Specific small interfering RNAs-mediated inhibition of replication of porcine encephalomyocarditis virus in BHK-21 cells

Ginsenoside Rg3 enriches SCFA-producing commensal bacteria to confer protection against enteric viral infection via the cGAS-STING-type I IFN axis

The microbiota-associated factors that influence host susceptibility and immunity to enteric viral infections remain poorly defined. We identified that the herbal monomer ginsenoside Rg3 (Rg3) can shape the gut microbiota composition, enriching robust short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing Blautia spp. Colonization by representative Blautia coccoides and Blautia obeum could protect germ-free or vancomycin (Van)-treated mice from enteric virus infection, inducing type I interferon (IFN-I) responses in macrophages via the MAVS-IRF3-IFNAR signaling pathway. Application of exogenous SCFAs (acetate/propionate) reproduced the protective effect of Rg3 and Blautia spp. in Van-treated mice, enhancing intracellular Ca2+- and MAVS-dependent mtDNA release and activating the cGAS-STING-IFN-I axis by stimulating GPR43 signaling in macrophages. Our findings demonstrate that macrophage sensing of metabolites from specific commensal bacteria can prime the IFN-I signaling that is required for antiviral functions.

The Intestinal Microbiome Primes Host Innate Immunity against Enteric Virus Systemic Infection through Type I Interferon

Intestinal microbiomes are of vital importance in antagonizing systemic viral infection. However, very little literature has shown whether commensal bacteria play a crucial role in protecting against enteric virus systemic infection from the aspect of modulating host innate immunity. In the present study, we utilized an enteric virus, encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV), to inoculate mice treated with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) or given an antibiotic cocktail (Abx) orally or intraperitoneally to examine the impact of microbiota depletion on virulence and viral replication in vivo. Microbiota depletion exacerbated the mortality, neuropathogenesis, viremia, and viral burden in brains following EMCV infection. Furthermore, Abx-treated mice exhibited severely diminished mononuclear phagocyte activation and impaired type I interferon (IFN) production and expression of IFN-stimulated genes (ISG) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), spleens, and brains. With the help of fecal bacterial 16S rRNA sequencing of PBS- and Abx-treated mice, we identified a single commensal bacterium, Blautia coccoides, that can restore mononuclear phagocyte- and IFNAR (IFN-α/β receptor)-dependent type I IFN responses to restrict systemic enteric virus infection. These findings may provide insight into the development of novel therapeutics for preventing enteric virus infection or possibly alleviating clinical diseases by activating host systemic innate immune responses via respective probiotic treatment using B. coccoides.

Inhibition of encephalomyocarditis virus replication by shRNA targeting 1C and 2A genes in vitro and in vivo

Encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) infects many mammalian species, causing myocarditis, encephalitis and reproductive disorders. The small interference RNA (siRNA) targeting to the virus has not been understood completely. Here, two out of six interference sequences were screened to inhibit significantly EMCV replication by using recombinant plasmids expressing small hairpin RNA (shRNA) targeting to the viral 1C or 2A genes in BHK-21 cells. And two recombinant adenoviruses expressing the shRNAs were constructed and named as rAd-1C-1 and rAd-2A-3. They inhibit EMCV replication in BHK-21 cells in protein levels, as well as the virus yields by approximately 1000 times. Furthermore, they provide high protective efficacy against the challenge with virulent EMCV NJ08 strain in mice. And the EMCV loads in the live mice in rAd-1C-1 and rAd-2A-3 groups decrease by more than 90 % compared with those in the dead mice in the challenge control groups at the same times. It indicates that the adenoviruses medicated shRNA targeting to 1C and 2A genes might provide a potential strategy for combating EMCV infection.

Biological Function and Application of Picornaviral 2B Protein: A New Target for Antiviral Drug Development

Picornaviruses are associated with acute and chronic diseases. The clinical manifestations of infections are often mild, but infections may also lead to respiratory symptoms, gastroenteritis, myocarditis, meningitis, hepatitis, and poliomyelitis, with serious impacts on human health and economic losses in animal husbandry. Thus far, research on picornaviruses has mainly focused on structural proteins such as VP1, whereas the non-structural protein 2B, which plays vital roles in the life cycle of the viruses and exhibits a viroporin or viroporin-like activity, has been overlooked. Viroporins are viral proteins containing at least one amphipathic α-helical structure, which oligomerizes to form transmembrane hydrophilic pores. In this review, we mainly summarize recent research data on the viroporin or viroporin-like activity of 2B proteins, which affects the biological function of the membrane, regulates cell death, and affects the host immune response. Considering these mechanisms, the potential application of the 2B protein as a candidate target for antiviral drug development is discussed, along with research challenges and prospects toward realizing a novel treatment strategy for picornavirus infections.

Recombinant Encephalomyocarditis Viruses Elicit Neutralizing Antibodies against PRRSV and CSFV in Mice

Encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) is capable of infecting a wide range of species and the infection can cause myocarditis and reproductive failure in pigs as well as febrile illness in human beings. In this study, we introduced the entire ORF5 of the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) or the neutralization epitope regions in the E2 gene of the classical swine fever virus (CSFV), into the genome of a stably attenuated EMCV strain, T1100I. The resultant viable recombinant viruses, CvBJC3m/I-ΔGP5 and CvBJC3m/I-E2, respectively expressed partial PRRSV envelope protein GP5 or CSFV neutralization epitope A1A2 along with EMCV proteins. These heterologous proteins fused to the N-terminal of the nonstructural leader protein could be recognized by anti-GP5 or anti-E2 antibody. We also tested the immunogenicity of these fusion proteins by immunizing BALB/c mice with the recombinant viruses. The immunized animals elicited neutralizing antibodies against PRRSV and CSFV. Our results suggest that EMCV can be engineered as an expression vector and serve as a tool in the development of novel live vaccines in various animal species.

Development of a TaqMan-based real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assay for the detection of encephalomyocarditis virus

Encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) is one of the major zoonosis pathogens and can cause acute myocarditis in young pigs or reproductive failure in sows. In this study, a TaqMan-based real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay targeting 3D gene of EMCV was developed and their sensitivities and specificities were investigated. The results indicated that the standard curve had a wide dynamic range (10(1)-10(6) copies/μL) with a linear correlation (R(2)) of 0.996 between the cycle threshold (Ct) value and template concentration. The real-time RT-PCR assay is highly sensitive and able to detect 1.4×10(2) copies/μL of EMCV RNA, as no cross-reaction was observed with other viruses. These data suggested that the real-time RT-PCR assay developed in this study will be suitable for future surveillance and specific diagnosis of EMCV-infection.

Rapid detection of encephalomyocarditis virus by one-step reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification method

The encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) can cause acute myocarditis in young pigs or reproductive failure in sows. In this study, a reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay was developed to detect EMCV RNA. The RT-LAMP assay was highly sensitive and able to detect 2.2 × 10(-5)ng of EMCV RNA, as no cross-reaction was observed with other viruses. The RT-LAMP assay was conducted in isothermal (62 °C) conditions within 50 min. The amplified products of EMCV could be detected as ladder-like bands using agarose gel electrophoresis. This is the first report to demonstrate the application of a one-step RT-LAMP assay for the detection of EMCV. The sensitive, specific and rapid RT-LAMP assay developed in this study can be applied widely in clinical diagnosis and field surveillance of EMCV.

Peptide inhibitor of Japanese encephalitis virus infection targeting envelope protein domain III

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a major cause of acute viral encephalitis in both humans and animals. Domain III of the virus envelope glycoprotein (E DIII) plays an important role in the interaction of viral particles with host cell receptors to facilitate viral entry. Intervention of the interaction between E DIII and its cognate host cell receptor would provide an important avenue for inhibiting JEV infection. A phage display peptide library was therefore panned against E DIII, which resulted in the identification of several peptides. One peptide, named P3, inhibited JEV infection of BHK-21 cells with an IC₅₀ of ∼1 μM and an IC₉₀ at ∼100 μM. Further characterization revealed that P3 bound to E DIII with a K(d) of 6.06 × 10⁻⁶ M and inhibited JEV infection by interfering with viral attachment to cells. Based on in silico prediction by ZDOCK, P3 was found to interact with E DIII via a hydrophobic pocket, which was confirmed by the binding assay of P3 to the V357A mutant. P3 was hypothesized to bind to E DIII by interacting with the sties adjacent to the BC and DE loops, which might interfere with the binding of JEV to cellular receptors, thus impeding viral infection. This newly isolated peptide may represent a new therapeutic candidate for treatment of JEV.

A possible strategy to produce pigs resistant to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus

The purpose of this study was to enhance the production of transgenic cloned embryos with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) shRNA expression cassettes. To construct transgenic vector with expression targeting against PRRSV, PRRSV shRNA expression cassettes were inserted into pEGFP-N1 and the ability of resulting recombinant plasmid pEGFP-G1 inhibiting virus replication was examined in Marc-145 cells. Results showed that PRRSV replication could be significantly inhibited by pEGFP-G1 in Marc-145 cells compared with the control. The pEGFP-G1 plasmid was used to deliver a transgene expressing EGFP and the PRRSV shRNA into porcine fetal fibroblasts (PFF). Fluorescent-positive cells were used as nuclear donors for somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) to produce shRNA-EGFP transgenic cloned embryos. The effects of trichostatin A (TSA) on production of transgenic cloned embryos were investigated. Reconstructed embryos were designed into 4 groups: Donor cells of Group A were treated with 50nM TSA for 24h before SCNT. Reconstructed embryos of Group B were treated with 50nM TSA for 24h after activation. Both donor cells and reconstructed embryos in Group C were treated with TSA and Group D were the control without TSA treatment. The results showed no difference (p>0.05) in cleavage rates among the 4 groups; however, blastocyst developmental rates of Group B and C (30.9% and 42.0%, respectively) were higher than for Group A and D (21.2% and 22.1%, respectively) with Group C highest among groups (p<0.05). Interestingly, EGFP expression intensity of transgenic cloned blastocysts of Group A was the highest. Our results provide promising evidence toward a new approach for production of transgenic cloned pigs with resistance to PRRSV and possibly a wide variety of other porcine diseases.

Antiviral RNAi: translating science towards therapeutic success

Viruses continuously evolve to contend with an ever-changing environment that involves transmission between hosts and sometimes species, immune responses, and in some cases therapeutic interventions. Given the high mutation rate of viruses relative to the timescales of host evolution and drug development, novel drug classes that are readily screened and translated to the clinic are needed. RNA interference (RNAi)—a natural mechanism for specific degradation of target RNAs that is conserved from plants to invertebrates and vertebrates—can potentially be harnessed to yield therapies with extensive specificity, ease of design, and broad application. In this review, we discuss basic mechanisms of action and therapeutic applications of RNAi, including design considerations and areas for future development in the field.

Virus susceptibility of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and detection of viral contaminations by adventitious agent testing

Biopharmaceuticals are of increasing importance in the treatment of a variety of diseases. A remaining concern associated with their production is the potential introduction of adventitious agents into their manufacturing process, which may compromise the pathogen safety of a product and potentially cause stock-out situations for important medical supplies. To ensure the safety of biological therapeutics, regulatory guidance requires adventitious agent testing (AAT) of the bulk harvest. AAT is a deliberately promiscuous assay procedure which has been developed to indicate, ideally, the presence of any viral contaminant. One of the most important cell lines used in the production of biopharmaceuticals is Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and while viral infections of CHO cells have occurred, a systematic screen of their virus susceptibility has never been published. We investigated the susceptibility of CHO cells to infection by 14 different viruses, including members of 12 families and representatives or the very species that were implicated in previously reported production cell infections. Based on our results, four different infection outcomes were distinguished, based on the possible combinations of the two factors (i) the induction, or not, of a cytopathic effect and (ii) the ability, or not, to replicate in CHO cells. Our results demonstrate that the current AAT is effective for the detection of viruses which are able to replicate in CHO cells. Due to the restricted virus susceptibility of CHO cells and the routine AAT of bulk harvests, our results provide re-assurance for the very high safety margins of CHO cell-derived biopharmaceuticals.

Screening efficient siRNAs in vitro as the candidate genes for chicken anti-avian influenza virus H5N1 breeding

The frequent disease outbreaks caused by avian influenza virus (AIV) not only affect the poultry industry but also pose a threat to human safety. To address the problem, RNA interference (RNAi) has recently been widely used as a potential antiviral approach. Transgenesis, in combination with RNAi to specifically inhibit AIV gene expression, has been proposed to make chickens resistant to avian influenza. For the transgenic breeding, screening the efficient siRNAs in vitro as the candidate genes is one of the most important tasks. Here, we combined an online search tool and a series of bioinformatics programs with a set of rules for designing the siRNAs targeting different mRNA regions of AIV H5N1 subtype. By this method we chose five rational siRNAs, constructed five U6 promoter-driven shRNA expression plasmids contained the siRNA genes, and used these to produce stably transfected Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells. Data from virus titration, IFA, PUI-stained flow cytometry, real-time quantitative RT-PCR and DAS-ELISA analyses showed that all five stably transfected cell lines were effectively resistant to viral replication when exposed to 100 CCID50 of AIV, and we finally chose the most effective plasmids (pSi-604i and pSi-1597i) as the candidates for making the transgenic chickens. These findings provide baseline information for breeding transgenic chickens resistant to AIV in combination with RNAi.

Inhibition of porcine transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) replication in mini-pigs by shRNA

Transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) is the causative agent of porcine transmissible gastroenteritis (TGE), characterized by high mortality and severely retarded growth in piglets that dramatically affects the porcine industry. Previously, we have identified two shRNA-expressing plasmids pEGFP-U6/P1 and pEGFP-U6/P2 that target RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP) gene of TGEV with more than 95% of virus inhibition in vitro. In this study, inhibition of the TGEV replication by pEGFP-U6/P1 and pEGFP-U6/P2 was tested in mini-pigs. SPF mini-pigs at 25 days old were injected with the shRNA-expressing plasmids and then infected with TGEV. The results from the analyses of clinical signs, histopathology, indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) and RT-PCR show that the two shRNA-expressing plasmids could significantly decrease the quantity of TGEV in different organs and protect mini-pigs from TGEV infection. These findings illustrate the prospect for TGEV-specific shRNAs to be new anti-TGEV agents.

Effective suppression of replication of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus by adenovirus-mediated small interfering RNAs targeting ORF1b, 5 and 7 genes

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths in pig farms in many swine-producing areas in the world in recent years. However, at present there is no effective method to prevent and control the disease, and there is a need to develop new antiviral strategies. In this study, four recombinant adenoviruses expressing shRNAs targeting ORF1b, ORF5 and ORF7 were constructed, and it was found that they could down-regulate effectively specific gene expression and inhibit viral replication in MARC-145 cells when compared to the controls. They could also inhibit effectively PRRSV replication in porcine alveolar macrophages. The inhibition effect was dose-dependent and could be sustained for at least 96h in macrophages. In addition, PRRSV replication could be suppressed significantly by shRNA in cells infected previously or simultaneously with PRRSV. The results indicated that the shRNA-expressing rAd5 targeting to various gene regions of PRRSV might be a potential anti-PRRSV strategy.