Refine
Has Fulltext
- yes (38)
Is part of the Bibliography
- yes (38)
Year of publication
Document Type
- Journal article (35)
- Conference Proceeding (3)
Language
- English (38) (remove)
Keywords
- Virologie (22)
- HIV (8)
- Spumaviren (2)
- AIDS (1)
- DNA sequence (1)
- Einfluss (1)
- Evaluation (1)
- Fanconi Anemia (1)
- Foamy virus (1)
- GagPol fusion protein (1)
Institute
- Institut für Virologie und Immunbiologie (38) (remove)
Sonstige beteiligte Institutionen
The thymus in SIV infection
(1993)
no abstract available
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV-1) subtype C is currently the predominant subtype worldwide. Cell culture studies of Sub-Saharan African subtype C proviral plasmids are hampered by the low replication capacity of the resulting viruses, although viral loads in subtype C infected patients are as high as those from patients with subtype B. Here, we describe the sequencing and construction of a new HIV-1 subtype C proviral clone (pZAC), replicating more than one order of magnitude better than the previous subtype C plasmids. We identify the env-region for being the determinant for the higher viral titers and the pZAC Env to be M-tropic. This higher replication capacity does not lead to a higher cytotoxicity compared to previously described subtype C viruses. In addition, the pZAC Vpu is also shown to be able to down-regulate CD4, but fails to fully counteract CD317.
Background: HIV-associated general immune activation is a strong predictor for HIV disease progression, suggesting that chronic immune activation may drive HIV pathogenesis. Consequently, immunomodulating agents may decelerate HIV disease progression. Methods: In an observational study, we determined immune activation in HIV patients receiving low-dose (5 mg/day) prednisolone with or without highly-active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) compared to patients without prednisolone treatment. Lymphocyte activation was determined by flow cytometry detecting expression of CD38 on CD8(+) T cells. The monocyte activation markers sCD14 and LPS binding protein (LBP) as well as inflammation markers soluble urokinase plasminogen activated receptor (suPAR) and sCD40L were determined from plasma by ELISA. Results: CD38-expression on CD8+ T lymphocytes was significantly lower in prednisolone-treated patients compared to untreated patients (median 55.40% [percentile range 48.76-67.70] versus 73.34% [65.21-78.92], p = 0.0011, Mann-Whitney test). Similarly, we detected lower levels of sCD14 (3.6 μg/ml [2.78-5.12] vs. 6.11 μg/ml [4.58-7.70]; p = 0.0048), LBP (2.18 ng/ml [1.59-2.87] vs. 3.45 ng/ml [1.84-5.03]; p = 0.0386), suPAR antigen (2.17 μg/ml [1.65-2.81] vs. 2.56 μg/ml [2.24-4.26]; p = 0.0351) and a trend towards lower levels of sCD40L (2.70 pg/ml [1.90-4.00] vs. 3.60 pg/ml [2.95-5.30]; p = 0.0782). Viral load in both groups was similar (0.8 × 105 ng/ml [0.2-42.4 × 105] vs. 1.1 × 105 [0.5-12.2 × 105]; p = 0.3806). No effects attributable to prednisolone were observed when patients receiving HAART in combination with prednisolone were compared to patients who received HAART alone. Conclusions: Patients treated with low-dose prednisolone display significantly lower general immune activation than untreated patients. Further longitudinal studies are required to assess whether treatment with low-dose prednisolone translates into differences in HIV disease progression.
Background: Recently, contradictory results on foamy virus protease activity were published. While our own results indicated that protease activity is regulated by the viral RNA, others suggested that the integrase is involved in the regulation of the protease. Results: To solve this discrepancy we performed additional experiments showing that the protease-reverse transcriptase (PR-RT) exhibits protease activity in vitro and in vivo, which is independent of the integrase domain. In contrast, Pol incorporation, and therefore PR activity in the viral context, is dependent on the integrase domain. To further analyse the regulation of the protease, we incorporated Pol in viruses by expressing a GagPol fusion protein, which supported near wild-type like infectivity. A GagPR-RT fusion, lacking the integrase domain, also resulted in wild-type like Gag processing, indicating that the integrase is dispensable for viral Gag maturation. Furthermore, we demonstrate with a trans-complementation assays that the PR in the context of the PR-RT protein supports in trans both, viral maturation and infectivity. Conclusion: We provide evidence that the FV integrase is required for Pol encapsidation and that the FV PR activity is integrase independent. We show that an active PR can be encapsidated in trans as a GagPR-RT fusion protein.
Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended guidelines for a HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) survey for resource-limited countries. Eligibility criteria for patients include age below 25 years in order to focus on the prevalence of transmitted HIVDR (tHIVDR) in newly-infected individuals. Most of the participating sites across Africa have so far reported tHIVDR prevalences of below 5%. In this study we investigated whether the rate of HIVDR in patients ,25 years is representative for HIVDR in the rest of the therapy-naive population. Methods and Findings: HIVDR was determined in 88 sequentially enrolled ART-naive patients from Mwanza, Tanzania (mean age 35.4 years). Twenty patients were aged, 25 years and 68 patients were aged 25–63 years. The frequency of HIVDR in the study population was 14.8% (95%; CI 0.072–0.223) and independent of NVP-resistance induced by prevention of mother-to-child transmission programs. Patients .25 years had a significantly higher HIVDR frequency than younger patients (19.1%; 95% CI 0.095–0.28) versus 0%, P = 0.0344). In 2 out of the 16 patients with HIVDR we found traces of antiretrovirals (ARVs) in plasma. Conclusions: ART-naive patients aged over 25 years exhibited significantly higher HIVDR than younger patients. Detection of traces of ARVs in individuals with HIVDR suggests that besides transmission, undisclosed misuse of ARVs may constitute a significant factor in the generation of the observed high HIVDR rate. The current WHO tHIVDR survey that is solely focused on the transmission of HIVDR and that excludes patients over 25 years of age may therefore result in substantial underestimation of the prevalence of HIVDR in the therapy-naive population. Similar studies should be performed also in other areas to test whether the so far reported optimistic picture of low HIVDR prevalence in young individuals is really representative for the rest of the ART-naive HIV-infected population.
A virus derived from cells of a Iymphoblastoid line originating from the lymph node of a healthy African green monkey was characterized as a typical member of the foamy virus subgroup of rctroviridac by its morphological, physicochemical, biological and biochemical properties (reverse transcriptase actvity). 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 infectious are demonstrated in human contacts of the African green monkey colony, with the animal barbauring the isolate.
During molecular cloning of proviral DNA of human. spumaretroVirus, various recombinant clones were estabUshed and analyzed. Blot hybridization revealed that one of the recoinbinant plasmids bad the characteristic features of a member of the long interspersed repetitive sequences famlly. The DNA element was analyzed by restrictioil mapping and nuelootide sequencing. It showed a high degree of amino acid sequence homology of 54.3% when conipared with the 5'-terminal part of the pol gelie product of the murine retrotransposon LIMd. The 3' region of the cloned DNA element encodes proteins witb an even higher degree of homology of 67.4% in comparison to the corresponding parts of a member of the primate Kpnl sequence family.
DNA ofhuman spumaretrovirus (HSRV) was cloned from both cDNA and from viral DNA into phage A and bacterial plasmid vectors. The recombinant plasm.ids harboring viral DNA were characterized by Southern blot hybridization and restriction mapping. Physical maps were constructed from cDNA and found to be colinear with the restriction maps obtained from viral DNA. The recombinant clones isolated contained viral DNA inserts which rangein size from 2.2 kb to 15.4 kb. The recombinant clones allowed to construct a physical map of the complete HSRV provirus of 12.2 kb.
Recombinant clonesthat represent the 3' part ofthe genome of the human spumaretrovirus (foamy virus) were established from viral DNA and from DNA complementary to viral RNA. The recombinant clones were characterized by blot hybridizations and nucleotide sequence analysis. The deduced protein sequence of the clones at their 5' ends was found to be homologous to the 3' domain of retroviral reverse transcriptases. Downstream of a small intergerne pol-env region a long open reading frame of 985 amino acid residues was identified that according to its genomic location, size, glycosylation signals, and hydrophobicity protile closely resembles the lentiviral env genes. The spumaretroviral env gene is followed by two open reading frames, termed bel-l and bel-2 which are located between env and the long terminal repeat region. The long terminal repeat of 1259 nucleotides is preceded by a polypurine tract and contains the canonical signal sequences characteristic for transcriptional regulation of retroviruses. The provisional classitication of the spumaretrovirus subfamily is discussed.
An infectious molecular clone (pHSRV) of the human Spumaretrovirus (HSRV) was constructed using viral DNA and cDNA clones. The infectivity of pHSRV was proven by transfection of cell cultures and subsequent infection of susceptible cultures with cell free transfection derlved virus. pHSRV derived virus produced foamy virus typical cytopathic effects in susceptible cultures. lnfected cells could be stained specifically with foamy virus antisera by means of indirect immunofluorescence. Radiolmmunoprecipltatlon revealed the presence of characteristic HSRV structural proteins in pHSRV infected cultures. By cotransfection of pHSRV and an indicator plasmid it was found that pHSRV is able to transactivate the viral L TR. Viral transcripts were found to be approximately 200 bases Ionger in pHSRV infected cultures compared to wildtype infected cultures. This difference is most likely due to an Insertion of DNA of non-viral origin ln the U3 region of the 3'L TR of the infectious clone.
The long terminal repeat (LTR) of the human spumaretrovirus (HSRV) was examined with respect to its ability to function as transcriptional promotor in virus-infected and uninfected cells. Transient transfections using a plasmid in which the 3' L TR of HSRV was coupled to the bacterial chloramphenicol cetyltransferase (cat) gene revealed that the Ievei of HSRV LTR-directed cat gene expression was markedly increased in HSRV-infected cells compared to uninfected cells. Northern blot analysis of cat mRNA from transfected cultures suggests that transactivation of HSRVdirected gene expression occurs at the transcriptionallevel.
We have identified the major immunogenic structural proteins of the human foamy virus (HFV), a distinct member of the foamy virus subfamily of Retroviridae. Radiolabelied viral proteins were immunoprecipitated from HFV -infected cells by foamy virus antisera of human and non-human primate origin. Precipitated viral proteins were in the range of 31 K to 170K. Labelling of proteins with [\(^{14}\)C]glucosamine or with [\(^{35}\)S]methionine in the presence oftunicamycin, as well as endo-ß-N-acetylglycosaminidase Hand F treatment of [\(^{35}\)S]methionine-labelled proteins, revealed three viral glycoproteins of approximately 170K, 130K and 47K, most likely representing the env gene-encoded precursor, the surface glycoprotein and the transmembrane protein of HFV, respectively.
DNAs from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of 21 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), 1 patient with tropical spastic paraparesis (TSP) as well as DNAs from brain and spinal cord of 5 MS cases and 3 controls were examined for human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV)-related sequences by polymerase chain reaction. The primers used were derived from the HTLV-1 gag, env and tax genes. Amplified products were separated on agarase gels, blotted onto nylon membranes and hybridized to specific radiolabelled oligonucleotides. The sensitivity of amplification and hybridization was one copy of target DNA in 10\8^5\) cellular genomes. None of the specimens was positive for HTLV-1 sequences except the TSP probe. These negative data are all the more significant because brain -material from MS patients was used in these studies. Our studies thus fail to support speculations that HTLV-I is involved in the aetiology of multiple sclerosis.
Progressive encephalopathy and myopathy in transgenic mice expressing human foamy virus genes
(1991)
Transgenie mice carrying the bel region of human foamy retrovirus (HFV) under transcriptional control of its own long terminal repeat expressed tbe transgene in their centrat nervous systems and in smootb and striated muscle tissues. The animals developed a progressive degenerative disease of tbe centrat nervous system and of the striated muscle. Because expression of tbe transgene was dosely correlated witb the appearance of structural damage and inflammatory reactions were scanty, the disease is likely to be caused directly by tbe HFV proteins. These unexpected findings call for a reevaluation of tbe patbogenic potential of HFV in humans.
Transcription factor AP-1 modulates the activity of the human foamy virus long terminal repeat
(1991)
The human foamy virus (HFV) contains within the UJ region of its long terminal repeat (L TR) three perfect consensus sequences for the binding of the inducible transcription factor AP-1. Results of DNase I footprint protection and gel retardation assays demonstrated that proteins in extracts of HeLa and BHK-21 cells as weil as bacterially expressed Jun and Fos proteins bind to these AP-1 sites. By conducting transient expression assays using chloramphenicol acetyltransferase plasmids carrying LTR sequences with point-mutated AP-1 sites it was found that the three AP-1 sites contribute to the optimal activity ofthe HFV promoter. It is shown that lnduction of the HFV L TR by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) and serum factors is mediated through the AP-1 sites.
Aim: To examine peripheral blood and skeletal muscle from patients with chronic fadgue syndrome for exogenous retrovirus. Methods: Blood samples from 30 patients and muscle biopsy specimens of 15 patients were examined for retroviral sequences by DNA extraction, polymerase chain reacdon (PCR), and Southern blotting hybridisation. Sera were examined for human foamy virus by western immunoblotting and indirect immunofluorescence techniques. Results: No difference between the padent and control populations was found for any of the PCR primer sets used (gag, pol, env, and tax regions of HTLV VII). An endogenous gag band was observed in both the padent and control groups. All sera were negative for antibody to human foamy virus. Conclusion: The results indicate that there is no evidence of retroviral involvement in the chronic fatigue syndrome.
Human foamy viruspol gene fragments were molecularly cloned into a procaryotic expression vector. The expression pattern of the cloned fragments and nucleotide sequence analysis of the 5' pol gene region revealed that in HFV the protease (PR) is located in the pol open reading frame. Purified recombinant proteins were used to generate antibodies in rats. ln immunoblot assay, using infected cells as antigen, a precursor protein with an apparent molecular mass (M,) of 127K was identified by antibodies directed against the reverse transcriptase (RT), RNaseH, or integrase (IN) domeins of pol. With concentrated virus as antigen, the RT and RNaseH antibodies recognized a protein of 80K, the IN antiserum recognized a protein of 40K, and the PR antiserum detected a protein of approximately 10K.
In vitro and in vivo infection of rhesus monkey microglial cells by simian immunodeficiency virus
(1993)
The observation that microglial cells in brain tissue are probably a major target for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has raised interest in the pathogenic role of this cell population for the development of neuro-AIOS. Since it is very difficult to obtain microglia from normal or diseased human brain we studied microglial cells isolated from fresh brain tissue of uninfected and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infected rhesus monkeys (Macacca mulatta) in comparison to peripheral blood macrophages. Besides the characterization of the phenotypes of these two cell populations, we examined the replication of SIV in the cells in addition to the effect of viral infection on the expression of cell surface molecules. We found that microglia and macrophages support replication of the wild-type SIV\(_{mac25}\), strain as well as the infectious clone (SIV\(_239\)). Infectious viruswas produced and a CPE developed. Isolated microglial cells from SIV-infected monkeys were latently infected independent of the presence of neuropathological lesions and produced infectious virus after 20-25 days in culture. In situ hybridization revealed that only a small percentage of isolated microglial cells are productively infected in vivo, yet the majority of these expressed MHC class II molecules. This indicated a state of activation that is acquired in vivo. These findings indicate that microglia are a prime target cell for SIV infection in CNS tissue.