Genetic inactivation of poliovirus infectivity by increasing the frequencies of CpG and UpA dinucleotides within and across synonymous capsid region codons

CpG Frequency in the 5' Third of the env Gene Determines Sensitivity of Primary HIV-1 Strains to the Zinc-Finger Antiviral Protein

CpG dinucleotide suppression has been reported to allow HIV-1 to evade inhibition by the zinc-finger antiviral protein (ZAP). Here, we show that primate lentiviruses display marked differences in CpG frequencies across their genome, ranging from 0.44% in simian immunodeficiency virus SIVwrc from Western red colobus to 2.3% in SIVmon infecting mona monkeys. Moreover, functional analyses of a large panel of human and simian immunodeficiency viruses revealed that the magnitude of CpG suppression does not correlate with their susceptibility to ZAP. However, we found that the number of CpG dinucleotides within a region of ∼700 bases at the 5' end of the env gene determines ZAP sensitivity of primary HIV-1 strains but not of HIV-2. Increased numbers of CpGs in this region were associated with reduced env mRNA expression and viral protein production. ZAP sensitivity profiles of chimeric simian-human immunodeficiency viruses (SHIVs) expressing different HIV-1 env genes were highly similar to those of the corresponding HIV-1 strains. The frequency of CpGs in the identified env region correlated with differences in clinical progression rates. Thus, the CpG frequency in a specific part of env, rather than the overall genomic CpG content, governs the susceptibility of HIV-1 to ZAP and might affect viral pathogenicity in vivoIMPORTANCE Evasion of the zinc-finger antiviral protein (ZAP) may drive CpG dinucleotide suppression in HIV-1 and many other viral pathogens but the viral determinants of ZAP sensitivity are poorly defined. Here, we examined CpG suppression and ZAP sensitivity in a large number of primate lentiviruses and demonstrate that their genomic frequency of CpGs varies substantially and does not correlate with ZAP sensitivity. We further show that the number of CpG residues in a defined region at the 5' end of the env gene together with structural features plays a key role in HIV-1 susceptibility to ZAP and correlates with differences in clinical progression rates in HIV-1-infected individuals. Our identification of a specific part of env as a major determinant of HIV-1 susceptibility to ZAP restriction provides a basis for future studies of the underlying inhibitory mechanisms and their potential relevance in the pathogenesis of AIDS.

Optimization of the Codon Pair Usage of Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus Paradoxically Resulted in Reduced Viral Replication In Vivo and Reduced Immunogenicity

Using computer algorithms and large-scale DNA synthesis, one or more ORFs of a microbial pathogen can be recoded by different strategies that involve the introduction of up to thousands of nucleotide changes without affecting amino acid coding. This approach has been used mostly to generate deoptimized viruses used as vaccine candidates. However, the effects of the converse approach of generating optimized viruses are still largely unknown. Here, various ORFs in the genome of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) were codon pair optimized (CPO) by increasing the content of codon pairs that are overrepresented in the human genome. CPO did not affect RSV replication in multicycle replication experiments in vitro. However, replication was marginally reduced in two rodents models. In hamsters, CPO RSVs induced lower levels of serum RSV-neutralizing antibodies. Thus, CPO of an RNA virus for a mammalian host has paradoxical effects on virus replication and the adaptive humoral immune response.

We subjected various open reading frames (ORFs) in the genome of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to codon pair optimization (CPO) by increasing the content of codon pairs that are overrepresented in the human genome without changing overall codon usage and amino acid sequences. CPO has the potential to increase the expression of the encoded protein(s). Four viruses were made: Max A (with CPO of NS1, NS2, N, P, M, and SH ORFs), Max B (with CPO of G and F), Max L (with CPO of L), and Max FLC (with CPO of all ORFs except M2-1 and M2-2). Because of the possibility of increased viral replication, each CPO virus was attenuated by the inclusion of a codon deletion mutation (Δ1313) and a missense mutation (I1314L) in the L polymerase. CPO had no effect on multicycle virus replication in vitro, temperature sensitivity, or specific infectivity. Max A and L, which in common had CPO of one or more ORFs of proteins of the polymerase complex, exhibited global increases in viral protein synthesis. Max B alone exhibited decreased protein synthesis, and it alone had reduced single-cycle virus replication in vitro. All CPO RSVs exhibited marginal reductions in replication in mice and hamsters. Surprisingly, the CPO RSVs induced lower levels of serum RSV-neutralizing antibodies in hamsters. This reduced immunogenicity might reflect reduced viral replication and possibly also the decrease in CpG and UpA dinucleotides as immune stimulators. Overall, our study describes paradoxical effects of CPO of an RNA virus on viral replication and the adaptive humoral immune response.

IMPORTANCE Using computer algorithms and large-scale DNA synthesis, one or more ORFs of a microbial pathogen can be recoded by different strategies that involve the introduction of up to thousands of nucleotide changes without affecting amino acid coding. This approach has been used mostly to generate deoptimized viruses used as vaccine candidates. However, the effects of the converse approach of generating optimized viruses are still largely unknown. Here, various ORFs in the genome of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) were codon pair optimized (CPO) by increasing the content of codon pairs that are overrepresented in the human genome. CPO did not affect RSV replication in multicycle replication experiments in vitro. However, replication was marginally reduced in two rodents models. In hamsters, CPO RSVs induced lower levels of serum RSV-neutralizing antibodies. Thus, CPO of an RNA virus for a mammalian host has paradoxical effects on virus replication and the adaptive humoral immune response.

Genome analysis of coxsackievirus B1 isolates during the consecutive alternating administration course of triple antiviral combination in newborn mice

Background

We developed a new approach for the treatment of enterovirus infections, the consecutive alternating administration (CAA) of a combination of enterovirus inhibitors. On the model of coxsackievirus B1 (CVB1) in mice, two phenomena were observed: absence of drug resistance and increased susceptibility to the antivirals. This study aims to clarify the genetic basis of these phenomena.

Methods

Brain samples from CVB1-infected mice subjected to a CAA course with the combination pleconaril/MDL-860/oxoglaucine were used for viral RNA extraction and next generation sequencing. In parallel, samples from monotherapeutic courses of the three substances included in the combination were studied. Whole genome sequence analysis was carried out on all samples.

Results

Samples of pleconaril monotherapy showed mutations in 5′untranslated region, VP3, 2C, 3C and 2A regions of viral RNA, translated in amino acid substitution of the 2A protein. The MDL-860 course induced changes in CVB1 RNA in the VP3 and 2C regions. The oxoglaucine monotherapy samples showed RNA mutation and amino acid substitution in the VP1 region and nucleotide substitution in the 3D region. In the specimens taken from mice subjected to the CAA course with pleconaril/MDL-860/oxoglaucine, the following RNA mutations were established: 5′ untranslated region, 2A, and 2B, and amino acids substitutions in VP3 and 2A, which differ from those mentioned above. These changes could be the reason for the prevention of drug resistance development and also to be considered as the basis for the phenomenon of increased drug susceptibility.

Conclusions

The results reveal that the high anti-enteroviral efficacy of the CAA course is substantiated by the appearance of specific changes in the viral genome.

The role of ZAP and OAS3/RNAseL pathways in the attenuation of an RNA virus with elevated frequencies of CpG and UpA dinucleotides

Zinc finger antiviral protein (ZAP) is a powerful restriction factor for viruses with elevated CpG dinucleotide frequencies. We report that ZAP similarly mediates antiviral restriction against echovirus 7 (E7) mutants with elevated frequencies of UpA dinucleotides. Attenuation of both CpG- and UpA-high viruses and replicon mutants was reversed in ZAP k/o cell lines, and restored by plasmid-derived reconstitution of expression in k/o cells. In pull-down assays, ZAP bound to viral RNA transcripts with either CpG- and UpA-high sequences inserted in the R2 region. We found no evidence that attenuation of CpG- or UpA-high mutants was mediated through either translation inhibition or accelerated RNA degradation. Reversal of the attenuation of CpG-high, and UpA-high E7 viruses and replicons was also achieved through knockout of RNAseL and oligodenylate synthetase 3 (OAS3), but not OAS1. WT levels of replication of CpG- and UpA-high mutants were observed in OAS3 k/o cells despite abundant expression of ZAP, indicative of synergy or complementation of these hitherto unconnected pathways. The dependence on expression of ZAP, OAS3 and RNAseL for CpG/UpA-mediated attenuation and the variable and often low level expression of these pathway proteins in certain cell types, such as those of the central nervous system, has implications for the use of CpG-elevated mutants as attenuated live vaccines against neurotropic viruses.

Chikungunya Virus Vaccine Candidates with Decreased Mutational Robustness Are Attenuated In Vivo and Have Compromised Transmissibility

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a reemerged arbovirus, a member of the Togaviridae family. It circulates through mosquito vectors mainly of the Aedes family and a mammalian host. CHIKV causes chikungunya fever, a mild to severe disease characterized by arthralgia, with some fatal outcomes described. In the past years, several outbreaks mainly caused by enhanced adaptation of the virus to the vector and ineffective control of the contacts between infected mosquito populations and the human host have been reported. Vaccines represent the best solution for the control of insect-borne viruses, including CHIKV, but are often unavailable. We designed live attenuated CHIKVs by applying a rational genomic design based on multiple replacements of synonymous codons. In doing so, the virus mutational robustness (capacity to maintain phenotype despite introduction of mutations to genotype) is decreased, driving the viral population toward deleterious evolutionary trajectories. When the candidate viruses were tested in the insect and mammalian hosts, we observed overall strong attenuation in both and greatly diminished signs of disease. Moreover, we found that the vaccine candidates elicited protective immunity related to the production of neutralizing antibodies after a single dose. During an experimental transmission cycle between mosquitoes and naive mice, vaccine candidates could be transmitted by mosquito bite, leading to asymptomatic infection in mice with compromised dissemination. Using deep-sequencing technology, we observed an increase in detrimental (stop) codons, which confirmed the effectiveness of this genomic design. Because the approach involves hundreds of synonymous modifications to the genome, the reversion risk is significantly reduced, rendering the viruses promising vaccine candidates.IMPORTANCE Chikungunya fever is a debilitating disease that causes severe pain to the joints, which can compromise the patient's lifestyle for several months and even in some grave cases lead to death. The etiological agent is chikungunya virus, an alphavirus transmitted by mosquito bite. Currently, there are no approved vaccines or treatments against the disease. In our research, we developed novel live attenuated vaccine candidates against chikungunya virus by applying an innovative genomic design. When tested in the insect and mammalian host, the vaccine candidates did not cause disease, elicited strong protection against further infection, and had low risk of reversion to pathogenic phenotypes.

Effects of Arbovirus Multi-Host Life Cycles on Dinucleotide and Codon Usage Patterns

Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) of vertebrates including dengue, zika, chikungunya, Rift Valley fever, and blue tongue viruses cause extensive morbidity and mortality in humans, agricultural animals, and wildlife across the globe. As obligate intercellular pathogens, arboviruses must be well adapted to the cellular and molecular environment of both their arthropod (invertebrate) and vertebrate hosts, which are vastly different due to hundreds of millions of years of separate evolution. Here we discuss the comparative pressures on arbovirus RNA genomes as a result of a dual host life cycle, focusing on pressures that do not alter amino acids. We summarize what is currently known about arboviral genetic composition, such as dinucleotide and codon usage, and how cyclical infection of vertebrate and invertebrate hosts results in different genetic profiles compared with single-host viruses. To serve as a comparison, we compile what is known about arthropod tRNA, dinucleotide, and codon usages and compare this with vertebrates. Additionally, we discuss the potential roles of genetic robustness in arboviral evolution and how it may vary from other viruses. Overall, both arthropod and vertebrate hosts influence the resulting genetic composition of arboviruses, but a great deal remains to be investigated.

KHNYN is essential for the zinc finger antiviral protein (ZAP) to restrict HIV-1 containing clustered CpG dinucleotides

CpG dinucleotides are suppressed in most vertebrate RNA viruses, including HIV-1, and introducing CpGs into RNA virus genomes inhibits their replication. The zinc finger antiviral protein (ZAP) binds regions of viral RNA containing CpGs and targets them for degradation. ZAP does not have enzymatic activity and recruits other cellular proteins to inhibit viral replication. We found that KHNYN, a protein with no previously known function, interacts with ZAP. KHNYN overexpression selectively inhibits HIV-1 containing clustered CpG dinucleotides and this requires ZAP and its cofactor TRIM25. KHNYN requires both its KH-like domain and NYN endonuclease domain for antiviral activity. Crucially, depletion of KHNYN eliminated the deleterious effect of CpG dinucleotides on HIV-1 RNA abundance and infectious virus production and also enhanced the production of murine leukemia virus. Overall, we have identified KHNYN as a novel cofactor for ZAP to target CpG-containing retroviral RNA for degradation.

Enterovirus A71 Containing Codon-Deoptimized VP1 and High-Fidelity Polymerase as Next-Generation Vaccine Candidate

Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) is a major pathogen that causes hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD), which occasionally results in severe neurological complications. In this study, we developed four EV-A71 (rgEV-A71) strains by reverse genetics procedures as possible vaccine candidates. The four rgEV-A71 viruses contained various codon-deoptimized VP1 capsid proteins (VP1-CD) and showed replication rates and antigenicity similar to that of the wild-type virus, while a fifth virus, rg4643C4VP-CD, was unable to form plaques but was still able to be examined by median tissue culture infectious dose (TCID₅₀) titers, which were similar to those of the others, indicating the effect of CD on plaque formation. However, the genome stability showed that there were some mutations which appeared during just one passage of the VP1-CD viruses. Thus, we further constructed VP1-CD rgEV-A71 containing high-fidelity determinants in 3D polymerase (CD-HF), and the number of mutations in CD-HF rgEV-A71 was shown to have decreased. The CD-HF viruses showed less virulence than the parental strain in a mouse infection model. After 14 days postimmunization, antibody titers had increased in mice infected with CD-HF viruses. The mouse antisera showed similar neutralizing antibody titers against various CD-HF viruses and different genotypes of EV-A71. The study demonstrates the proof of concept that VP1 codon deoptimization combined with high-fidelity 3D polymerase decreased EV-A71 mutations and virulence in mice but retained their antigenicity, indicating it is a good candidate for next-generation EV-A71 vaccine development.IMPORTANCE EV-A71 can cause severe neurological diseases with fatality in infants and young children, but there are still no effective drugs to date. Here, we developed a novel vaccine strategy with the combination of CD and HF substitutions to generate the genetically stable reverse genetics virus. We found that CD combined with HF polymerase decreased the virulence but maintained the antigenicity of the virus. This work demonstrated the simultaneous introduction of CD genome sequences and HF substitutions as a potential new strategy to develop attenuated vaccine seed virus. Our work provides insight into the development of a low-virulence candidate vaccine virus through a series of genetic editing of virus sequences while maintaining its antigenicity and genome stability, which will provide an additional strategy for next-generation vaccine development of EV-A71.

Extensive recoding of dengue virus type 2 specifically reduces replication in primate cells without gain-of-function in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

Dengue virus (DENV), an arthropod-borne ("arbovirus") virus, causes a range of human maladies ranging from self-limiting dengue fever to the life-threatening dengue shock syndrome and proliferates well in two different taxa of the Animal Kingdom, mosquitoes and primates. Mosquitoes and primates show taxonomic group-specific intolerance to certain codon pairs when expressing their genes by translation. This is called "codon pair bias". By necessity, dengue viruses evolved to delicately balance this fundamental difference in their open reading frames (ORFs). We have undone the evolutionarily conserved genomic balance in the DENV2 ORF sequence and specifically shifted the encoding preference away from primates. However, this recoding of DENV2 raised concerns of 'gain-of-function,' namely whether recoding could inadvertently increase fitness for replication in the arthropod vector. Using mosquito cell lines and two strains of Aedes aegypti we did not observe any increase in fitness in DENV2 variants codon pair deoptimized for humans. This ability to disrupt and control DENV2's host preference has great promise towards developing the next generation of synthetic vaccines not only for DENV but for other emerging arboviral pathogens such as chikungunya virus and Zika virus.

Zika Virus Attenuation by Codon Pair Deoptimization Induces Sterilizing Immunity in Mouse Models

Zika virus (ZIKV) infection during the large epidemics in the Americas is related to congenital abnormities or fetal demise. To date, there is no vaccine, antiviral drug, or other modality available to prevent or treat Zika virus infection. Here we designed novel live attenuated ZIKV vaccine candidates using a codon pair deoptimization strategy. Three codon pair-deoptimized ZIKVs (Min E, Min NS1, and Min E+NS1) were de novo synthesized and recovered by reverse genetics and contained large amounts of underrepresented codon pairs in the E gene and/or NS1 gene. The amino acid sequence was 100% unchanged. The codon pair-deoptimized variants had decreased replication fitness in Vero cells (Min NS1 ≫ Min E > Min E+NS1), replicated more efficiently in insect cells than in mammalian cells, and demonstrated diminished virulence in a mouse model. In particular, Min E+NS1, the most restrictive variant, induced sterilizing immunity with a robust neutralizing antibody titer, and a single immunization achieved complete protection against lethal challenge and vertical ZIKV transmission during pregnancy. More importantly, due to the numerous synonymous substitutions in the codon pair-deoptimized strains, reversion to wild-type virulence through gradual nucleotide sequence mutations is unlikely. Our results collectively demonstrate that ZIKV can be effectively attenuated by codon pair deoptimization, highlighting the potential of Min E+NS1 as a safe vaccine candidate to prevent ZIKV infections.IMPORTANCE Due to unprecedented epidemics of Zika virus (ZIKV) across the Americas and the unexpected clinical symptoms, including Guillain-Barré syndrome, microcephaly, and other birth defects in humans, there is an urgent need for ZIKV vaccine development. Here we provided the first attenuated versions of ZIKV with two important genes (E and/or NS1) that were subjected to codon pair deoptimization. Compared to parental ZIKV, the codon pair-deoptimized ZIKVs were mammal attenuated and preferred insect to mammalian cells. Min E+NS1, the most restrictive variant, induced sterilizing immunity with a robust neutralizing antibody titer and achieved complete protection against lethal challenge and vertical virus transmission during pregnancy. More importantly, the massive synonymous mutational approach made it impossible for the variant to revert to wild-type virulence. Our results have proven the feasibility of codon pair deoptimization as a strategy to develop live attenuated vaccine candidates against flaviviruses such as ZIKV, Japanese encephalitis virus, and West Nile virus.

HIV-1 Protease Evolvability Is Affected by Synonymous Nucleotide Recoding

One unexplored aspect of HIV-1 genetic architecture is how codon choice influences population diversity and evolvability. Here we compared the levels of development of HIV-1 resistance to protease inhibitors (PIs) between wild-type (WT) virus and a synthetic virus (MAX) carrying a codon-pair-reengineered protease sequence including 38 (13%) synonymous mutations. The WT and MAX viruses showed indistinguishable replication in MT-4 cells or peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Both viruses were subjected to serial passages in MT-4 cells, with selective pressure from the PIs atazanavir (ATV) and darunavir (DRV). After 32 successive passages, both the WT and MAX viruses developed phenotypic resistance to PIs (50% inhibitory concentrations [IC₅₀s] of 14.6 ± 5.3 and 21.2 ± 9 nM, respectively, for ATV and 5.9 ± 1.0 and 9.3 ± 1.9, respectively, for DRV). Ultradeep sequence clonal analysis revealed that both viruses harbored previously described mutations conferring resistance to ATV and DRV. However, the WT and MAX virus proteases showed different resistance variant repertoires, with the G16E and V77I substitutions observed only in the WT and the L33F, S37P, G48L, Q58E/K, and L89I substitutions detected only in the MAX virus. Remarkably, the G48L and L89I substitutions are rarely found in vivo in PI-treated patients. The MAX virus showed significantly higher nucleotide and amino acid diversity of the propagated viruses with and without PIs (P < 0.0001), suggesting a higher selective pressure for change in this recoded virus. Our results indicate that the HIV-1 protease position in sequence space delineates the evolution of its mutant spectrum. Nevertheless, the investigated synonymously recoded variant showed mutational robustness and evolvability similar to those of the WT virus.IMPORTANCE Large-scale synonymous recoding of virus genomes is a new tool for exploring various aspects of virus biology. Synonymous virus genome recoding can be used to investigate how a virus's position in sequence space defines its mutant spectrum, evolutionary trajectory, and pathogenesis. In this study, we evaluated how synonymous recoding of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) protease affects the development of protease inhibitor (PI) resistance. HIV-1 protease is a main target of current antiretroviral therapies. Our present results demonstrate that the wild-type (WT) virus and a virus with recoded protease exhibited different patterns of resistance mutations after PI treatment. Nevertheless, the developed PI resistance phenotypes were indistinguishable between the recoded virus and the WT virus, suggesting that the HIV-1 strain with synonymously recoded protease and the WT virus are equally robust and evolvable.

Combinatorial Approaches to Viral Attenuation

Live viral vaccines rely on attenuated viruses that can successfully infect their host but have reduced fitness or virulence. Such attenuated viruses were originally developed through trial and error, typically by adaptation of the wild-type virus to novel conditions. That method was haphazard, with no way of controlling the degree of attenuation or the number of attenuating mutations or preventing evolutionary reversion. Synthetic biology now enables rational design and engineering of viral attenuation, but rational design must be informed by biological principles to achieve stable, quantitative attenuation. This work shows that in a model system for viral attenuation, bacteriophage T7, attenuation can be obtained from rational design principles, and multiple different attenuation approaches can be combined for enhanced overall effect.

Attenuated viruses have numerous applications, in particular in the context of live viral vaccines. However, purposefully designing attenuated viruses remains challenging, in particular if the attenuation is meant to be resistant to rapid evolutionary recovery. Here we develop and analyze a new attenuation method, promoter ablation, using an established viral model, bacteriophage T7. Ablation of promoters of the two most highly expressed T7 proteins (scaffold and capsid) led to major reductions in transcript abundance of the affected genes, with the effect of the double knockout approximately additive of the effects of single knockouts. Fitness reduction was moderate and also approximately additive; fitness recovery on extended adaptation was partial and did not restore the promoters. The fitness effect of promoter knockouts combined with a previously tested codon deoptimization of the capsid gene was less than additive, as anticipated from their competing mechanisms of action. In one design, the engineering created an unintended consequence that led to further attenuation, the effect of which was studied and understood in hindsight. Overall, the mechanisms and effects of genome engineering on attenuation behaved in a predictable manner. Therefore, this work suggests that the rational design of viral attenuation methods is becoming feasible.

IMPORTANCE Live viral vaccines rely on attenuated viruses that can successfully infect their host but have reduced fitness or virulence. Such attenuated viruses were originally developed through trial and error, typically by adaptation of the wild-type virus to novel conditions. That method was haphazard, with no way of controlling the degree of attenuation or the number of attenuating mutations or preventing evolutionary reversion. Synthetic biology now enables rational design and engineering of viral attenuation, but rational design must be informed by biological principles to achieve stable, quantitative attenuation. This work shows that in a model system for viral attenuation, bacteriophage T7, attenuation can be obtained from rational design principles, and multiple different attenuation approaches can be combined for enhanced overall effect.

Breaking the Last Chains of Poliovirus Transmission: Progress and Challenges in Global Polio Eradication

Since the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), paralytic cases associated with wild poliovirus (WPV) have fallen from ∼350,000 in 1988 to 22 in 2017. WPV type 2 (WPV2) was last detected in 1999, WPV3 in 2012, and WPV1 appeared to be localized to Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2017. Through continuous refinement, the GPEI has overcome operational and biological challenges far more complex and daunting than originally envisioned. Operational challenges had led to sustained WPV endemicity in core reservoirs and widespread dissemination to polio-free countries. The biological challenges derive from intrinsic limitations to the oral poliovirus vaccine: ( a) reduced immunogenicity in high-risk settings and ( b) genetic instability, leading to repeated outbreaks of circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses and prolonged infections in individuals with primary immunodeficiencies. As polio eradication enters its multifaceted endgame, the GPEI, with its technical, operational, and social innovations, stands as the preeminent model for control of vaccine-preventable diseases worldwide.

Within-patient mutation frequencies reveal fitness costs of CpG dinucleotides and drastic amino acid changes in HIV

HIV has a high mutation rate, which contributes to its ability to evolve quickly. However, we know little about the fitness costs of individual HIV mutations in vivo, their distribution and the different factors shaping the viral fitness landscape. We calculated the mean frequency of transition mutations at 870 sites of the pol gene in 160 patients, allowing us to determine the cost of these mutations. As expected, we found high costs for non-synonymous and nonsense mutations as compared to synonymous mutations. In addition, we found that non-synonymous mutations that lead to drastic amino acid changes are twice as costly as those that do not and mutations that create new CpG dinucleotides are also twice as costly as those that do not. We also found that G→A and C→T mutations are more costly than A→G mutations. We anticipate that our new in vivo frequency-based approach will provide insights into the fitness landscape and evolvability of not only HIV, but a variety of microbes.

The Evolution of Molecular Compatibility between Bacteriophage ΦX174 and its Host

Viruses rely upon their hosts for biosynthesis of viral RNA, DNA and protein. This dependency frequently engenders strong selection for virus genome compatibility with potential hosts, appropriate gene regulation and expression necessary for a successful infection. While bioinformatic studies have shown strong correlations between codon usage in viral and host genomes, the selective factors by which this compatibility evolves remain a matter of conjecture. Engineered to include codons with a lesser usage and/or tRNA abundance within the host, three different attenuated strains of the bacterial virus ФX174 were created and propagated via serial transfers. Molecular sequence data indicate that biosynthetic compatibility was recovered rapidly. Extensive computational simulations were performed to assess the role of mutational biases as well as selection for translational efficiency in the engineered phage. Using bacteriophage as a model system, we can begin to unravel the evolutionary processes shaping codon compatibility between viruses and their host.

Emergency Services of Viral RNAs: Repair and Remodeling

Reproduction of RNA viruses is typically error-prone due to the infidelity of their replicative machinery and the usual lack of proofreading mechanisms. The error rates may be close to those that kill the virus. Consequently, populations of RNA viruses are represented by heterogeneous sets of genomes with various levels of fitness. This is especially consequential when viruses encounter various bottlenecks and new infections are initiated by a single or few deviating genomes. Nevertheless, RNA viruses are able to maintain their identity by conservation of major functional elements. This conservatism stems from genetic robustness or mutational tolerance, which is largely due to the functional degeneracy of many protein and RNA elements as well as to negative selection. Another relevant mechanism is the capacity to restore fitness after genetic damages, also based on replicative infidelity. Conversely, error-prone replication is a major tool that ensures viral evolvability. The potential for changes in debilitated genomes is much higher in small populations, because in the absence of stronger competitors low-fit genomes have a choice of various trajectories to wander along fitness landscapes. Thus, low-fit populations are inherently unstable, and it may be said that to run ahead it is useful to stumble. In this report, focusing on picornaviruses and also considering data from other RNA viruses, we review the biological relevance and mechanisms of various alterations of viral RNA genomes as well as pathways and mechanisms of rehabilitation after loss of fitness. The relationships among mutational robustness, resilience, and evolvability of viral RNA genomes are discussed.

Codon usage variation of Zika virus: The potential roles of NS2B and NS4A in its global pandemic

A comprehensive demonstration of Zika virus (ZIKV) molecular evolution is essential for understanding its adaptation and expansion in its recent pandemics. Despite several studies on mutations and codon usage in ZIKVs, the variations in codon usage patterns across individual genes and their biological implication remains unclear. Here, we performed a gene-by-gene comparison of the codon usage variation in ZIKVs of the African and Asian lineages. We found that besides the evidence of positive selection (Ka/Ks >1) in the Asian lineage of the ZIKV genome, codon usage patterns were gene-specific and codon usage variation of ZIKV genes, was possibly constrained by their individual functional features, such as transmembrane domains, or antigenicity. In particular, the NS2B and NS4A genes showed distinct codon usage patterns, clearly separating them from the clusters of other genes in the correspondence analysis (CA). In the Asian lineage, the NS2B and NS4A genes showed the highest codon usage bias (ENC values: 51.01 ± 0.72 and 48.89 ± 0.99 respectively), and were subjected to the highest translation selection (ENC_obs/ENC_exp ratio: 0.847 ± 0.0297 and 0.828 ± 0.0233 respectively) in comparison to the African lineages of ZIKV. The CpG frequency of the NS2B showed a gradual ascending trend in the Asian ZIKV lineages, while in NS4A it was constrained along with the expansion of the Asian lineage. Furthermore, between the African and Asian lineages, differentiated and specific over-represented codons were more prominent in the NS2B and NS4A. Together, our study implies that ZIKVs are in the process of evolutionary fine tuning their codon as seen in the recent pandemics, and NS2B and NS4A could have played a potential role in the molecular evolution of the Asian lineage and their establishment.

Attenuation of Viruses by Large-Scale Recoding of their Genomes: the Selection Is Always Biased

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This review summarizes the current understanding of virus attenuation by large-scale recoding of viral genomes and discusses what would ultimately be necessary for construction of better and safer live modified virus vaccines.

RECENT FINDINGS

It has been shown that codon and codon pair deoptimization are rapid and robust methods that can be used for the development of attenuated vaccine candidates. The viruses attenuated by large-scale recoding have the added value that they are extremely genetically stable. However, the exact mechanisms that lead to viral attenuation by recoding are yet to be determined.

SUMMARY

While the advantages of large-scale recoding (speed, simplicity, potency, and universal applicability) have been known for more than a decade, this approach has been only inadequately explored and the attention was focused on a limited number of RNA viruses. Attenuation of viruses by large-scale recoding should be explored to combat known and future viral threats.

Increasing the CpG dinucleotide abundance in the HIV-1 genomic RNA inhibits viral replication

BACKGROUND

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) structural protein Gag is necessary and sufficient to form viral particles. In addition to encoding the amino acid sequence for Gag, the underlying RNA sequence could encode cis-acting elements or nucleotide biases that are necessary for viral replication. Furthermore, RNA sequences that inhibit viral replication could be suppressed in gag. However, the functional relevance of RNA elements and nucleotide biases that promote or repress HIV-1 replication remain poorly understood.

RESULTS

To characterize if the RNA sequence in gag controls HIV-1 replication, the matrix (MA) region was codon modified, allowing the RNA sequence to be altered without affecting the protein sequence. Codon modification of nucleotides (nt) 22-261 or 22-378 in gag inhibited viral replication by decreasing genomic RNA (gRNA) abundance, gRNA stability, Gag expression, virion production and infectivity. Comparing the effect of these point mutations to deletions of the same region revealed that the mutations inhibited infectious virus production while the deletions did not. This demonstrated that codon modification introduced inhibitory sequences. There is a much lower than expected frequency of CpG dinucleotides in HIV-1 and codon modification introduced a substantial increase in CpG abundance. To determine if they are necessary for inhibition of HIV-1 replication, codons introducing CpG dinucleotides were mutated back to the wild type codon, which restored efficient Gag expression and infectious virion production. To determine if they are sufficient to inhibit viral replication, CpG dinucleotides were inserted into gag in the absence of other changes. The increased CpG dinucleotide content decreased HIV-1 infectivity and viral replication.

CONCLUSIONS

The HIV-1 RNA sequence contains low abundance of CpG dinucleotides. Increasing the abundance of CpG dinucleotides inhibits multiple steps of the viral life cycle, providing a functional explanation for why CpG dinucleotides are suppressed in HIV-1.

Attenuation and protective efficacy of Rift Valley fever phlebovirus rMP12-GM50 strain

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a mosquito-borne zoonotic disease endemic to Africa and the Arabian Peninsula that affects sheep, cattle, goats, camels, and humans. Effective vaccination of susceptible ruminants is important for the prevention of RVF outbreaks. Live-attenuated RVF vaccines are in general highly immunogenic in ruminants, whereas residual virulence might be a concern for vulnerable populations. It is also important for live-attenuated strains to encode unique genetic markers for the differentiation from wild-type RVFV strains. In this study, we aimed to strengthen the attenuation profile of the MP-12 vaccine strain via the introduction of 584 silent mutations. To minimize the impact on protective efficacy, codon usage and codon pair bias were not de-optimized. The resulting rMP12-GM50 strain showed 100% protective efficacy with a single intramuscular dose, raising a 1:853 mean titer of plaque reduction neutralization test. Moreover, outbred mice infected with one of three pathogenic reassortant ZH501 strains, which encoded rMP12-GM50 L-, M-, or S-segments, showed 90%, 50%, or 30% survival, respectively. These results indicate that attenuation of the rMP12-GM50 strain is significantly attenuated via the L-, M-, and S-segments. Recombinant RVFV vaccine strains encoding similar silent mutations will be also useful for the surveillance of reassortant strains derived from vaccine strains in endemic countries.

CpG and UpA dinucleotides in both coding and non-coding regions of echovirus 7 inhibit replication initiation post-entry

Most vertebrate and plant RNA and small DNA viruses suppress genomic CpG and UpA dinucleotide frequencies, apparently mimicking host mRNA composition. Artificially increasing CpG/UpA dinucleotides attenuates viruses through an entirely unknown mechanism. Using the echovirus 7 (E7) model in several cell types, we show that the restriction in E7 replication in mutants with increased CpG/UpA dinucleotides occurred immediately after viral entry, with incoming virions failing to form replication complexes. Sequences of CpG/UpA-high virus stocks showed no evidence of increased mutational errors that would render them replication defective, these viral RNAs were not differentially sequestered in cytoplasmic stress granules nor did they induce a systemic antiviral state. Importantly, restriction was not mediated through effects on translation efficiency since replicons with high CpG/UpA sequences inserted into a non-coding region were similarly replication defective. Host-cells thus possess intrinsic defence pathways that prevent replication of viruses with increased CpG/UpA frequencies independently of codon usage.

Reduced Protein Expression in a Virus Attenuated by Codon Deoptimization

A general means of viral attenuation involves the extensive recoding of synonymous codons in the viral genome. The mechanistic underpinnings of this approach remain unclear, however. Using quantitative proteomics and RNA sequencing, we explore the molecular basis of attenuation in a strain of bacteriophage T7 whose major capsid gene was engineered to carry 182 suboptimal codons. We do not detect transcriptional effects from recoding. Proteomic observations reveal that translation is halved for the recoded major capsid gene, and a more modest reduction applies to several coexpressed downstream genes. We observe no changes in protein abundances of other coexpressed genes that are encoded upstream. Viral burst size, like capsid protein abundance, is also decreased by half. Together, these observations suggest that, in this virus, reduced translation of an essential polycistronic transcript and diminished virion assembly form the molecular basis of attenuation.

Functional RNA during Zika virus infection

Zika virus (ZIKV; family Flaviviridae; genus Flavivirus) is a pathogenic mosquito-borne RNA virus that currently threatens human health in the Americas, large parts of Asia and occasionally elsewhere in the world. ZIKV infection is often asymptomatic but can cause severe symptoms including congenital microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome. The positive single-stranded RNA genome of the mosquito-borne ZIKV requires effective replication in two evolutionary distinct hosts - mosquitoes and primates. In addition to some of the viral proteins, the ZIKV genomic RNA and functional RNAs produced thereof aid in the establishment of productive infection and the evasion of host cell antiviral responses. ZIKV has evolved to contain a nucleotide composition and RNA modifications, such as methylation and the formation of G-quadruplexes that allow effective replication in both hosts. Furthermore, a number of host factors interact with the viral genome to modulate RNA replication. Importantly, the ZIKV genome produces non-coding subgenomic flavivirus RNA (sfRNA) due to stalling of host 5'- 3' ribonucleases on viral RNA structures in the 3' untranslated region (UTR). This sfRNA (sfRNA) exerts important proviral functions such as antagonizing the innate interferon response and RNA interference. Here, we discuss the ZIKV genomic RNA and functional RNAs thereof to assess their significance during ZIKV infection. Understanding the details of the ZIKV infection cycle will aid in the development of effective antiviral strategies and safe vaccines.

The CpG dinucleotide content of the HIV-1 envelope gene may predict disease progression

The clinical course of HIV-1 varies greatly among infected individuals. Despite extensive research, virus factors associated with slow-progression remain poorly understood. Identification of unique HIV-1 genomic signatures linked to slow-progression remains elusive. We investigated CpG dinucleotide content in HIV-1 envelope gene as a potential virus factor in disease progression. We analysed 1808 HIV-1 envelope gene sequences from three independent longitudinal studies; this included 1280 sequences from twelve typical-progressors and 528 sequences from six slow-progressors. Relative abundance of CpG dinucleotides and relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU) for CpG-containing codons among HIV-1 envelope gene sequences from typical-progressors and slow-progressors were analysed. HIV-1 envelope gene sequences from slow-progressors have high-CpG dinucleotide content and increased number of CpG-containing codons as compared to typical-progressors. Our findings suggest that observed differences in CpG-content between typical-progressors and slow-progressors is not explained by differences in the mononucleotide content. Our results also highlight that the high-CpG content in HIV-1 envelope gene from slow-progressors is observed immediately after seroconversion. Thus CpG dinucleotide content of HIV-1 envelope gene is a potential virus-related factor that is linked to disease progression. The CpG dinucleotide content of HIV-1 envelope gene may help predict HIV-1 disease progression at early stages after seroconversion.

Improved Prefusion Stability, Optimized Codon Usage, and Augmented Virion Packaging Enhance the Immunogenicity of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Fusion Protein in a Vectored-Vaccine Candidate

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most important viral agent of severe pediatric respiratory tract disease worldwide, but it lacks a licensed vaccine or suitable antiviral drug. A live attenuated chimeric bovine/human parainfluenza virus type 3 (rB/HPIV3) was developed previously as a vector expressing RSV fusion (F) protein to confer bivalent protection against RSV and HPIV3. In a previous clinical trial in virus-naive children, rB/HPIV3 was well tolerated but the immunogenicity of wild-type RSV F was unsatisfactory. We previously modified RSV F with a designed disulfide bond (DS) to increase stability in the prefusion (pre-F) conformation and to be efficiently packaged in the vector virion. Here, we further stabilized pre-F by adding both disulfide and cavity-filling mutations (DS-Cav1), and we also modified RSV F codon usage to have a lower CpG content and a higher level of expression. This RSV F open reading frame was evaluated in rB/HPIV3 in three forms: (i) pre-F without vector-packaging signal, (ii) pre-F with vector-packaging signal, and (iii) secreted pre-F ectodomain trimer. Despite being efficiently expressed, the secreted pre-F was poorly immunogenic. DS-Cav1 stabilized pre-F, with or without packaging, induced higher titers of pre-F specific antibodies in hamsters, and improved the quality of RSV-neutralizing serum antibodies. Codon-optimized RSV F containing fewer CpG dinucleotides had higher F expression, replicated more efficiently in vivo, and was more immunogenic. The combination of DS-Cav1 pre-F stabilization, optimized codon usage, reduced CpG content, and vector packaging significantly improved vector immunogenicity and protective efficacy against RSV. This provides an improved vectored RSV vaccine candidate suitable for pediatric clinical evaluation.IMPORTANCE RSV and HPIV3 are the first and second leading viral causes of severe pediatric respiratory disease worldwide. Licensed vaccines or suitable antiviral drugs are not available. We are developing a chimeric rB/HPIV3 vector expressing RSV F as a bivalent RSV/HPIV3 vaccine and have been evaluating means to increase RSV F immunogenicity. In this study, we evaluated the effects of improved stabilization of F in the pre-F conformation and of codon optimization resulting in reduced CpG content and greater pre-F expression. Reduced CpG content dampened the interferon response to infection, promoting higher replication and increased F expression. We demonstrate that improved pre-F stabilization and strategic manipulation of codon usage, together with efficient pre-F packaging into vector virions, significantly increased F immunogenicity in the bivalent RSV/HPIV3 vaccine. The improved immunogenicity included induction of increased titers of high-quality complement-independent antibodies with greater pre-F site Ø binding and greater protection against RSV challenge.

Characterization of significant molecular determinants of virulence of Enterovirus 71 sub-genotype B4 in Rhabdomyosarcoma cells

One of the leading causes of the hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is Enterovirus 71 (EV-A71), displaying symptoms such as fever and ulcers in children but some strains can produce cardiopulmonary oedema which leads to death. There is no FDA-approved vaccine for prevention of severe HFMD. The molecular determinants of virulence for EV-A71 are unclear. It could be a single or a combination of amino acids that determines virulence in different EV-A71 genotype/sub-genotypes. Several EV-A71 strains bearing single nucleotide (nt) mutations were constructed and the contribution of each mutation to virulence was evaluated. The nt(s) that contributed to significant reduction in virulence in vitro were selected and each mutation was introduced separately into the genome to construct the multiply mutated EV-A71 strain (MMS) which carried six substitutions of nt(s) at the 5'-NTR (U700C), VP1-145 (E to G), VP1-98E, VP1-244K and G64R in the vaccine seed strain that had a partial deletion within the 5'-NTR region (nt. 475-485) of Δ11bp. In comparison to the wild type strain, the MMS showed low virulence as it produced very low RNA copy number, plaque count, VP1 and had 10⁵-fold higher TCID₅₀, indicative of a promising LAV candidate that should be further evaluated in vivo.

The Evolutionary Pathway to Virulence of an RNA Virus

Paralytic polio once afflicted almost half a million children each year. The attenuated oral polio vaccine (OPV) has enabled world-wide vaccination efforts, which resulted in nearly complete control of the disease. However, poliovirus eradication is hampered globally by epidemics of vaccine-derived polio. Here, we describe a combined theoretical and experimental strategy that describes the molecular events leading from OPV to virulent strains. We discover that similar evolutionary events occur in most epidemics. The mutations and the evolutionary trajectories driving these epidemics are replicated using a simple cell-based experimental setup where the rate of evolution is intentionally accelerated. Furthermore, mutations accumulating during epidemics increase the replication fitness of the virus in cell culture and increase virulence in an animal model. Our study uncovers the evolutionary strategies by which vaccine strains become pathogenic and provides a powerful framework for rational design of safer vaccine strains and for forecasting virulence of viruses. VIDEO ABSTRACT.

Scientific consultation on the safety and containment of new poliovirus strains for vaccine production, clinical/regulatory testing and research. Report of a meeting held at NIBSC, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, UK, 6/7th July 2016

When poliomyelitis is totally eradicated from the natural world containment will be vital to prevent its re-emergence. The matter has become pressing as type 2 component of oral polio vaccine was completely withdrawn by May 2016 as wild ty[e 2 was declared eradicated. Work on polioviruses must be contained in accordance with GAPIII (the third version of the Global Action Plan of WHO). Some activities will be essential for years after eradication. Vaccine production and control, surveillance and supportive applied and academic research must all continue. Most laboratories do not currently comply with GAPIII and could not do so in the short term without disruption of essential activities including vaccine supply. The development and use of safer strains is raised in GAPIII and the meeting considered the strains available and the uses to which they could be put to facilitate compliance with the aims of GAPIII.

Development of live-attenuated arenavirus vaccines based on codon deoptimization of the viral glycoprotein

Several arenaviruses, chiefly Lassa (LASV) in West Africa, cause hemorrhagic fever (HF) disease in humans and pose important public health problems in their endemic regions. To date, there are no FDA-approved arenavirus vaccines and current anti-arenaviral therapy is limited to the use of ribavirin that has very limited efficacy. In this work we document that a recombinant prototypic arenavirus lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) with a codon deoptimized (CD) surface glycoprotein (GP), rLCMV/CD, exhibited wild type (WT)-like growth properties in cultured cells despite barely detectable GP expression levels in rLCMV/CD-infected cells. Importantly, rLCMV/CD was highly attenuated in vivo but able to induce complete protection against a subsequent lethal challenge with rLCMV/WT. Our findings support the feasibility of implementing an arenavirus GP CD-based approach for the development of safe and effective live-attenuated vaccines (LAVs) to combat diseases caused by human pathogenic arenaviruses.

Characterization of Viral Populations by Using Circular Sequencing

With the enormous sizes viral populations reach, many variants are at too low a frequency to be detected by conventional next-generation sequencing (NGS) methods. Circular sequencing (CirSeq) is a method by which the error rate of next-generation sequencing is decreased so that even low-frequency viral variants can be accurately detected. The ability to visualize almost the entire genetic makeup of a viral swarm has implications for epidemiology, viral evolution, and vaccine design. Here we discuss experimental planning, analysis, and recent insights using CirSeq.

Utilisation of ISA Reverse Genetics and Large-Scale Random Codon Re-Encoding to Produce Attenuated Strains of Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus within Days

Large-scale codon re-encoding is a new method of attenuating RNA viruses. However, the use of infectious clones to generate attenuated viruses has inherent technical problems. We previously developed a bacterium-free reverse genetics protocol, designated ISA, and now combined it with large-scale random codon-re-encoding method to produce attenuated tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), a pathogenic flavivirus which causes febrile illness and encephalitis in humans. We produced wild-type (WT) and two re-encoded TBEVs, containing 273 or 273+284 synonymous mutations in the NS5 and NS5+NS3 coding regions respectively. Both re-encoded viruses were attenuated when compared with WT virus using a laboratory mouse model and the relative level of attenuation increased with the degree of re-encoding. Moreover, all infected animals produced neutralizing antibodies. This novel, rapid and efficient approach to engineering attenuated viruses could potentially expedite the development of safe and effective new-generation live attenuated vaccines.

Enhancement of the Replication of Hepatitis C Virus Replicons of Genotypes 1 to 4 by Manipulation of CpG and UpA Dinucleotide Frequencies and Use of Cell Lines Expressing SECL14L2 for Antiviral Resistance Testing

Treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) has improved greatly through the use of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). However, their effectiveness and potential for drug resistance development in non-genotype 1 variants of HCV remain relatively unexplored, as in vitro assays to assess drug susceptibility are poorly developed and unsuited for a transient-transfection format. In the current study, we have evaluated the effects of dinucleotide frequency changes in the replicon and the use of a SEC14L2-expressing cell line on the replication of HCVs of different genotypes and evaluated the resulting assay formats for measurements of susceptibility to the DAA sofosbuvir. Removal of CpG and UpA dinucleotides from the luciferase gene used in HCV replicons of genotype 1b (Con1) and genotype 2a (JFH-1) achieved between 10- and 100-fold enhancement of replication over that of the wild type posttransfection. Removal of CpG and UpA dinucleotides in the neomycin gene or deletion of the whole gene in replicons of genotype 3a (S52) and genotype 4a (ED43) enhanced replication, but phenotypic effects on altering luciferase gene composition were minimal. A further 10-fold replication enhancement of replicons from all four genotypes was achieved by using a transgenic Huh7.5 cell line expressing SECL14L2, whose expression showed a dose-dependent effect on HCV replication that was reversible by small interfering RNA (siRNA) knockdown of gene expression. By combining these strategies, the 100- to 1,000-fold enhancement of replication allowed the susceptibility of all four genotypes to the RNA polymerase inhibitor sofosbuvir to be robustly determined in a transient-transfection assay format. These methods of replication enhancement provide new tools for monitoring the susceptibility and resistance of a wide range of HCV genotypes to DAAs.

Compensating the Fitness Costs of Synonymous Mutations

Synonymous mutations do not change the sequence of the polypeptide but they may still influence fitness. We investigated in Salmonella enterica how four synonymous mutations in the rpsT gene (encoding ribosomal protein S20) reduce fitness (i.e., growth rate) and the mechanisms by which this cost can be genetically compensated. The reduced growth rates of the synonymous mutants were correlated with reduced levels of the rpsT transcript and S20 protein. In an adaptive evolution experiment, these fitness impairments could be compensated by mutations that either caused up-regulation of S20 through increased gene dosage (due to duplications), increased transcription of the rpsT gene (due to an rpoD mutation or mutations in rpsT), or increased translation from the rpsT transcript (due to rpsT mutations). We suggest that the reduced levels of S20 in the synonymous mutants result in production of a defective subpopulation of 30S subunits lacking S20 that reduce protein synthesis and bacterial growth and that the compensatory mutations restore S20 levels and the number of functional ribosomes. Our results demonstrate how specific synonymous mutations can cause substantial fitness reductions and that many different types of intra- and extragenic compensatory mutations can efficiently restore fitness. Furthermore, this study highlights that also synonymous sites can be under strong selection, which may have implications for the use of dN/dS ratios as signature for selection.

Elevation of CpG frequencies in influenza A genome attenuates pathogenicity but enhances host response to infection

Previously, we demonstrated that frequencies of CpG and UpA dinucleotides profoundly influence the replication ability of echovirus 7 (Tulloch et al., 2014). Here, we show that that influenza A virus (IAV) with maximised frequencies of these dinucleotides in segment 5 showed comparable attenuation in cell culture compared to unmodified virus and a permuted control (CDLR). Attenuation was also manifested in vivo, with 10-100 fold reduced viral loads in lungs of mice infected with 200PFU of CpG-high and UpA-high mutants. However, both induced powerful inflammatory cytokine and adaptive (T cell and neutralising antibody) responses disproportionate to their replication. CpG-high infected mice also showed markedly reduced clinical severity, minimal weight loss and reduced immmunopathology in lung, yet sterilising immunity to lethal dose WT challenge was achieved after low dose (20PFU) pre-immunisation with this mutant. Increasing CpG dinucleotide frequencies represents a generic and potentially highly effective method for generating safe, highly immunoreactive vaccines.

CodonShuffle: a tool for generating and analyzing synonymously mutated sequences

Because synonymous mutations do not change the amino acid sequence of a protein, they are generally considered to be selectively neutral. Empiric data suggest, however, that a significant fraction of viral mutational fitness effects may be attributable to synonymous mutation. Bias in synonymous codon usage in viruses may result from selection for translational efficiency, mutational bias, base pairing requirements in RNA structures, or even selection against specific dinucleotides by innate immune effectors. Experimental analyses of codon usage and genome evolution have been facilitated by advances in synthetic biology, which now make it feasible to generate viral genomes that contain large numbers of synonymous mutations. The generally pleiotropic effects of synonymous mutation on viral fitness have, at times, made it difficult to define the mechanistic basis for the observed attenuation of these heavily mutated viruses. We have addressed this problem by developing a bioinformatic tool for the generation and analysis of viral sequences with large-scale synonymous mutation. A variety of permutation strategies are applied to shuffle codons within an open reading frame. After measuring the dinucleotide frequency, codon usage, codon pair bias, and free energy of RNA folding for each permuted genome, we used z-score normalization and a least squares regression model to quantify their overall distance from the starting sequence. Using this approach, the user can easily identify a large number of synonymously mutated sequences with varying similarity to a wild-type genome across a range of nucleic-acid-based determinants of viral fitness. We believe that this tool will be useful in designing genomes for subsequent experimental studies of the fitness impacts of synonymous mutation.

Twenty-Eight Years of Poliovirus Replication in an Immunodeficient Individual: Impact on the Global Polio Eradication Initiative

There are currently huge efforts by the World Health Organization and partners to complete global polio eradication. With the significant decline in poliomyelitis cases due to wild poliovirus in recent years, rare cases related to the use of live-attenuated oral polio vaccine assume greater importance. Poliovirus strains in the oral vaccine are known to quickly revert to neurovirulent phenotype following replication in humans after immunisation. These strains can transmit from person to person leading to poliomyelitis outbreaks and can replicate for long periods of time in immunodeficient individuals leading to paralysis or chronic infection, with currently no effective treatment to stop excretion from these patients. Here, we describe an individual who has been excreting type 2 vaccine-derived poliovirus for twenty eight years as estimated by the molecular clock established with VP1 capsid gene nucleotide sequences of serial isolates. This represents by far the longest period of excretion described from such a patient who is the only identified individual known to be excreting highly evolved vaccine-derived poliovirus at present. Using a range of in vivo and in vitro assays we show that the viruses are very virulent, antigenically drifted and excreted at high titre suggesting that such chronic excreters pose an obvious risk to the eradication programme. Our results in virus neutralization assays with human sera and immunisation-challenge experiments using transgenic mice expressing the human poliovirus receptor indicate that while maintaining high immunisation coverage will likely confer protection against paralytic disease caused by these viruses, significant changes in immunisation strategies might be required to effectively stop their occurrence and potential widespread transmission. Eventually, new stable live-attenuated polio vaccines with no risk of reversion might be required to respond to any poliovirus isolation in the post-eradication era.

The global polio eradication initiative is the most ambitious and complex public health programme directed at a single disease in history with a projected cost of $16.5 billion. Of the three serotypes types 2 and 3 appear to have been eradicated in the wild and type 1 is mostly confined to a region of Pakistan and Afghanistan. There is a real probability of total eradication in the near future. The main vaccine used is a live attenuated virus, and our paper concerns one of the most intractable significant implications that this has for the polio endgame. We describe virological studies of a patient deficient in humoral immunity who has been excreting type 2 vaccine-derived poliovirus for 28 years. Our results show that the viruses are excreted at high titres, extremely virulent and antigenically drifted and raise questions about how the population may best be protected from them, particularly in the light of possible changes in vaccine production which are being encouraged to increase capability and reduce costs. The study has implications for the ecology of poliovirus in the human gut and highlights the risks that such vaccine-derived isolates pose for polio re-emergence in the post-eradication era.

HP-PRRSV is attenuated by de-optimization of codon pair bias in its RNA-dependent RNA polymerase nsp9 gene

There is an urgent need to develop new vaccines against highly pathogenic PRRS virus (HP-PRRSV) variant in China. The actual use of each codon pairs is more or less frequent than that of the statistical prediction and codon pair bias (CPB) usage affects gene translation. We "shuffled" the existing codons in HP-PRRSV genes GP5, M, nsp2 and nsp9, so that the CPB of these genes could be more negative. De-optimization of nsp9, the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, significantly decreased PRRSV replication in porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs). In vitro study showed that HV-nsp9(min) and HV-nsp29(min) were remarkably attenuated in PAMs, and inoculation of pigs with 2 ml⁎10(5.0) TCID50/ml of HV-nsp9(min) or HV-nsp29(min) did not cause PRRS. Importantly, pigs immunized with HV-nsp29(min) were fully protected against different HP-PRRSV strains׳ lethal challenges. Our results imply that the CPB de-optimized HV-nsp29(min) has the potential to be used as a live vaccine candidate against HP-PRRSV.

Viral evolution: beyond drift and shift

Technological advances have allowed aspects of viral evolution to be explored at unprecedented scales. As a consequence, new quantitative approaches are needed to investigate features of viral evolution that fall outside traditional areas of study, such as antigenic evolution. We examine three areas of viral evolution where tools from disciplines such as statistical physics, topology, and information theory have been used recently as quantitative frameworks for large-scale studies and, in some cases, suggest a novel theoretical approach to a problem. Ongoing interaction among these disciplines with biology is necessary so that experimental researchers can determine which quantitative tools are right for them and quantitative researchers can learn which aspects of viral evolution can be understood and advanced with their approaches.

Polio vaccination: past, present and future

Live attenuated oral polio vaccine (OPV) and inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) are the tools being used to achieve eradication of wild polio virus. Because OPV can rarely cause paralysis and generate revertant polio strains, IPV will have to replace OPV after eradication of wild polio virus is certified to sustain eradication of all polioviruses. However, uncertainties remain related to IPV's ability to induce intestinal immunity in populations where fecal-oral transmission is predominant. Although substantial effectiveness and safety data exist on the use and delivery of OPV and IPV, several new research initiatives are currently underway to fill specific knowledge gaps to inform future vaccination policies that would assure polio is eradicated and eradication is maintained.

Recoding of the vesicular stomatitis virus L gene by computer-aided design provides a live, attenuated vaccine candidate

Codon pair bias (CPB), which has been observed in all organisms, is a neglected genomic phenomenon that affects gene expression. CPB results from synonymous codons that are paired more or less frequently in ORFeomes regardless of codon bias. The effect of an individual codon pair change is usually small, but when it is amplified by large-scale genome recoding, strikingly altered biological phenotypes are observed. The utility of codon pair bias in the development of live attenuated vaccines was recently demonstrated by recodings of poliovirus (a positive-strand RNA virus) and influenza virus (a negative-strand segmented RNA virus). Here, the L gene of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), a nonsegmented negative-sense RNA virus, was partially recoded based on codon pair bias. Totals of 858 and 623 silent mutations were introduced into a 5′-terminal segment of the viral L gene (designated L1) to create sequences containing either overrepresented or underrepresented codon pairs, designated L1^sdmax and L1^min, respectively. Analysis revealed that recombinant VSV containing the L1^min sequence could not be recovered, whereas the virus with the sdmax sequence showed a modest level of attenuation in cell culture. More strikingly, in mice the L1^sdmax virus was almost as immunogenic as the parental strain but highly attenuated. Taken together, these results open a new road to attain a balance between VSV virulence and immunogenicity, which could serve as an example for the attenuation of other negative-strand, nonsegmented RNA viruses.

Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is the prototypic rhabdovirus in the order Mononegavirales. A wide range of human pathogens belong to this family. Using a unique computer algorithm and large-scale genome synthesis, we attempted to develop a live attenuated vaccine strain for VSV, which could be used as an antigen delivery platform for humans. Recombinant VSVs with distinct codon pair biases were rationally designed, constructed, and analyzed in both cell culture and an animal model. One such recombinant virus, L1^sdmax, contained extra overrepresented codon pairs in its L gene open reading frame (ORF) and showed promise as an effective vaccine candidate because of a favorable balance between virulence and immunogenicity. Our study not only contributes to the understanding of the underlying mechanism of codon pair bias but also may facilitate the development of live attenuated vaccines for other viruses in the order Mononegavirales.

Large-scale recoding of an arbovirus genome to rebalance its insect versus mammalian preference

The protein synthesis machineries of two distinct phyla of the Animal kingdom, insects of Arthropoda and mammals of Chordata, have different preferences for how to best encode proteins. Nevertheless, arboviruses (arthropod-borne viruses) are capable of infecting both mammals and insects just like arboviruses that use insect vectors to infect plants. These organisms have evolved carefully balanced genomes that can efficiently use the translational machineries of different phyla, even if the phyla belong to different kingdoms. Using dengue virus as an example, we have undone the genome encoding balance and specifically shifted the encoding preference away from mammals. These mammalian-attenuated viruses grow to high titers in insect cells but low titers in mammalian cells, have dramatically increased LD50s in newborn mice, and induce high levels of protective antibodies. Recoded arboviruses with a bias toward phylum-specific expression could form the basis of a new generation of live attenuated vaccine candidates.

Attenuation of tick-borne encephalitis virus using large-scale random codon re-encoding

Large-scale codon re-encoding (i.e. introduction of a large number of synonymous mutations) is a novel method of generating attenuated viruses. Here, it was applied to the pathogenic flavivirus, tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) which causes febrile illness and encephalitis in humans in forested regions of Europe and Asia. Using an infectious clone of the Oshima 5–10 strain ("wild-type virus"), a cassette of 1.4kb located in the NS5 coding region, was modified by randomly introducing 273 synonymous mutations ("re-encoded virus"). Whilst the in cellulo replicative fitness of the re-encoded virus was only slightly reduced, the re-encoded virus displayed an attenuated phenotype in a laboratory mouse model of non-lethal encephalitis. Following intra-peritoneal inoculation of either 2.10⁵ or 2.10⁶ TCID50 of virus, the frequency of viraemia, neurovirulence (measured using weight loss and appearance of symptoms) and neuroinvasiveness (detection of virus in the brain) were significantly decreased when compared with the wild-type virus. Mice infected by wild-type or re-encoded viruses produced comparable amounts of neutralising antibodies and results of challenge experiments demonstrated that mice previously infected with the re-encoded virus were protected against subsequent infection by the wild-type virus. This constitutes evidence that a mammalian species can be protected against infection by a virulent wild-type positive-stranded RNA virus following immunisation with a derived randomly re-encoded strain. Our results demonstrate that random codon re-encoding is potentially a simple and effective method of generating live-attenuated vaccine candidates against pathogenic flaviviruses.

The arbovirus Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV; genus Flavivirus) is transmitted by ticks of the Ixodes genus. TBEV causes febrile illness and encephalitis in humans in forested regions of Europe and Asia. The incidence of TBE is increasing across Central and Eastern European countries despite the availability of several licensed inactivated vaccines and appropriate vaccination programmes. Large-scale codon re-encoding, a recently developed attenuation method that modifies viral RNA nucleotide composition of large coding regions without alteration of the encoded proteins, has been successfully applied to a variety of RNA viruses. In contrast with previous empirical methods of generating live attenuated vaccines, large-scale codon re-encoding facilitates rapid generation of vaccine candidates using reverse genetics methods, by direct control of the attenuation phenotype. Additional benefits include reduced costs and induction of long-term immunity. Here, we have applied the large-scale codon re-encoding method to the TBEV to demonstrate the principle of developing a live attenuated virus vaccine which protects mice against subsequent infection with the wild type virulent virus. This study therefore illustrates that codon re-encoding is potentially an easily derived and effective method of producing live attenuated vaccine candidates against positive-stranded RNA viruses.

Evolutionary reversion of live viral vaccines: Can genetic engineering subdue it?

Attenuated, live viral vaccines have been extraordinarily successful in protecting against many diseases. The main drawbacks in their development and use have been reliance on an unpredictable method of attenuation and the potential for evolutionary reversion to high virulence. Methods of genetic engineering now provide many safer alternatives to live vaccines, so if live vaccines are to compete with these alternatives in the future, they must either have superior immunogenicity or they must be able to overcome these former disadvantages. Several live vaccine designs that were historically inaccessible are now feasible because of advances in genome synthesis. Some of those methods are addressed here, with an emphasis on whether they enable predictable levels of attenuation and whether they are stable against evolutionary reversion. These new designs overcome many of the former drawbacks and position live vaccines to be competitive with alternatives. Not only do new methods appear to retard evolutionary reversion enough to prevent vaccine-derived epidemics, but it may even be possible to permanently attenuate live vaccines that are transmissible but cannot evolve to higher virulence under prolonged adaptation.

RNA virus attenuation by codon pair deoptimisation is an artefact of increases in CpG/UpA dinucleotide frequencies

Mutating RNA virus genomes to alter codon pair (CP) frequencies and reduce translation efficiency has been advocated as a method to generate safe, attenuated virus vaccines. However, selection for disfavoured CPs leads to unintended increases in CpG and UpA dinucleotide frequencies that also attenuate replication. We designed and phenotypically characterised mutants of the picornavirus, echovirus 7, in which these parameters were independently varied to determine which most influenced virus replication. CpG and UpA dinucleotide frequencies primarily influenced virus replication ability while no fitness differences were observed between mutants with different CP usage where dinucleotide frequencies were kept constant. Contrastingly, translation efficiency was unaffected by either CP usage or dinucleotide frequencies. This mechanistic insight is critical for future rational design of live virus vaccines and their safety evaluation; attenuation is mediated through enhanced innate immune responses to viruses with elevated CpG/UpA dinucleotide frequencies rather the viruses themselves being intrinsically defective.

Challenges in predicting the evolutionary maintenance of a phage transgene

BACKGROUND

In prior work, a phage engineered with a biofilm-degrading enzyme (dispersin B) cleared artificial, short-term biofilms more fully than the phage lacking the enzyme. An unresolved question is whether the transgene will be lost or maintained during phage growth - its loss would limit the utility of the engineering. Broadly supported evolutionary theory suggests that transgenes will be lost through a 'tragedy of the commons' mechanism unless the ecology of growth in biofilms meets specific requirements. We test that theory here.

RESULTS

Functional properties of the transgenic phage were identified. Consistent with the previous study, the dispersin phage was superior to unmodified phage at clearing short term biofilms grown in broth, shown here to be an effect attributable to free enzyme. However, the dispersin phage was only marginally better than control phages on short term biofilms in minimal media and was no better than control phages in clearing long term biofilms. There was little empirical support for the tragedy of the commons framework despite a strong theoretical foundation for its supposed relevance. The framework requires that the transgene imposes an intrinsic cost, yet the transgene was intrinsically neutral or beneficial when expressed from one part of the phage genome. Expressed from a different part of the genome, the transgene did behave as if intrinsically costly, but its maintenance did not benefit from spatially structured growth per se - violating the tragedy framework.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, the transgene was beneficial under many conditions, but no insight to its maintenance was attributable to the established evolutionary framework. The failure likely resides in system details that would be used to parameterize the models. Our study cautions against naive applications of evolutionary theory to synthetic biology, even qualitatively.