Induction of antitumor acquired immunity by baculovirus Autographa californica multiple nuclear polyhedrosis virus infection in mice

Effects of wasp (Vespa crabro) nest extracts on virus replication of Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus on Spodoptera frugiperda cell culture

The antiviral properties of the extracts of Vespa crabro nests collected from the Black Sea, Turkey have been investigated on Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf) cell cultures of Autographa californica multicapsid nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV). The effect of nests on cell viability and cytotoxicity analysis and the antiviral assay was studied, and the cytopathic effects of the virus were detected. The nest's viral content was identified. The impact of nest extracts on the protein synthesis of the virus was investigated. Also interaction with pUC18 plasmid DNA was investigated, to analyse the protective effects of the Vespa crabro nest extract againist to hydroxyl radical-mediated DNA damage. 50 µg/ml concentration of ethanol, acetone, and petroleum ether extracts of the nests reduced the cytopathic effects of baculovirus on Sf cells. The extracts delayed infection above 25 µg/ml concentration. When the effects of nest extracts on virus titer were evaluated; the 50 µg/ml concentration of the acetone extract of the nest showed the highest effect (75%) reducing the virus titer. 25 µg/ml concentration of the ethanol extract of the nest showed the lowest effect (33.33%) with a reduction. The presence of polyhedrin protein was observed at 25 µg/ml concentrations of acetone and petroleum ether extracts. When the potential of the nest extracts to repair DNA damage, the nest extracts were found to have a concentration-dependent repair feature in different applications. As a result of bioactive component analysis, (Z) 9-Tricosane and (cis)-2-nonadecene (1.65%) were found to have the highest % areas. In other respects, 1H-Purine-6-amine, 2-dodecanol and hexadecanoic acid compaunds were Additionally, 1H-Purine-6-amine, 2-dodecanol and hexadecanoic acid compounds, which are associated with antiviral activity, also determined in the biocomponent analysis.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10616-023-00603-0.

Baculovirus as a Tool for Gene Delivery and Gene Therapy

Based on its ability to express high levels of protein, baculovirus has been widely used for recombinant protein production in insect cells for more than thirty years with continued technical improvements. In addition, baculovirus has been successfully applied for foreign gene delivery into mammalian cells without any viral replication. However, several CpG motifs are present throughout baculoviral DNA and induce an antiviral response in mammalian cells, resulting in the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and type I interferon through a Toll-like receptor (TLR)-dependent or -independent signaling pathway, and ultimately limiting the efficiency of transgene expression. On the other hand, by taking advantage of this strong adjuvant activity, recombinant baculoviruses encoding neutralization epitopes can elicit protective immunity in mice. Moreover, immunodeficient cells, such as hepatitis C virus (HCV)- or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected cells, are more susceptible to baculovirus infection than normal cells and are selectively eliminated by the apoptosis-inducible recombinant baculovirus. Here, we summarize the application of baculovirus as a gene expression vector and the mechanism of the host innate immune response induced by baculovirus in mammalian cells. We also discuss the future prospects of baculovirus vectors.

Local Immune Stimulation by Intravesical Instillation of Baculovirus to Enable Bladder Cancer Therapy

Intravesical instillation of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin is currently used as adjuvant therapy for superficial, non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). However, nearly 40% of patients with NMIBC will fail Bacillus Calmette-Guérin therapy. In an attempt to investigate the feasibility of using insect baculovirus-based vectors for bladder cancer therapy, we observed that intravesical instillation of baculoviruses without transgene up-regulated a set of Th1-type of cytokines and increased the survival rate of mice bearing established orthotopic bladder tumors. When baculoviral vectors were used to co-deliver the mouse CD40 ligand and IL-15 genes through intravesical instillation, the immunogene therapy triggered significantly increased bladder infiltrations of inflammatory monocytes, CD4⁺, CD8⁺ and γδ T lymphocytes. All treated animals survived beyond 12 months whereas control animals died around 2 months after tumor inoculation. We conclude that direct intravesical instillation of baculoviral gene transfer vectors holds the potential to be a novel therapeutic modality for NMIBC.

Immunomodulatory effect of baculovirus in chickens: How it modifies the immune response against infectious bursal disease virus

Several reports have shown that baculoviruses (BVs) have strong adjuvant properties on the mammalian immune system. Recent studies of our group demonstrated the ability of BV to stimulate the innate immunity in chickens. In this investigation, we aimed to assess the potential antiviral effect of BV given both, before and after infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). In the first case, specific pathogen free chickens were intravenously inoculated with 5 × 10(7) pfu of Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus and 3 h later were orally administered 2.5 × 10(5) egg infectious doses 50 of IBDV. In the second case, chickens received IBDV 3 h before BV inoculation. Five days later, chickens were bled and euthanized. RNA from the bursa was analyzed for cytokine production. Also, bursae were used for virus recovery, and processed for lymphocyte isolation. The results showed that the administration of BV 3 h after the inoculation with IBDV produced important changes in the effect that IBDV causes in the bursa. BV reduced the infiltration of T lymphocytes, decreased the expression pattern of IL-6 and IFN-γ and inhibited IBDV replication. The results herein presented demonstrate that this Lepidopteran virus shows antiviral activity in chickens under experimental conditions. Investigations under field conditions have to be done to probe this strategy as a valuable sanitary tool for the treatment and prevention of chicken diseases.

Baculovirus Infection of Human Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells Restricts HIV-1 Replication

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is mainly caused by infection with human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) and still poses a global threat for which we lack a protective or therapeutic vaccine. Dendritic cells (DCs) play a major role in the onset of HIV infection, providing one of the primary sites of HIV replication, and also act as viral reservoirs in vivo. Previous studies have shown that baculovirus (BV) induces strong host immune responses against infections and malignancies. In this study, we infected human monocyte-derived DCs with recombinant BV (AcCAG-gag) and showed that AcCAG-gag-infected human DCs underwent maturation and produced interferon alpha and other proinflammatory cytokines accompanied by increases in the mRNA and protein expression levels of APOBEC3 (A3A, A3F, and A3G), proteins associated with the inhibition of HIV-1 replication. Surprisingly, HIV-1 inhibition is also observed in human DCs infected with a wild-type BV, as determined by the production of inflammatory cytokines, the expression of A3, and a reduction in the p24 level. Our findings outline the mechanism underlying the inhibition of HIV-1 in BV-infected human DCs and pave the way for the use of BV as an effective tool for immunotherapy against HIV-1.

Baculovirus: an insect-derived vector for diverse gene transfer applications

Insect-derived baculoviruses have emerged as versatile and safe workhorses of biotechnology. Baculovirus expression vectors (BEVs) have been applied widely for crop and forest protection, as well as safe tools for recombinant protein production in insect cells. However, BEVs ability to efficiently transduce noninsect cells is still relatively poorly recognized despite the fact that efficient baculovirus-mediated in vitro and ex vivo gene delivery into dormant and dividing vertebrate cells of diverse origin has been described convincingly by many authors. Preliminary proof of therapeutic potential has also been established in preclinical studies. This review summarizes the advantages and current status of baculovirus-mediated gene delivery. Stem cell transduction, preclinical animal studies, tissue engineering, vaccination, cancer gene therapy, viral vector production, and drug discovery are covered.

Baculovirus capsid display potentiates OVA cytotoxic and innate immune responses

Baculoviruses (BV) are DNA viruses that are pathogenic for insects. Although BV infect a range of mammalian cell types, they do not replicate in these cells. Indeed, the potential effects of these insect viruses on the immune responses of mammals are only just beginning to be studied. We show in this paper that a recombinant Autographa californica multiple nuclear polyhedrosis virus carrying a fragment of ovalbumin (OVA) on the VP39 capsid protein (BV-OVA) has the capacity to act as an adjuvant and vector of antigens in mice, thereby promoting specific CD4 and cytotoxic T cell responses against OVA. BV also induced in vivo maturation of dendritic cells and the production of inflammatory cytokines, thus promoting innate and adaptive immune responses. The OVA-specific response induced by BV-OVA was strong enough to reject a challenge with OVA-expressing melanoma cells (MO5 cells) and effectively prolonged survival of MO5 bearing mice. All these findings, together with the absence of pre-existing immunity to BV in humans and the lack of viral gene expression in mammalian cells, make BV a candidate for vaccination.

Engineering of baculovirus vectors for the manufacture of virion-free biopharmaceuticals

A novel baculovirus-based protein expression strategy was developed to produce recombinant proteins in insect cells without contaminating baculovirus virions. This novel strategy greatly simplifies the downstream processing of biopharmaceuticals produced in insect cells. The formation of these virions is prevented by deletion of a baculovirus gene essential for virion formation. The deletion is trans-complemented in a transgenic insect cell line in which the baculovirus seed stock is produced. The Autographa californica multicapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus vp80 gene was selected for this purpose, as absence of VP80 prevented the formation of budded virus as well as occlusion-derived virus, while foreign gene expression was not affected. Sf9 insect cells were engineered to functionally complement the vp80 deletion in the expression vector virus during seed stock production. The trans-complemented vp80-deletion baculovirus seed produced an amount of recombinant protein similar to that produced with conventional baculovirus vectors but without contaminating virions. This novel expression method obviates the need to purify the virions away from the biopharmaceuticals.

Induction of antitumor immunity against mouse carcinoma by baculovirus-infected dendritic cells

A dendritic cell (DC) vaccine strategy has been developed as a new cancer immunotherapy, but the goal of complete tumor eradication has not yet been achieved. We have previously shown that baculoviruses potently infect DCs and induce antitumor immunity against hepatomas in a mouse model. Baculovirus-infected, bone marrow-derived DCs (BMDCs) display increased surface expression of costimulatory molecules, such as CD80, CD86 and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) classes I and II, and secrete interferons and other proinflammatory cytokines. In this study, we evaluated the induction of antitumor immunity in mice by baculovirus-infected BMDCs against lung cancer and melanoma. After treatment with baculovirus-infected BMDCs, murine lung tumors caused by Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cells were significantly reduced in size, and the survival of the mice was improved. In addition, experiments using a melanoma mouse model showed that baculovirus-infected BMDCs inhibited tumor growth and improved survival compared with controls. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and creatinine levels remained normal in baculovirus-infected BMDC-treated mice. Our findings show that baculovirus-infected DCs induce antitumor immunity and pave the way for the use of this technique as an effective tool for DC immunotherapy against malignancies.

Baculovirus treatment fully protects mice against a lethal challenge of FMDV

Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) causes a highly contagious and economically devastating disease that affects cattle, swine, goat and sheep among others. FMDV is able to overcome the initial host innate immune response by inhibiting the induction of antiviral molecules at both the transcriptional and the translational levels. It has been demonstrated that FMDV A/Arg/2001 causes the death of adult C57Bl/6 mice within 72h. We evaluated the capacity of Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcNPV), an insect virus with potent innate immunostimulating effects, to promote early protection against FMDV A/Arg/2001 challenge in C57Bl/6 mice. Groups of 8-9 weeks old female mice were injected intravenously with AcNPV and challenged with a lethal dose of FMDV at different times post-administration. Our results showed that pretreatment of mice with a single injection of AcNPV 3h or 3 days before FMDV challenge resulted in complete abrogation of mortality and complete or partial suppression of viremia, respectively. Furthermore, no signs of disease were observed. AcNPV could be a valuable tool to improve the design of a novel vaccine that protects as an adjuvant at early times post-vaccination.

Clathrin-independent entry of baculovirus triggers uptake of E. coli in non-phagocytic human cells

The prototype baculovirus, Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus, an insect pathogen, holds great potential as a gene therapy vector. To develop transductional targeting and gene delivery by baculovirus, we focused on characterizing the nature and regulation of its uptake in human cancer cells. Baculovirus entered the cells along fluid-phase markers from the raft areas into smooth-surfaced vesicles devoid of clathrin. Notably, regulators associated with macropinocytosis, namely EIPA, Pak1, Rab34, and Rac1, had no significant effect on viral transduction, and the virus did not induce fluid-phase uptake. The internalization and nuclear uptake was, however, affected by mutants of RhoA, and of Arf6, a regulator of clathrin-independent entry. Furthermore, the entry of baculovirus induced ruffle formation and triggered the uptake of fluorescent E. coli bioparticles. To conclude, baculovirus enters human cells via a clathrin-independent pathway, which is able to trigger bacterial uptake. This study increases our understanding of virus entry strategies and gives new insight into baculovirus-mediated gene delivery in human cells.