Phylogeny-Directed Search for Murine Leukemia Virus-Like Retroviruses in Vertebrate Genomes and in Patients Suffering from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Prostate Cancer

Gammaretrovirus-like sequences occur in most vertebrate genomes. Murine Leukemia Virus (MLV) like retroviruses (MLLVs) are a subset, which may be pathogenic and spread cross-species. Retroviruses highly similar to MLLVs (xenotropic murine retrovirus related virus (XMRV) and Human Mouse retrovirus-like RetroViruses (HMRVs)) reported from patients suffering from prostate cancer (PC) and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) raise the possibility that also humans have been infected. Structurally intact, potentially infectious MLLVs occur in the genomes of some mammals, especially mouse. Mouse MLLVs contain three major groups. One, MERV G3, contained MLVs and XMRV/HMRV. Its presence in mouse DNA, and the abundance of xenotropic MLVs in biologicals, is a source of false positivity. Theoretically, XMRV/HMRV could be one of several MLLV transspecies infections. MLLV pathobiology and diversity indicate optimal strategies for investigating XMRV/HMRV in humans and raise ethical concerns. The alternatives that XMRV/HMRV may give a hard-to-detect “stealth” infection, or that XMRV/HMRV never reached humans, have to be considered

Development of single-tube nested real-time PCR assays with long internally quenched probes for detection of norovirus genogroup II

Publisher Copyright: © 2016, Eaton Publishing Company. All rights reserved.The high sequence variation of RNA viruses necessitates use of degenerate primers and probes or multiple primers and probes in molecular diagnostic assays. We showed previously that PCR amplification in two rounds, first with long target-specific primers and then with short generic primers, followed by detection using long probes, can tolerate sequence variation. Here we demonstrate that long primers and probes of up to 56 nucleotides can also be applied in real-time PCR for the detection of norovirus genogroup II with improved sensitivity. Probe design (method of incorporating quenchers, use of Zen internal quencher or traditional quenchers) greatly affects the sensitivity of the real-time PCR assays.Peer reviewe

Low Temperature and Low UV Indexes Correlated with Peaks of Influenza Virus Activity in Northern Europe during 2010–2018

With the increasing pace of global warming, it is important to understand the role of meteorological factors in influenza virus (IV) epidemics. In this study, we investigated the impact of temperature, UV index, humidity, wind speed, atmospheric pressure, and precipitation on IV activity in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania during 2010–2018. Both correlation and machine learning analyses revealed that low temperature and UV indexes were the most predictive meteorological factors for IV epidemics in Northern Europe. Our in vitro experiments confirmed that low temperature and UV radiation preserved IV infectivity. Associations between these meteorological factors and IV activity could improve surveillance and promote development of accurate predictive models for future influenza outbreaks in the region

Low Temperature and Low UV Indexes Correlated with Peaks of Influenza Virus Activity in Northern Europe during 2010–2018

With the increasing pace of global warming, it is important to understand the role of meteorological factors in influenza virus (IV) epidemics. In this study, we investigated the impact of temperature, UV index, humidity, wind speed, atmospheric pressure, and precipitation on IV activity in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania during 2010–2018. Both correlation and machine learning analyses revealed that low temperature and UV indexes were the most predictive meteorological factors for IV epidemics in Northern Europe. Our in vitro experiments confirmed that low temperature and UV radiation preserved IV infectivity. Associations between these meteorological factors and IV activity could improve surveillance and promote development of accurate predictive models for future influenza outbreaks in the region

Novel activities of safe-in-human broad-spectrum antiviral agents

Abstract According to the WHO, there is an urgent need for better control of viral diseases. Re-positioning existing safe-in-human antiviral agents from one viral disease to another could play a pivotal role in this process. Here, we reviewed all approved, investigational and experimental antiviral agents, which are safe in man, and identified 59 compounds that target at least three viral diseases. We tested 55 of these compounds against eight different RNA and DNA viruses. We found novel activities for dalbavancin against echovirus 1, ezetimibe against human immunodeficiency virus 1 and Zika virus, as well as azacitidine, cyclosporine, minocycline, oritavancin and ritonavir against Rift valley fever virus. Thus, the spectrum of antiviral activities of existing antiviral agents could be expanded towards other viral diseases.Peer reviewe

Hybridization properties of long nucleic acid probes for detection of variable target sequences, and development of a hybridization prediction algorithm

One of the main problems in nucleic acid-based techniques for detection of infectious agents, such as influenza viruses, is that of nucleic acid sequence variation. DNA probes, 70-nt long, some including the nucleotide analog deoxyribose-Inosine (dInosine), were analyzed for hybridization tolerance to different amounts and distributions of mismatching bases, e.g. synonymous mutations, in target DNA. Microsphere-linked 70-mer probes were hybridized in 3M TMAC buffer to biotinylated single-stranded (ss) DNA for subsequent analysis in a Luminex® system. When mismatches interrupted contiguous matching stretches of 6 nt or longer, it had a strong impact on hybridization. Contiguous matching stretches are more important than the same number of matching nucleotides separated by mismatches into several regions. dInosine, but not 5-nitroindole, substitutions at mismatching positions stabilized hybridization remarkably well, comparable to N (4-fold) wobbles in the same positions. In contrast to shorter probes, 70-nt probes with judiciously placed dInosine substitutions and/or wobble positions were remarkably mismatch tolerant, with preserved specificity. An algorithm, NucZip, was constructed to model the nucleation and zipping phases of hybridization, integrating both local and distant binding contributions. It predicted hybridization more exactly than previous algorithms, and has the potential to guide the design of variation-tolerant yet specific probes

Murine Gammaretrovirus Group G3 Was Not Found in Swedish Patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia

BACKGROUND: The recent report of gammaretroviruses of probable murine origin in humans, called xenotropic murine retrovirus related virus (XMRV) and human murine leukemia virus related virus (HMRV), necessitated a bioinformatic search for this virus in genomes of the mouse and other vertebrates, and by PCR in humans. RESULTS: Three major groups of murine endogenous gammaretroviruses were identified. The third group encompassed both exogenous and endogenous Murine Leukemia Viruses (MLVs), and most XMRV/HMRV sequences reported from patients suffering from myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). Two sensitive real-time PCRs for this group were developed. The predicted and observed amplification range for these and three published XMRV/HMRV PCRs demonstrated conspicuous differences between some of them, partly explainable by a recombinatorial origin of XMRV. Three reverse transcription real-time PCRs (RTQPCRs), directed against conserved and not overlapping stretches of env, gag and integrase (INT) sequences of XMRV/HMRV were used on human samples. White blood cells from 78 patients suffering from ME/CFS, of which 30 patients also fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia (ME/CFS/FM) and in 7 patients with fibromyalgia (FM) only, all from the Gothenburg area of Sweden. As controls we analyzed 168 sera from Uppsala blood donors. We controlled for presence and amplifiability of nucleic acid and for mouse DNA contamination. To score as positive, a sample had to react with several of the XMRV/HMRV PCRs. None of the samples gave PCR reactions which fulfilled the positivity criteria. CONCLUSIONS: XMRV/HMRV like proviruses occur in the third murine gammaretrovirus group, characterized here. PCRs developed by us, and others, approximately cover this group, except for the INT RTQPCR, which is rather strictly XMRV specific. Using such PCRs, XMRV/HMRV could not be detected in PBMC and plasma samples from Swedish patients suffering from ME/CFS/FM, and in sera from Swedish blood donors

Functional Characterization of the Cellular Protein p32 : A Protein Regulating Adenovirus Transcription and Splicing Through Targeting of Phosphorylation

Cellular processes involved in the conversion of the genetic information from DNA into a protein are often regulated by reversible phosphorylation reactions. By modulating the phosphorylated status of key proteins their activity can either be enhanced or repressed. In this thesis I have studied the significance of phosphorylation in the regulation of transcription and splicing using human adenovirus as a model system. The results show that the activity of the cellular SR family of splicing enhancer or repressor proteins are reduced in adenovirus infected nuclear extracts by a virus-induced hypophosphorylation. The viral E4-ORF4 was shown to induce SR protein dephosphorylation by recruiting the cellular protein phosphatase PP2A. The E4-ORF4/PP2A complex was shown to relieve the SR protein-mediated repression of late virus-specific splicing and further activate alternative splicing in transiently transfected cells. Collectively, these results showed that alternative splicing, like many other biological processes, is regulated by reversible protein phosphorylation. Similarly, the cellular p32 protein was shown to cause hypophosphorylation of the SR protein ASF/SF2 resulting in a reduced RNA binding capacity of ASF/SF2. This change in ASF/SF2 RNA binding also had a drastic effect on the function of ASF/SF2 as a regulatory protein affecting splice site choice. The cellular p32 protein and the viral E4-ORF4 protein both target the same cellular splicing factor, ASF/SF2. However, they regulate splicing by different mechanisms. E4-ORF4 recruits a phosphatase to dephosphorylate ASF/SF2, while p32 sequester ASF/SF2 in an inactive complex. Further, we demonstrated that overexpression of p32 during a lytic infection suppressed transcription from the adenovirus major late transcription unit. p32 induced a selective repression of CAAT-box containing promoters indicating the involvement of the transcription factor CBF/NF-Y in this regulation. A further analysis showed that p32 caused a hyperphosphorylation of the CTD of RNA Pol II, which resulted in a significant reduction in the processivity of Pol II during the elongation phase of transcription. In summary, we have shown that E4-ORF4 regulates the activity of splicing regulatory SR proteins, and that p32 regulates the activity of the SR protein ASF/SF2 in splicing and Pol II processivity during transcription elongation. Mechanistically, both E4-ORF4 and p32 appears to function by regulating the phosphorylated status of key cellular proteins involved in these processes

Cellular Splicing and Transcription Regulatory Protein p32 Represses Adenovirus Major Late Transcription and Causes Hyperphosphorylation of RNA Polymerase II

The cellular protein p32 is a multifunctional protein, which has been shown to interact with a large number of cellular and viral proteins and to regulate several important activities like transcription and RNA splicing. We have previously shown that p32 regulates RNA splicing by binding and inhibiting the essential SR protein ASF/SF2. To determine whether p32 also functions as a regulator of splicing in virus-infected cells, we constructed a recombinant adenovirus expressing p32 under the transcriptional control of an inducible promoter. Much to our surprise the results showed that p32 overexpression effectively blocked mRNA and protein expression from the adenovirus major late transcription unit (MLTU). Interestingly, the p32-mediated inhibition of MLTU transcription was accompanied by an approximately 4.5-fold increase in Ser 5 phosphorylation and an approximately 2-fold increase in Ser 2 phosphorylation of the carboxy-terminal domain (CTD). Further, in p32-overexpressing cells the efficiency of RNA polymerase elongation was reduced approximately twofold, resulting in a decrease in the number of polymerase molecules that reached the end of the major late L1 transcription unit. We further show that p32 stimulates CTD phosphorylation in vitro. The inhibitory effect of p32 on MLTU transcription appears to require the CAAT box element in the major late promoter, suggesting that p32 may become tethered to the MLTU via an interaction with the CAAT box binding transcription factor

Detection of Rotavirus Using Padlock Probes and Rolling Circle Amplification

Rotavirus infections are one of the most common reasons for hospitalizations due to gastrointestinal diseases. Rotavirus is often diagnosed by latex agglutination assay, chromatography immunoassay, or by electron microscopy, which are all quite insensitive. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, on the other hand, is very sensitive to variations at the genomic level. We developed a novel assay based on a set of 58 different padlock probes with a detection limit of 1,000 copies. Twenty-two patient samples were analyzed and the assay showed high concordance with a PCR-based assay. In summary, we present a new assay for sensitive and variation tolerant detection of rotavirus