroviridae).

The relationship between a retroviral infection and the development of nonviral intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies was studied in a Boa constrictor model. Twelve juvenile age- and size-matched inclusion body disease (IBD)-negative boas were randomly divided into three groups. Each group was inoculated intraperitoneally with 1 ml of an IBD virus (IBDV)-infected liver homogenate or 1 ml of normal boa liver homogenate (sham-inoculated control) or was left untreated. All boas were monitored for development of IBD by daily examination and serial liver biopsy over 1 year. The 4 IBDV-inoculated boas became IBDV and inclusion positive by 10 weeks postinoculation. The average size and density of inclusion bodies increased with the duration of infection. Ultrastructurally, inclusion bodies <2 microm in diameter consisted of intracytoplasmic aggregates of granular electron-dense material that were not membrane limited. Larger inclusions (3-6 microm in diameter) were characterized as membrane-bound aggregates of amorphous to granular electron-dense material admixed with membranelike fragments. The sham-inoculated and untreated control snakes did not become inclusion or IBDV positive. Direct comparison of the protein electrophoretograms of IBDV-infected and normal boa tissues demonstrated a prominent 68-kd protein band unique to infected inclusion-positive tissues. Monoclonal antibodies directed against the 68-kd protein band specifically labeled inclusion bodies. The results of this study demonstrate that IBD inclusions represent an intracytoplasmic accumulation of an antigenically distinct IBDV-associated protein.

Animals↗

Enhanced production of a human spumavirus (Retroviridae) in semi-permissive cell cultures after treatment with 5-azacytidine.

Infection by a human spumavirus of human foetal diploid lung (HFDL) cells was found to be productive with virus titres ranging from 10(3) to 10(5) p.f.u./ml. In contrast, infection of recovered amnion (RA) aneuploid cells resulted in a persistent infection with less than 100 p.f.u./ml infectious virus produced. The decreased sensitivity of RA cells to the spumavirus was not due to the failure of virus to penetrate into the cell since infectious virus was not produced even after transfection of infectious proviral DNA. The effect of 5-azacytidine, an inhibitor of DNA methylation, on virus replication was examined. Whereas virus production in HFDL cells was not affected, there was a 100-fold increase in virus yield in RA cells treated with the drug for at least 48 h and maximum virus yields were obtained 4 days post-infection.

Azacitidine↗

Ultrastructural comparison of Oncovirinae (type C), Spumavirinae, and Lentivirinae: three subfamilies of Retroviridae found in farm animals.

The successive steps of maturation of seven retroviruses from five species of farm animals and one retrovirus from a mouse were compared in cell cultures. The viruses included three type C oncoviruses, one spumavirus, and three lentiviruses. Although members of the 3 subfamilies shared some gross morphologic features such as budding on plasma membranes, core, and surface projections, differences were noted in the ultrastructural detail of these features. Type C oncoviruses did not show any structural differentiation in identifiable form in the cytoplasm as opposed to characteristic features observed in the spumavirus and lentivirus subfamilies, respectively. Budding viruses were distinct among the 3 subfamilies. The type C bovine leukemia virus budding on vacuole membranes differed from the two other type C viruses by lacking an electron-lucent intermediate layer as did the lentiviruses. Differentiation between type C oncoviruses and lentiviruses could be confusing because of the similarity of the fully mature virions appearing in the intercellular space. However, each subfamily of retroviruses can be readily differentiated from one another when each morphologic stage of virus replication is examined by electron microscopy.

Animals↗

Scanning and transmission electron microscopic study of equine infectious anemia virus.

Scanning and transmission electron microscopy were used to study in detail the morphogenesis and replication of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) in cultured, persistently infected equine fetal kidney fibroblasts. The EIAV was shown by thin-section electron microscopy to resemble morphologically more closely the members of the genus Lenti-virus in the family Retroviridae than other genera. Scanning electron microscopy demonstrated budding virus on only about 5% of the equine fetal kidney fibroblasts; however, the entire surface of these cells was involved in viral replication. Except where virus budding was observed, EIAV-infected cells were smooth and free of the topographic surface alterations characteristic of cells transformed by type C retroviruses. The morphologic relationship of EIAV and pathologic manifestations of EIAV infection to those of other Retroviridae are discussed.

Cells, Cultured↗

Analysis of structural polypeptides of the lymphoproliferative disease virus (LPDV) of turkeys.

The polypeptide composition of the lymphoproliferative disease virus (LPDV) of turkeys was shown to comprise several polypeptides with apparent molecular weights of 76, 31, 28, 20 and 15 kDa. This polypeptide pattern is distinctly different from the protein profiles of avian leukosis viruses, reticuloendotheliosis virus, or murine leukemia viruses. Moreover, LPD virions contain 2 major structural proteins (p31 and p28), in contrast to only one major internal protein present in most other retroviruses. The 76 kDa protein was established as the major viral envelope glycoprotein. The uniqueness of the LPDV polypeptide pattern is consistent with the lack of genetic relatedness of LPDV genome to other retroviruses, establishing LPDV as a representative of a distinct group of retroviridae.

Animals↗

Characterization of a foamy virus isolated from Cercopithecus aethiops lymphoblastoid cells.

A virus derived from cells of a lymphoblastoid line originating from the lymph node of a healthy African green monkey was characterized as a typical member of the foamy virus subgroup of retroviridae by its morphological, physicochemical, biological and biochemical properties (reverse transcriptase activity). Besides the usual host range of foamy viruses, the isolated strain revealed a remarkable T-lymphotropism, distinguishing it from the prototypes of foamy viruses previously isolated from African green monkeys. Two foamy virus infections are demonstrated in human contacts of the African green monkey colony, with the animal harbouring the isolate.

Animals↗

A human B-lymphoblastoid cell line constitutively producing Epstein-Barr herpesvirus and JHK retrovirus.

The human B-lymphoblastoid cell line, designated JHK-3, with pre-B-cell characteristics, chronically produces two viruses, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and JHK virus, an apparently novel retrovirus. The JHK-3 cells are much more productive of extracellular EBV than the high-producer marmoset line B95-8. The extracellular virus of the JHK-3 EBV strain is relatively fragile, more broadly dispersed in an ultracentrifuged sucrose gradient than the B95-8 EBV and more susceptible to disruption by combined treatment with urea and dithiothreitol. By restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, the JHK-3 EBV strain resembles the EBV strain FF-41. The JHK-3 cells also produce an incompletely characterized, relatively fragile, enveloped, icosahedral RNA virus that contains Mn(++)-dependent reverse transcriptase. JHK virions measure 85 nm in ultrathin sections, much smaller than other Retroviridae. The JHK virus exhibits a distinctive morphogenesis, most nearly resembling C-type retroviruses. The JHK-3 cell line provides a human cell model for investigating virus/virus interactions and their pathogenetic affects on host cells which chronically and simultaneously produce DNA and RNA viruses.

Animals↗

Partial characterization of retroviruses from boid snakes with inclusion body disease.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize retroviruses isolated from boid snakes with inclusion body disease (IBD). ANIMALS: 2 boa constrictors with IBD and 1 boa exposed to an affected snake. PROCEDURE: Snakes were euthanatized, and tissue specimens and blood samples were submitted for virus isolation. Tissue specimens were cultured with or without commercially available viper heart cells and examined by use of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for evidence of viral replication. Reverse transcriptase activ ty was determined in sucrose gradient-purified virus. Western blotting was performed, using polyclonal antibodies against 1 of the isolated viruses. Specificity of the rabbit anti-virus antibody was evaluated, using an immunogold-labeling TEM technique. RESULTS: 3 viruses (RV-1, RV-2, and RV-3) were isolated. The isolates were morphologically comparable to members of the Retroviridae family. Reverse transcriptase activity was high in sucrose gradient fractions that were rich in virus. Polyclonal antibody against RV-1 reacted with proteins of similar relative mobility in RV-1 and RV-2. By use of immunogold labeling, this antibody also recognized virions of both RV-1 and RV-2. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: A retrovirus was isolated from boid snakes with IBD or exposed to IBD. Western blot analysis of viral proteins indicated that viruses isolated from the different snakes were similar. Whether this virus represents the causative agent of IBD is yet to be determined. The isolation of retroviruses from boid snakes with IBD is an important step n the process of identifying the causative agent of this disease.

Animals↗

[Retrovirus and cancer revisited].

The discovery of RNA oncoviruses dates back to 1911 when Rous isolated the avian virus which is the cause of the sarcoma which bears his name and to 1936 when Bittner related the "milk factor" to the development of murine mammary cancer. During the 50s, the successive descriptions of virus-induced sarcoma-leukemias in mice led to the oncogene theory and gradually to the postulation of a viral origin of cancer. The discovery of the reverse transcriptase in 1970 led to the establishment of the Retroviridae family including both onco and lentiviruses. The decade of the 80s was marked by three fundamental discoveries which altered the concept of oncovirus: 1) oncogenes became established as part of the cellular genome converting retroviruses into occasional vectors of the oncogene; 2) as the T cell growth factor, interleukin-2, became available, the first human oncovirus, HTLV-I, was isolated and proved to be the cause of adult T cell leukemia; 3) HIV was isolated and classified as a lentivirus and as the cause of AIDS. A few years later the antioncogenes were discovered. Both oncogenes and anti-oncogenes were found to collaborate in the cell cycle, maintaining an equilibrium between proliferation and apoptosis. Today the viral theory has been replaced by the gene theory of cancer which postulates that neoplastic transformation is the result of a cascade of events which include uncorrected DNA errors, blocking of apoptosis, activation of oncogenes and deletion of antioncogenes. At the present time, the intriguing question for retrovirologists is the role played by endogenous retroviruses which in man occupy up to 0.1% of the cellular genome.

Animals↗

Evidence for type-C retrovirus production by Burkitt's lymphoma-derived cell line.

Burkitt's lymphoma cell line, P3HR-I, was found to secrete virions with properties of known type-C RNA tumor viruses. The viral particles had a buoyant density of 1.16 g/ml in sucrose gradients and contained a high-molecular-weight RNA and an RNA-instructed DNA polymerase. The viral polymerase was active in an endogenous reaction requiring the presence of the four deoxyriboside triphosphates and manganese ions, and was sensitive to RNase. The DNA product of the endogenous reaction specifically hybridized to P3HR-I viral 60 to 70S RNA. Electron microscopic examination of ultrathin sections of P3HR-I cells revealed immature, mature and budding virions typical of type-C retroviridae. Nucleic acid hybridization assays showed no sequence homoblastosis virus, murine oncornaviruses, simian sarcoma virus or RD114 virus.

Burkitt Lymphoma↗

Long-term persistent infection of domestic rabbits by the human foamy virus.

Human foamy virus (HFV) belongs to the spumaretrovirus group of the Retroviridae taxonomic family. Attempts to associate HFV or other foamy viruses to a specific pathology still remain unsuccessful. However, viral gene expression as well as tissue-specific tropism in an in vivo context remain poorly analyzed. To address this issue, we have infected domestic rabbits with a single dose of HFV and followed them at the biological and molecular levels for 5 years. No apparent pathology was detectable in the infected animals which have developed a strong immunological response against major viral proteins. We found that HFV provirus in blood cells and several organs persisted predominantly in its defective form, delta HFV, suggesting that in vivo viral persistence could be related to homologous interference as was recently shown in vitro. This animal model might be useful for studying the in vivo targets of HFV and should also be convenient for testing therapeutic effects of antiretroviral drugs.

Animals↗

Studies on in vitro interferon induction capacity and interferon sensitivity of simian foamy viruses.

We demonstrate that Simian Foamy viruses (SFV) types 1, 2, 4 and 10 do not induce Interferon (IFN) production in mouse and primate (simian and human) cell lines, but that their cytopathogenic effect is blocked by this viral inhibitor. The mechanisms of action of IFN seems to be different from that of other Retroviridae. No trapping of virions appears in treated cells examined by ectron microscopy. Moreover, neither precursor nor mature virus particles were observed in infected cultures submitted to IFN treatment.

Animals↗

The RNA of the human syncytium-forming (foamy) virus.

Human syncytium-forming (foamy) virus was labeled with 3H-uridine and banded isopycnically in sucrose gradients (buoyant density = 1.16 to 1.18 g/cm3). Viral RNA extracted from the banded virus was analyzed either by rate zonal separation in sucrose gradients or by polyacrylamide-agarose gel electrophoresis. The results indicated that purified HSFV contains a 60S RNA component plus several smaller molecular weight RNA components. On dissociation with heat, smaller RNA structures were released from the 60S component. These results indicate that the genome of HSFV, like the other members of the Retroviridae family, is composed of an aggregate of several RNA species.

Centrifugation, Isopycnic↗

The caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus is a distinct virus within the Lentivirus group.

The genetic relatedness among viral genomes of caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus, visna virus, and progressive pneumonia virus, was determined. Whereas the genomic RNAs of two strains of visna virus are indistinguishable as reflected both by their annealing kinetics as well as by the thermal stability of the hybrids, the caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus and visna virus have only 30% of their nucleic acid sequences in common. Furthermore, within the homologous regions of the two viral genomes, there is a significant level (approximately 10%) of mismatched base pairs. This limited homology that exists between caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus and visna virus was lower than the sequence homology observed between the genomes of visna virus and progressive pneumonia virus, or between the genomes of caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus and progressive pneumonia virus. All this indicates that caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus is an additional distinct member of the Lentivirus group of the Retroviridae family.

Animals↗