bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Distinguishing Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Infection and Disease with CMV Nucleic Acid Assays
Authors: Caliendo Angela M. , St. George Kirsten , Allega Jessica , Bullotta Arlene C. , Gilbane Lisa , Rinaldo Charles R. 
Published: July 2002

ABSTRACTHuman cytomegalovirus (CMV) continues to be a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among transplant recipients. Molecular assays have been developed for the detection and quantification of CMV nucleic acid. In evaluating the clinical utility of these assays, correlations with clinical outcome are essential. The Amplicor CMV Monitor and NucliSens CMV pp67 tests were compared to the CMV antigenemia assay for 45 transplant recipients and 1 patient with Wegener's granulomatosis. Twenty-three patients remained antigenemia negative throughout the monitoring period, none of whom developed CMV disease. In this patient group, both the Amplicor and NucliSens assays showed very high specificity; only 1 of the 324 specimens assayed by NucliSens and none of the 303 specimens assayed by Amplicor were positive. Twenty-three patients were antigenemia positive during the monitoring period, 12 of whom developed 13 episodes of symptomatic CMV disease. In this patient group, the NucliSens assay was positive at or before the development of symptoms in 12 of the 13 episodes of CMV disease. All eight patients with symptomatic CMV disease who were tested by the Amplicor assay were positive at or before the development of disease. For the 11 asymptomatic patients, the NucliSens assay was positive less frequently than the antigenemia or Amplicor assays. The NucliSens assay was more likely to be positive at higher antigenemia or viral load levels. Both the NucliSens and Amplicor assays appear to have clinical utility in monitoring patients for CMV disease.
Differentiation of
Aspergillus ustus
Strains by Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA
Authors: Rath Peter-Michael , Petermeier Katrin , Verweij Paul E. , Ansorg Rainer 
Published: July 2002

ABSTRACT

The sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis patterns of water-soluble proteins and the randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) patterns of whole-cell lysates from 21
Aspergillus ustus
isolates, including 11 reference strains and 10 patient and environmental strains from one hospital, were investigated. All isolates showed identical protein patterns. The RAPD assay discriminated between all reference strains. Comparison of hospital isolates showed identical RAPD patterns in some of the patient and environmental isolates. The data indicate that the RAPD technique is useful for fingerprinting
A. ustus
.
The E4-6/7 Protein Functionally Compensates for the Loss of E1A Expression in Adenovirus Infection
Authors: O'Connor Robert J. , Hearing Patrick 
Published: July 2002

ABSTRACT
The E1A gene products are required and sufficient for activation of adenovirus gene expression in cultured cells. The E4-6/7 gene product induces the binding of the cellular transcription factor E2F to the viral E2a promoter region. The induction of E2F binding to the E2a promoter in vitro is directly correlated with transcriptional activation of the E2a promoter in vivo. The E2 region encodes the viral replication proteins, yet adenoviruses lacking E4-6/7 function demonstrate no defective phenotype in infected cells. Here we show that the E4-6/7 protein can functionally compensate for E1A expression in virus infection. In the absence of the E1A gene products, expression of the E4-6/7 protein is sufficient to displace retinoblastoma protein family members from E2Fs, activate expression of early region 2 via induction of E2F DNA binding to the E2a promoter region, and significantly enhance replication of an E1A-defective adenovirus. These results have implications in the regulation of viral gene expression and for the development of recombinant adenovirus vectors.
Identification of the Pseudorabies Virus Promoter Required for Latency-Associated Transcript Gene Expression in the Natural Host
Authors: Jin Ling , Schnitzlein William M. , Scherba Gail 
Published: July 2002

ABSTRACTExpression of the latency-associated transcript (LAT) gene is a hallmark of alphaherpesvirus latency, and yet its control and function remain an enigma. Resolution of this problem will require verification and subsequent elimination or disabling of elements regulating LAT gene transcription so that the influence of the resultant RNA can be evaluated. Toward this end, we generated a novel pseudorabies virus (PrV) recombinant in which a 282-bp region containing the LAP1 (first latency-active promoter) consensus sequence was replaced by a reporter cassette. Despite this substitution, replication of the recombinant was comparable to that of the parental and rescuant viruses both in cultured mammalian cells and in the natural host, swine. Furthermore, production of the LAT gene-associated 2.0- and 8.0-kb RNAs during an in vitro lytic infection of cultured neuronal cells was unaffected. However, the otherwise constitutively produced and processed 8.4-kb LAT was not detected in porcine trigeminal ganglia latently infected with this novel recombinant, although the viral genome was shown to be present. Therefore, LAP1 is apparently the basal promoter for PrV LAT gene expression during viral latency but is not required for such activity during an in vitro lytic infection of neuronal cells. More importantly, the ability of PrV to persist in a latent state in the absence of LAT suggests that other factors are responsible for this event in the natural host.
Widespread Distribution of a Group I Intron and Its Three Deletion Derivatives in the Lysin Gene of
Streptococcus thermophilus
Bacteriophages
Authors: Foley Sophie , Bruttin Anne , Brüssow Harald 
Published: July 2002

ABSTRACT

Of 62
Streptococcus thermophilus
bacteriophages isolated from various ecological settings, half contain a lysin gene interrupted by a group IA2 intron. Phage mRNA splicing was demonstrated. Five phages possess a variant form of the intron resulting from three distinct deletion events located in the intron-harbored open reading frame (orf 253). The predicted orf 253 gene sequence showed a significantly lower GC content than the surrounding intron and lysin gene sequences, and the predicted protein shared a motif with endonucleases found in phages from both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. A comparison of the phage lysin genes revealed a clear division between intron-containing and intron-free alleles, leading to the establishment of a 14-bp consensus sequence associated with intron possession. The conserved intron was not found elsewhere in the phage or
S. thermophilus
bacterial genomes. Folding of the intron RNA revealed secondary structure elements shared with other phage introns: first, a 38-bp insertion between regions P3 and P4 that can be folded into two stem-loop structures (shared with introns from
Bacillus
phage SPO1 and relatives); second, a conserved P7.2 region (shared with all phage introns); third, the location of the stop codon from orf 253 in the P8 stem (shared with coliphage T4 and
Bacillus
phage SPO1 introns); fourth, orf 253, which has sequence similarity with the H-N-H motif of putative endonuclease genes found in introns from
Lactococcus
,
Lactobacillus
, and
Bacillus
phages.
Characterization of Promoter Function and Cell-Type-Specific Expression from Viral Vectors in the Nervous System
Authors: Smith R. L. , Traul D. L. , Schaack J. , Clayton G. H. , Staley K. J. , Wilcox C. L. 
Published: July 2002

ABSTRACTViral vectors have become important tools to effectively transfer genes into terminally differentiated cells, including neurons. However, the rational for selection of the promoter for use in viral vectors remains poorly understood. Comparison of promoters has been complicated by the use of different viral backgrounds, transgenes, and target tissues. Adenoviral vectors were constructed in the same vector background to directly compare three viral promoters, the human cytomegalovirus (CMV) immediate-early promoter, the Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) long terminal repeat, and the adenoviral E1A promoter, driving expression of theEscherichia coli lacZgene or the gene for the enhanced green fluorescent protein. The temporal patterns, levels of expression, and cytotoxicity from the vectors were analyzed. In sensory neuronal cultures, the CMV promoter produced the highest levels of expression, the RSV promoter produced lower levels, and the E1A promoter produced limited expression. There was no evidence of cytotoxicity produced by the viral vectors. In vivo analyses following stereotaxic injection of the vector into the rat hippocampus demonstrated differences in the cell-type-specific expression from the CMV promoter versus the RSV promoter. In acutely prepared hippocampal brain slices, marked differences in the cell type specificity of expression from the promoters were confirmed. The CMV promoter produced expression in hilar regions and pyramidal neurons, with minimal expression in the dentate gyrus. The RSV promoter produced expression in dentate gyrus neurons. These results demonstrate that the selection of the promoter is critical for the success of the viral vector to express a transgene in specific cell types.
The Host Range Phenotype Displayed by a Sindbis Virus Glycoprotein Variant Results from Virion Aggregation and Retention on the Surface of Mosquito Cells
Authors: Boehme Karl W. , Popov Vsevolod L. , Heidner Hans W. 
Published: July 2002

ABSTRACT
The Sindbis virus variant NE2G216 is a PE2-containing host range mutant that is growth restricted in cultured mosquito cells (C6/36) due to inefficient release of virions from this cell type. The maturation defect of NE2G216 has been linked to the structures of N-linked oligosaccharides synthesized by arthropod cells. Analysis of C6/36 cells infected with NE2G216 by transmission electron microscopy revealed the presence of dense virus aggregates within cytoplasmic vacuoles and virus aggregates adhered to the cell surface. The virus aggregation phenotype of NE2G216 was reproduced in vertebrate cells (Pro-5) by the addition of 1-deoxymannojirimycin, an inhibitor of carbohydrate processing which limits the processing of N-linked oligosaccharides to structures that are structurally similar, albeit not identical, to those synthesized in C6/36 cells. We conclude that defective maturation of NE2G216 in mosquito cells is due to virion aggregation and retention on the cell surface and that this phenotype is directly linked to the carbohydrate-processing properties of these cells.
Lentivirus Gene Transfer in Murine Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells Is Compromised by a Delay in Proviral Integration and Results in Transduction Mosaicism and Heterogeneous Gene Expression in Progeny Cells
Authors: Mikkola Hanna , Woods Niels-Bjarne , Sjögren Marketa , Helgadottir Hildur , Hamaguchi Isao , Jacobsen Sten-Eirik , Trono Didier , Karlsson Stefan 
Published: July 2002

ABSTRACT

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1-based lentivirus vectors containing the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene were used to transduce murine Lin
−
c-kit
+
Sca1
+
primitive hematopoietic progenitor cells. Following transduction, the cells were plated into hematopoietic progenitor cell assays in methylcellulose and the colonies were scored for GFP positivity. After incubation for 20 h, lentivirus vectors transduced 27.3% ± 6.7% of the colonies derived from unstimulated target cells, but transduction was more efficient when the cells were supported with stem cell factor (SCF) alone (42.0% ± 5.5%) or SCF, interleukin-3 (IL-3), and IL-6 (53.3 ± 1.8%) during transduction. The, vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein-pseudotyped MGIN oncoretrovirus control vector required IL-3, IL-6, and SCF for significant transduction (39.3 ± 9.4%). Interestingly, only a portion of the progeny cells within the lentivirus-transduced methylcellulose colonies expressed GFP, in contrast to the homogeneous expression in oncoretrovirus-transduced colonies. Secondary plating of the primary GFP
+
lentivirus vector-transduced colonies revealed vector PCR
+
GFP
+
(42%), vector PCR
−
GFP
−
(46%), and vector PCR
+
GFP
−
(13%) secondary colonies, indicating true genetic mosaicism with respect to the viral genome in the progeny cells. The degree of vector mosaicism in individual colonies could be reduced by extending the culture time after transduction and before plating into the clonal progenitor cell assay, indicating a delay in the lentiviral integration process. Furthermore, supplementation with exogenous deoxynucleoside triphosphates during transduction decreased mosaicism within the colonies. Although cytokine stimulation during transduction correlates with higher transduction efficiency, rapid cell division after transduction may result in loss of the viral genome in the progeny cells. Therefore, optimal transduction may require activation without promoting intense cell proliferation prior to vector integration.
Cytoplasm-to-Nucleus Translocation of a Herpesvirus Tegument Protein during Cell Division
Authors: Elliott Gillian , O'Hare Peter 
Published: July 2002

ABSTRACT

We have previously shown that the herpes simplex virus tegument protein VP22 localizes predominantly to the cytoplasm of expressing cells. We have also shown that VP22 has the unusual property of intercellular spread, which involves the movement of VP22 from the cytoplasm of these expressing cells into the nuclei of nonexpressing cells. Thus, VP22 can localize in two distinct subcellular patterns. By utilizing time-lapse confocal microscopy of live cells expressing a green fluorescent protein-tagged protein, we now report in detail the intracellular trafficking properties of VP22 in expressing cells, as opposed to the intercellular trafficking of VP22 between expressing and nonexpressing cells. Our results show that during interphase VP22 appears to be targeted exclusively to the cytoplasm of the expressing cell. However, at the early stages of mitosis VP22 translocates from the cytoplasm to the nucleus, where it immediately binds to the condensing cellular chromatin and remains bound there through all stages of mitosis and chromatin decondensation into the G
1
stage of the next cycle. Hence, in VP22-expressing cells the subcellular localization of the protein is regulated by the cell cycle such that initially cytoplasmic protein becomes nuclear during cell division, resulting in a gradual increase over time in the number of nuclear VP22-expressing cells. Importantly, we demonstrate that this process is a feature not only of VP22 expressed in isolation but also of VP22 expressed during virus infection. Thus, VP22 utilizes an unusual pathway for nuclear targeting in cells expressing the protein which differs from the nuclear targeting pathway used during intercellular trafficking.
In Vivo Attenuation of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus by Disruption of a Tyrosine-Dependent Sorting Signal in the Envelope Glycoprotein Cytoplasmic Tail
Authors: Fultz Patricia N. , Vance Patricia J. , Endres Michael J. , Tao Binli , Dvorin Jeffrey D. , Davis Ian C. , Lifson Jeffrey D. , Montefiori David C. , Marsh Mark , Malim Michael H. , Hoxie James A. 
Published: July 2002

ABSTRACTAttenuated simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs) have been described that produce low levels of plasma virion RNA and exhibit a reduced capacity to cause disease. These viruses are particularly useful in identifying viral determinants of pathogenesis. In the present study, we show that mutation of a highly conserved tyrosine (Tyr)-containing motif (Yxxφ) in the envelope glycoprotein (Env) cytoplasmic tail (amino acids YRPV at positions 721 to 724) can profoundly reduce the in vivo pathogenicity of SIVmac239. This domain constitutes both a potent endocytosis signal that reduces Env expression on infected cells and a sorting signal that directs Env expression to the basolateral surface of polarized cells. Rhesus macaques were inoculated with SIVmac239 control or SIVmac239 containing either a Tyr-721-to-Ile mutation (SIVmac239Y/I) or a deletion of Tyr-721 and the preceding glycine (ΔGY). To assess the in vivo replication competence, all viruses contained a stop codon innefthat has been shown to revert during in vivo but not in vitro replication. All three control animals developed high viral loads and disease. One of two animals that received SIVmac239Y/I and two of three animals that received SIVmac239ΔGY remained healthy for up to 140 weeks with low to undetectable plasma viral RNA levels and normal CD4+T-cell percentages. These animals exhibited ongoing viral replication as determined by detection of viral sequences and culturing of mutant viruses from peripheral blood mononuclear cells and persistent anti-SIV antibody titers. In one animal that received SIVmac239Y/I, the Ile reverted to a Tyr and was associated with a high plasma RNA level and disease, while one animal that received SIVmac239ΔGY also developed a high viral load that was associated with novel and possibly compensatory mutations in the TM cytoplasmic domain. In all control and experimental animals, thenefstop codon reverted to an open reading frame within the first 2 months of inoculation, indicating that the mutant viruses had replicated well enough to repair this mutation. These findings indicate that the Yxxφ signal plays an important role in SIV pathogenesis. Moreover, because mutations in this motif may attenuate SIV through mechanisms that are distinct from those caused by mutations innef, this Tyr-based sorting signal represents a novel target for future models of SIV and human immunodeficiency virus attenuation that could be useful in new vaccine strategies.
Polyomavirus Small t Antigen Prevents Retinoic Acid-Induced Retinoblastoma Protein Hypophosphorylation and Redirects Retinoic Acid-Induced G
0
Arrest and Differentiation to Apoptosis
Authors: Yen Andrew , Placanica Lisa , Bloom Stephen , Varvayanis Susi 
Published: July 2002

ABSTRACT

Polyomavirus small t antigen (ST) impedes late features of retinoic acid (RA)-induced HL-60 myeloid differentiation as well as growth arrest, causing apoptosis instead. HL-60 cells were stably transfected with ST. ST slowed the cell cycle, retarding G
2
/M in particular. Treated with RA, the ST transfectants continued to proliferate and underwent apoptosis. ST also impeded the normally RA-induced hypophosphorylation of the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein consistent with failure of the cells to arrest growth. The RA-treated transfectants expressed CD11b, an early cell surface differentiation marker, but inducible oxidative metabolism, a later and more mature functional differentiation marker, was largely inhibited. Instead, the cells underwent apoptosis. ST affected significant known components of RA signaling that result in G
0
growth arrest and differentiation in wild-type HL-60. ST increased the basal amount of activated ERK2, which normally increases when wild-type cells are treated with RA. ST caused increased RARα expression, which is normally down regulated in RA-treated wild-type cells. The effects of ST on RA-induced myeloid differentiation did not extend to monocytic differentiation and G
0
arrest induced by 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D
3
, whose receptor is also a member of the steroid-thyroid hormone superfamily. In this case, ST abolished the usually induced G
0
arrest and retarded, but did not block, differentiation without inducing apoptosis, thus uncoupling growth arrest and differentiation. In sum, the data show that ST disrupted the normal RA-induced program of G
0
arrest and differentiation, causing the cells to abort differentiation and undergo apoptosis.
Theiler's Murine Encephalomyelitis Virus Induces Apoptosis in Gamma Interferon-Activated M1 Differentiated Myelomonocytic Cells through a Mechanism Involving Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha (TNF-α) and TNF-α-Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand
Authors: Jelachich Mary Lou , Lipton Howard L. 
Published: July 2002

ABSTRACTInfection of susceptible mice with the low-neurovirulence Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus strain BeAn results in an inflammatory demyelinating disease similar to multiple sclerosis. While the majority of virus antigen is detected in central nervous system macrophages (Mφs), few infiltrating Mφs are infected. We used the myelomonocytic precursor M1 cell line to study BeAn virus-Mφ interactions in vitro to elucidate mechanisms for restricted virus expression. We have shown that restricted BeAn infection of M1 cells differentiated in vitro (M1-D) results in apoptosis. In this study, BeAn infection of gamma interferon (IFN-γ)-activated M1-D cells also resulted in apoptosis but with no evidence of virus replication or protein expression. RNase protection assays of M1-D cellular RNA revealed up-regulation of Fas and the p55 chain of the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) receptor transcripts with IFN-γ activation. BeAn infection of activated cells resulted in increased caspase 8 mRNA transcripts and the appearance of TNF-α-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) 4 h postinfection. Both unactivated and activated M1-D cells expressed TRAIL receptors (R1 and R2), but only activated cells were killed by soluble TRAIL. Activated cells were also susceptible to soluble FasL- and TNF-α-induced apoptosis. The data suggest that IFN-γ-activated M1-D cell death receptors become susceptible to their ligands and that the cells respond to BeAn virus infection by producing the ligands TNF-α and TRAIL to kill the susceptible cells. Unactivated cells are not susceptible to FasL or TRAIL and require virus replication to initiate apoptosis. Therefore, two mechanisms of apoptosis induction can be triggered by BeAn infection: an intrinsic pathway requiring virus replication and an extrinsic pathway signaling through the death receptors.
A Predicted Secondary Structural Domain within the Internal Ribosome Entry Site of Echovirus 12 Mediates a Cell-Type-Specific Block to Viral Replication
Authors: Bradrick Shelton S. , Lieben Elizabeth A. , Carden Bruce M. , Romero José R. 
Published: July 2002

ABSTRACT

The enterovirus 5′ nontranslated region (NTR) contains an internal ribosome entry site (IRES), which facilitates translation initiation of the viral open reading frame in a 5′ (m
7
GpppN) cap-independent manner, and
cis
-acting signals for positive-strand RNA replication. For several enteroviruses, the 5′ NTR has been shown to determine the virulence phenotype. We have constructed a chimera consisting of the putative IRES element from the Travis strain of echovirus 12 (ECV12), a wild-type, relatively nonvirulent human enterovirus, exchanged with the homologous region of a full-length infectious clone of coxsackievirus B3 (CBV3). The resulting chimera, known as ECV12(5′NTR)CBV3, replicates similarly to CBV3 in human and simian cell lines yet, unlike CBV3, is completely restricted for growth on two primary murine cell lines at 37°C. By utilizing a reverse-genetics approach, the growth restriction phenotype was localized to the predicted stem-loop II within the IRES of ECV12. In addition, a revertant of ECV12(5′NTR)CBV3 was isolated which possessed three transition mutations and had restored capability for replication in the utilized murine cell lines. Assays for cardiovirulence indicated that the ECV12 IRES is responsible for a noncardiovirulent phenotype in a murine model for acute myocarditis. The results indicate that the 5′ NTRs of ECV12 and CBV3 exhibit variable intracellular requirements for function and serve as secondary determinants of tissue or species tropism.