The gamma2 late glycoprotein K promoter of equine herpesvirus 1 is differentially regulated by the IE and EICP0 proteins. (1/159)

The equine herpesvirus 1 immediate-early (IE) phosphoprotein is essential for the activation of transcription from viral early and late promoters and trans-represses its own promoter. Transient-transfection assays showed that the IE protein trans-represses the gamma2 late gK promoter. Gel shift and DNase I footprinting assays demonstrated that the IE protein binds to the gK promoter sequences from -42 to -26 and from -13 to +12 that overlap the transcription initiation site (+1). These results indicated that the IE protein binds to the transcription initiation site of the gK promoter sequences, thereby repressing transcription. On the other hand, the EICP0 protein trans-activates the gamma2 late gK promoter [Bowles, D. E., Holden, V. R., Zhao, Y., and O'Callaghan, D. J. (1997). The ICP0 protein of equine herpesvirus 1 is an early protein that independently transactivates expression of all classes of viral promoters. J. Virol. 71, 4904-4914]. Overall, the EICP0 protein is able to release the gK promoter from the repressive effects of the IE protein. It has not been previously demonstrated that the major immediate-early transcriptional regulator of a herpesvirus represses expression of a late gene during infection.  (+info)

Modulation of allospecific CTL responses during pregnancy in equids: an immunological barrier to interspecies matings? (2/159)

Maternal immune recognition of the developing conceptus in equine pregnancy is characterized by the strongest and most consistent alloantibody response described in any species, a response directed almost exclusively against paternal MHC class I Ags. This work investigated the cellular immune response to paternal MHC Ags in pregnant and nonpregnant horses and donkeys, and in horses carrying interspecies hybrid mule conceptuses. We observed profound decreases in classical, MHC-restricted, CTL activity to allogeneic paternal cells in peripheral blood lymphocytes from both horse mares and donkey jennets carrying intraspecies pregnancies, compared with cells from nonpregnant controls. This is the first evidence in a randomly bred species for a generalized systemic shift of immune reactivity away from cellular and toward humoral immunity during pregnancy. Surprisingly, mares carrying interspecies hybrid mule conceptuses did not exhibit this transient, pregnancy-associated decrease in CTL activity. The failure of interspecies pregnancy to down-regulate cellular immune responses may be a heretofore-unrecognized, subtle barrier to reproductive success between species.  (+info)

Murine double minute (MDM2) blocks p53-coactivator interaction, a new mechanism for inhibition of p53-dependent gene expression. (3/159)

The ability of the p53 tumor suppressor to induce cell cycle arrest and cell death is closely regulated under normal conditions. The transcriptional activity of p53 is negatively controlled by murine double minute (MDM2). p53 requires the coactivator CREB-binding protein (CBP), or its structural homolog, p300, to stimulate transcription of responsive genes. Here we find that the transactivation domain of p53 selectively interacts with the N- and C-terminal regions of CBP/p300. A mutant CBP lacking the N terminus failed to stimulate p53-dependent transactivation. In both p53 null Saos2 cells, and in UV-irradiated MCF7 cells, we observed that MDM2 associates with the N-terminal region of CBP/p300. Because p53 interacts with both MDM2 and CBP/p300 through its trans-activation domain, we examined the role of MDM2 in p53-coactivator interactions. MDM2 blocked CBP/p300 recruitment in vitro and inhibited the interaction of the transactivating region of p53 with both the N- or C-terminal regions of CBP/p300 in a mammalian two-hybrid assay. These observations suggest that MDM2 may be inhibiting p53 trans-activation by shielding its activation domain from the coactivators, a new mechanism for the inhibition of p53-dependent gene expression.  (+info)

Cloning, sequencing and functional expression of zebra (Equus burchelli) LH. (4/159)

Although donkey luteinizing hormone exhibits a very high degree of amino acid sequence identity with horse LH, its FSH activity in non-equine species is tenfold lower. The coding regions of the common zebra (Equus burchelli) glycoprotein hormone alpha-subunit and LH beta-subunit transcripts were cloned by reverse transcription-PCR from pituitary gland RNA to investigate more precisely the structure-function relationships of this gonadotrophin family. Zebra LH was then expressed in COS-7 cells and its LH and FSH activities were assessed in a rat Leydig cell bioassay (for LH) and in a cell line stably expressing the human FSH receptor bioassay (for FSH). The recombinant zebra LH, although displaying LH activity similar to that of recombinant donkey and horse LH, had no detectable FSH activity. The LH amino acid sequences of these three species are very similar, leaving only very few amino acids as potential candidates to explain the difference in their FSH activities. Moreover, according to the difference in FSH bioactivity and to the percentage identity between the sequences, the common zebra is phylogenetically closer to the donkey than it is to the horse.  (+info)

Identification of a novel structural protein of arteriviruses. (5/159)

Arteriviruses are positive-stranded RNA viruses with an efficiently organized, polycistronic genome. A short region between the replicase gene and open reading frame (ORF) 2 of the equine arteritis virus (EAV) genome was previously assumed to be untranslated. However, here we report that this segment of the EAV genome contains the 5' part of a novel gene (ORF 2a) which is conserved in all arteriviruses. The 3' part of EAV ORF 2a overlaps with the 5' part of the former ORF 2 (now renamed ORF 2b), which encodes the GS glycoprotein. Both ORF 2a and ORF 2b appear to be expressed from mRNA 2, which thereby constitutes the first proven example of a bicistronic mRNA in arteriviruses. The 67-amino-acid protein encoded by EAV ORF 2a, which we have provisionally named the envelope (E) protein, is very hydrophobic and has a basic C terminus. An E protein-specific antiserum was raised and used to demonstrate the expression of the novel gene in EAV-infected cells. The EAV E protein proved to be very stable, did not form disulfide-linked oligomers, and was not N-glycosylated. Immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy studies showed that the E protein associates with intracellular membranes both in EAV-infected cells and upon independent expression. An analysis of purified EAV particles revealed that the E protein is a structural protein. By using reverse genetics, we demonstrated that both the EAV E and GS proteins are essential for the production of infectious progeny virus.  (+info)

Identification of Ruminococcus flavefaciens as the predominant cellulolytic bacterial species of the equine cecum. (6/159)

Detection and quantification of cellulolytic bacteria with oligonucleotide probes showed that Ruminococcus flavefaciens was the predominant species in the pony and donkey cecum. Fibrobacter succinogenes and Ruminococcus albus were present at low levels. Four isolates, morphologically resembling R. flavefaciens, differed from ruminal strains by their carbohydrate utilization and their end products of cellobiose fermentation.  (+info)

What determines the bending strength of compact bone? (7/159)

The bending strength of a wide variety of bony types is shown to be nearly linearly proportional to Young's modulus of elasticity/100. A somewhat closer and more satisfactory fit is obtained if account is taken of the variation of yield strain with Young's modulus. This finding strongly suggests that bending strength is determined by the yield strain. The yield stress in tension, which might be expected to predict the bending strength, underestimates the true bending strength by approximately 40 %. This may be explained by two phenomena. (1) The post-yield deformation of the bone material allows a greater bending moment to be exerted after the yield point has been reached, thereby increasing the strength as calculated from beam formulae. (2) Loading in bending results in a much smaller proportion of the volume of the specimens being raised to high stresses than is the case in tension, and this reduces the likelihood of a weak part of the specimen being loaded to failure.  (+info)

African horse sickness in Portugal: a successful eradication programme. (8/159)

African horse sickness (AHS) was diagnosed for the first time in southern Portugal in autumn 1989, following outbreaks in Spain. AHS virus presence was confirmed by virus isolation and serotyping. An eradication campaign with four sanitary zones was set up by Central Veterinary Services in close collaboration with private organizations. Vaccination began on 6 October. In February 1990, vaccination was extended to all Portuguese equines (170000 animals). There were 137 outbreaks on 104 farms: 206 of the equidae present died (16%) or were slaughtered (14%); 81.5% were horses, 10.7% were donkeys and 7.8% were mules. Clinical AHS occurred more frequently in horses than donkeys and mules. In the vaccinated population, 82 animals (62.2% horses and 37.8% mules and donkeys), died or were slaughtered due to suspected or confirmed AHS. One year after ending vaccination, December 1991, Portugal was declared free of AHS. Cost of eradication was US$1955513 (US$11.5/Portuguese equine).  (+info)