Identification and analysis of vaccinia virus palmitylproteins.
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Vaccinia virus encodes at least eight proteins that incorporate label from tritiated palmitic acid when it is added to infected cell cultures. Three of these palmitylproteins are encoded by the A33R, B5R, and F13L open reading frames and migrate by gel electrophoresis with relative molecular masses of 23-28, 42, and 37 kDa, respectively. In this report we provide evidence that the A22R and A36R open reading frames also encode palmitylproteins with apparent molecular masses of 22 and 50-55 kDa, respectively. Furthermore, the hemagglutinin protein (A56R) from the Copenhagen strain is shown to be palmitylated while the hemagglutinin protein from the WR and IHD-J strains is not. A 94-kDa VV palmitylprotein appears to be a multimeric complex composed of the B5R protein and possibly others. All vaccinia-encoded palmitylproteins are present in the membranous fraction of cells and are specific for the trans-Golgi network membrane-enveloped forms of the virus, suggesting that these proteins play a role in the envelopment and egress of virions or the infectivity of released virus. (+info)
Effect of influenza hemagglutinin fusion peptide on lamellar/inverted phase transitions in dipalmitoleoylphosphatidylethanolamine: implications for membrane fusion mechanisms.
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Low mole fractions of viral fusion peptides induce inverted cubic (Q(II)) phases in dipalmitoleoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DiPoPE), a lipid with unsaturated acyl chains that normally forms inverted hexagonal phase (H(II)) above 43 degrees C. The ability to form a Q(II) phase is relevant to the study of membrane fusion: fusion occurs in liposomal systems under conditions where Q(II) phase precursors form, and fusion may be an obligatory step in the lamellar (L(alpha))/Q(II) phase transition. We used X-ray diffraction and time-resolved cryoelectron microscopy (TRC-TEM) to study the effects of the influenza hemagglutinin fusion peptide on the phase behavior and structure of DiPoPE. X-ray diffraction data show that at concentrations of 3-7 mol%, the fusion peptide (FP) induces formation of a Q(II) phase in preference to the H(II) phase. TRC-TEM data show that the FP acts at early stages in the phase transition (i.e. within seconds): at 2-7 mol%, FP decreases or inhibits formation of the L(alpha)/H(II) intermediate morphology observed via TRC-TEM in pure DiPoPE at the same temperature. Our X-ray diffraction data imply that FP either does not affect, or slightly increases, the spontaneous curvature of the host lipid (i.e. either does not affect or tends to destabilize inverted phases, respectively). FP may act in part by affecting the relative stability of two intermediate structures in the phase transition mechanism, as suggested previously. These results indicate a new way in which hydrophobic sequences of membrane proteins may be fusogenic. (+info)
Measles virus assembly within membrane rafts.
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During measles virus (MV) replication, approximately half of the internal M and N proteins, together with envelope H and F glycoproteins, are selectively enriched in microdomains rich in cholesterol and sphingolipids called membrane rafts. Rafts isolated from MV-infected cells after cold Triton X-100 solubilization and flotation in a sucrose gradient contain all MV components and are infectious. Furthermore, the H and F glycoproteins from released virus are also partly in membrane rafts (S. N. Manie et al., J. Virol. 74:305-311, 2000). When expressed alone, the M but not N protein shows a low partitioning (around 10%) into rafts; this distribution is unchanged when all of the internal proteins, M, N, P, and L, are coexpressed. After infection with MGV, a chimeric MV where both H and F proteins have been replaced by vesicular stomatitis virus G protein, both the M and N proteins were found enriched in membrane rafts, whereas the G protein was not. These data suggest that assembly of internal MV proteins into rafts requires the presence of the MV genome. The F but not H glycoprotein has the intrinsic ability to be localized in rafts. When coexpressed with F, the H glycoprotein is dragged into the rafts. This is not observed following coexpression of either the M or N protein. We propose a model for MV assembly into membrane rafts where the virus envelope and the ribonucleoparticle colocalize and associate. (+info)
Recombinant measles viruses efficiently entering cells through targeted receptors.
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We sought proof of principle that one of the safest human vaccines, measles virus Edmonston B (MV-Edm), can be genetically modified to allow entry via cell surface molecules other than its receptor CD46. Hybrid proteins consisting of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) or the insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) linked to the extracellular (carboxyl) terminus of the MV-Edm attachment protein hemagglutinin (H) were produced. The standard H protein gene was replaced by one coding for H/EGF or H/IGF1 in cDNA copies of the MV genome. Recombinant viruses were rescued and replicated to titers approaching those of the parental strain. MV displaying EGF or IGF1 efficiently entered CD46-negative rodent cells expressing the human EGF or the IGF1 receptor, respectively, and the EGF virus caused extensive syncytium formation and cell death. Taking advantage of a factor Xa protease recognition site engineered in the hybrid H proteins, the displayed domain was cleaved off from virus particles, and specific entry in rodent cells was abrogated. These studies prove that MV can be engineered to selectively eliminate cells expressing a targeted receptor and provide insights into the mechanism of MV entry. (+info)
Functional modulation of human macrophages through CD46 (measles virus receptor): production of IL-12 p40 and nitric oxide in association with recruitment of protein-tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1 to CD46.
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Human CD46, formerly membrane cofactor protein, binds and inactivates complement C3b and serves as a receptor for measles virus (MV), thereby protecting cells from homologous complement and sustaining systemic measles infection. Suppression of cell-mediated immunity, including down-regulation of IL-12 production, has been reported on macrophages (Mphi) by cross-linking their CD46. The intracellular events responsible for these immune responses, however, remain unknown. In this study, we found that 6- to 8-day GM-CSF-treated peripheral blood monocytes acquired the capacity to recruit protein-tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1 to their CD46 and concomitantly were able to produce IL-12 p40 and NO. These responses were induced by stimulation with mAbs F(ab')(2) against CD46 that block MV binding or by a wild-type MV strain Kohno MV strain (KO; UV treated or untreated) that was reported to induce early phase CD46 down-regulation. Direct ligation of CD46 by these reagents, but not intracellular MV replication, was required for these cellular responses. Interestingly, the KO strain failed to replicate in the 6- to 8-day GM-CSF-cultured Mphi, while other MV strains replicated to form syncytia under the same conditions. When stimulated with the KO strain, rapid and transient dissociation of SHP-1 from CD46 was observed. These and previous results provide strong evidence that CD46 serves as a signal modulatory molecule and that the properties of ligands determine suppression or activation of an innate immune system at a specific maturation stage of human Mphi. (+info)
An emergent poxvirus from humans and cattle in Rio de Janeiro State: Cantagalo virus may derive from Brazilian smallpox vaccine.
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The biological properties of poxvirus isolates from skin lesions on dairy cows and milkers during recent exanthem episodes in Cantagalo County, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, were more like vaccinia virus (VV) than cowpox virus. PCR amplification of the hemagglutinin (HA) gene substantiated the isolate classification as an Old World orthopoxvirus, and alignment of the HA sequences with those of other orthopoxviruses indicated that all the isolates represented a single strain of VV, which we have designated Cantagalo virus (CTGV). HA sequences of the Brazilian smallpox vaccine strain (VV-IOC), used over 20 years ago, and CTGV showed 98.2% identity; phylogeny inference of CTGV, VV-IOC, and 12 VV strains placed VV-IOC and CTGV together in a distinct clade. Viral DNA restriction patterns and protein profiles showed a few differences between VV-IOC and CTGV. Together, the data suggested that CTGV may have derived from VV-IOC by persisting in an indigenous animal(s), accumulating polymorphisms, and now emerging in cattle and milkers as CTGV. CTGV may represent the first case of long-term persistence of vaccinia in the New World. (+info)
H9N2 subtype influenza A viruses in poultry in pakistan are closely related to the H9N2 viruses responsible for human infection in Hong Kong.
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Following the outbreak of H5N1 "bird flu" in Hong Kong in 1997, the isolation of H9N2 subtype viruses from patients in southern China and Hong Kong SAR once again raised the spectre of a possible influenza pandemic. H9N2 viruses have recently been responsible for disease in poultry in various parts of the world and preliminary studies of the H9 haemagglutinin (HA) genes of viruses isolated during 1998 and 1999 in Germany, Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia showed a close relationship to the HA genes of the viruses that infected two children in Hong Kong SAR. Analysis of the complete genome of a Pakistan isolate, A/chicken/Pakistan/2/99, showed that it is closely related in all eight genes (97-99% homology) to the human H9N2 isolates and furthermore that the six genes encoding internal components of the virus are similar to the corresponding genes of the H5N1 viruses that caused 6 (out of 18) fatal cases of human infection. Thus H9N2 viruses similar to those that caused human infections in Hong Kong are circulating more widely in other parts of the world. Whether or not these H9N2 viruses also have features that facilitate avian-to-human transmission is not known. Since avian H9N2 viruses are currently perceived to represent a significant threat to human health it is important to determine whether or not viruses of this subtype circulating in poultry in various parts of the world have the potential to infect people. (+info)
Primary immunoglobulin response of herons to infection with Venezuelan encephalitis virus.
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Seven to nine days after inoculation with a replicating antigen, Venezuelan encephalitis virus, hemagglutination-inhibiting antibodies were present in plasma of 18 to 20 black-crowned night herons (BCNH), 14 of 15 great egrets (ge) , and 7 of 7 snowy egrets (SE). 19S (immunoglobulin M) precedes 7S (immunoglobulin G) antibodies in all but one bird of six GE, six SE, and six BCNH. 19S antibodies were detected for only 2 to 4 weeks post-inoculation. The induction period for both types of antibody was prolonged by 2 to 6 days as compared with earlier studies in gallinaceous birds using nonreplicating antigens. A marked delay in reaching peak titer of 7S antibodies was also observed. Hemagglutination inhibition tests were nearly as sensitive as neutralization tests for detecting 19S and early 7S antibodies. Size of virus inoculum did not measurably affect time of induction or titer of antibodies. (+info)