Conformation- and fusion-defective mutations in the hypothetical phospholipid-binding and fusion peptides of viral hemorrhagic septicemia salmonid rhabdovirus protein G

Protective efficacy and immune responses of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) immunized with an inactivated vaccine against the viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus genotype IVa

Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) poses a significant threat to the aquaculture industry, prompting the need for effective preventive measures. Here, we developed an inactivated VHSV and revealed the molecular mechanisms underlying the host's protective response against VHSV. The vaccine was created by treating VHSV with 0.05% formalin at 16°C for 48 h, which was determined to be the most effective inactivation method. Compared with nonvaccinated fish, vaccinated fish exhibited a remarkable increase in survival rate (99%) and elevated levels of serum neutralizing antibodies, indicating strong immunization. To investigate the gene changes induced by vaccination, RNA sequencing was performed on spleen samples from control and vaccinated fish 14 days after vaccination. The analysis revealed 893 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), with notable upregulation of immune-related genes such as annexin A1a, coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor homolog, V-set domain-containing T-cell activation inhibitor 1-like, and heat shock protein 90 alpha class A member 1 tandem duplicate 2, indicating a vigorous innate immune response. Furthermore, KEGG enrichment analysis highlighted significant enrichment of DEGs in processes related to antigen processing and presentation, necroptosis, and viral carcinogenesis. GO enrichment analysis further revealed enrichment of DEGs related to the regulation of type I interferon (IFN) production, type I IFN production, and negative regulation of viral processes. Moreover, protein-protein interaction network analysis identified central hub genes, including IRF3 and HSP90AA1.2, suggesting their crucial roles in coordinating the immune response elicited by the vaccine. These findings not only confirm the effectiveness of our vaccine formulation but also offer valuable insights into the underlying immunological mechanisms, which can be valuable for future vaccine development and disease management in the aquaculture industry.

Molecular and cellular aspects of rhabdovirus entry

Rhabdoviruses enter the cell via the endocytic pathway and subsequently fuse with a cellular membrane within the acidic environment of the endosome. Both receptor recognition and membrane fusion are mediated by a single transmembrane viral glycoprotein (G). Fusion is triggered via a low-pH induced structural rearrangement. G is an atypical fusion protein as there is a pH-dependent equilibrium between its pre- and post-fusion conformations. The elucidation of the atomic structures of these two conformations for the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) G has revealed that it is different from the previously characterized class I and class II fusion proteins. In this review, the pre- and post-fusion VSV G structures are presented in detail demonstrating that G combines the features of the class I and class II fusion proteins. In addition to these similarities, these G structures also reveal some particularities that expand our understanding of the working of fusion machineries. Combined with data from recent studies that revealed the cellular aspects of the initial stages of rhabdovirus infection, all these data give an integrated view of the entry pathway of rhabdoviruses into their host cell.

Antibody recognition of the glycoprotein g of viral haemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) purified in large amounts from insect larvae

BACKGROUND

There are currently no purification methods capable of producing the large amounts of fish rhabdoviral glycoprotein G (gpG) required for diagnosis and immunisation purposes or for studying structure and molecular mechanisms of action of this molecule (ie. pH-dependent membrane fusion). As a result of the unavailability of large amounts of the gpG from viral haemorrhagic septicaemia rhabdovirus (VHSV), one of the most dangerous viruses affecting cultured salmonid species, research interests in this field are severely hampered. Previous purification methods to obtain recombinant gpG from VHSV in E. coli, yeast and baculovirus grown in insect cells have not produced soluble conformations or acceptable yields. The development of large-scale purification methods for gpGs will also further research into other fish rhabdoviruses, such as infectious haematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV), spring carp viremia virus (SVCV), hirame rhabdovirus (HIRRV) and snakehead rhabdovirus (SHRV).

FINDINGS

Here we designed a method to produce milligram amounts of soluble VHSV gpG. Only the transmembrane and carboxy terminal-deleted (amino acid 21 to 465) gpG was efficiently expressed in insect larvae. Recognition of G21-465 by ß-mercaptoethanol-dependent neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (N-MAbs) and pH-dependent recognition by sera from VHSV-hyperimmunized or VHSV-infected rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) was demonstrated.

CONCLUSIONS

Given that the purified G21-465 conserved some of its most important properties, this method might be suitable for the large-scale production of fish rhabdoviral gpGs for use in diagnosis, fusion and antigenicity studies.

Rainbow trout surviving infections of viral haemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) show lasting antibodies to recombinant G protein fragments

Rainbow trout antibodies (Abs) binding to recombinant fragments (frgs) derived from the protein G of the viral haemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV)-07.71 strain, could be detected by ELISA (frg-ELISA) in sera from trout surviving laboratory-controlled infections. Abs were detected not only by using sera from trout infected with the homologous VHSV isolate but also with the VHSV-DK-201433 heterologous isolate, which had 13 amino acid changes. Sera from healthy trout and/or from trout surviving infectious haematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) infection, were used to calculate cut-off absorbances to differentiate negative from positive sera. Specific anti-VHSV Abs could then be detected by using any of the following frgs: frg11 (56-110), frg15 (65-250), frg16 (252-450) or G21-465. While high correlations were found among the ELISA values obtained with the different frgs, no correlations between any frg-ELISA and complement-dependent 50% plaque neutralization test (PNT) titres could be demonstrated. Between 4 and 10 weeks after VHSV infection, more trout sera were detected as positives by using heterologous frg-ELISA rather than homologous PNT. Furthermore, the percentage of positive sera detected by frg11-ELISA increased with time after infection to reach 100%, while those detected by complement-dependent PNT decreased to 29.4%, thus confirming that the lack of neutralizing Abs does not mean the lack of any anti-VHSV Abs in survivor trout sera. Preliminary results with sera from field samples suggest that further refinements of the frg-ELISA could allow detection of anti-VHSV trout Abs in natural outbreaks caused by different heterologous VHSV isolates. The homologous frg-ELISA method could be useful to follow G immunization attempts during vaccine development and/or to best understand the fish Ab response during VHSV infections. The viral frgs approach might also be used with other fish species and/or viruses.

The introduction of multi-copy CpG motifs into an antiviral DNA vaccine strongly up-regulates its immunogenicity in fish

The protection conferred by antiviral DNA vaccines in fish is known to rely greatly on innate immune responses. Since oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) containing unmethylated CpG dinucleotides (CpG motifs) have been shown to induce potential innate immune responses, we have introduced several copies (either two or four) of a fragment containing multiple CpG sequences of known immunostimulatory effects into a DNA vaccine against viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV). We have determined the effects of this introduction on the vaccine immunogenicity, measured as immune gene induction, serum neutralizing activity and antigen-dependent proliferation. When comparing the effects of the vaccine containing 2 copies of this CpG fragment (pVHSV-2CpG) or that containing 4 copies of the fragment (pVHSV-4CpG) with the original VHSV DNA vaccine (pVHSV), we found that the levels of expression of type I interferon (IFN) were significantly up-regulated in muscle and spleen when the CpG fragments were introduced. An up-regulation in the levels of MHC-I expression in spleen were also observed in response to the modified vaccines, whereas, the levels of transcription of interleukin 1β (IL-1β) were strongly reduced in comparison to the original vaccine. Important but very variable differences were also observed concerning the vaccine induction of IFN-γ. Moreover, the serum neutralizing capacity was strongly increased as fish were vaccinated with plasmids containing more CpG fragments. Taken together, all these results demonstrate a strongly increased immunogenicity of the VHSV DNA vaccine, through the introduction of this multicopy CpG fragment.

Internalization and fusion mechanism of vesicular stomatitis virus and related rhabdoviruses

Members of the Rhabdoviridae infect a wide variety of animals and plants, and are the causative agents of many important diseases. Rhabdoviruses enter host cells following internalization into endosomes, with the glycoprotein (G protein) mediating both receptor binding to host cells and fusion with the cellular membrane. The recently solved crystal structure of vesicular stomatitis virus G has allowed considerable insight into the mechanism of rhabdovirus entry, in particular the low pH-dependent conformational changes that lead to fusion activation. Rhabdovirus entry shows several distinct features compared with other enveloped viruses; first, the entry process appears to consist of two distinct fusion events, initial fusion into vesicles within endosomes followed by back-fusion into the cytosol; second, the conformational changes in the G protein that lead to fusion activation are reversible; and third, the G protein is structurally distinct from other viral fusion proteins and is not proteolytically cleaved. The internalization and fusion mechanisms of rhabdoviruses are discussed in this article, with a focus on viral systems where the G protein has been studied extensively: vesicular stomatitis virus and rabies virus, as well as viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus.

In vitro search for alternative promoters to the human immediate early cytomegalovirus (IE-cMV) to express the G gene of viral haemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) in fish epithelial cells

Present DNA vaccines against fish rhabdoviruses require intramuscular injection (fish-to-fish vaccination) of their G-protein gene under the control of the human immediate early cytomegalovirus (IE-CMV) promoter, while immersion delivery (mass DNA vaccination), for instance, by using fish epithelial-specific promoters, would be more practical for aquaculture. To find fish epithelial-specific promoters alternative to the IE-CMV, a comparative study of the effectiveness of different fish promoters constitutively expressing the G gene of the viral haemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) in the epithelial papulosum cyprini (EPC) cell line was performed. The study included MCV1.4 (an alternative IE-CMV promoter version), AE6 (a version of the carp beta-actin promoter), long terminal repeats (LTR) of zebrafish or walleye retroviruses, trout Mx1, carp myosin-heavy-chain and flatfish pleurocidin promoters and salmonid sleeping beauty (SB)/medaka Tol2 transposon repeats. The G-protein expression in transfected EPC cells was studied by estimating the number of cells expressing the G-protein in their membrane and the average expression level per cell. In addition, in an attempt to reduce their sizes, some regions of the MCV1.4 and AE6 promoters were deleted and expression levels compared to those observed for full-length promoters. Since both zebrafish LTR and carp AE6 promoters were the most effective regulatory sequences for expressing the VHSV G-protein in EPC cells, these sequences might be candidates for new DNA vaccine vectors for fish epithelial tissues avoiding the IE-CMV promoter. Furthermore, known transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) common to most of the fish G-expressing promoters, might enable the future design of fully synthetic or hybrid promoters with improved efficacy of VHSV G-protein expression in epithelial fish cells.

Structures and mechanisms of viral membrane fusion proteins: multiple variations on a common theme

Recent work has identified three distinct classes of viral membrane fusion proteins based on structural criteria. In addition, there are at least four distinct mechanisms by which viral fusion proteins can be triggered to undergo fusion-inducing conformational changes. Viral fusion proteins also contain different types of fusion peptides and vary in their reliance on accessory proteins. These differing features combine to yield a rich diversity of fusion proteins. Yet despite this staggering diversity, all characterized viral fusion proteins convert from a fusion-competent state (dimers or trimers, depending on the class) to a membrane-embedded homotrimeric prehairpin, and then to a trimer-of-hairpins that brings the fusion peptide, attached to the target membrane, and the transmembrane domain, attached to the viral membrane, into close proximity thereby facilitating the union of viral and target membranes. During these conformational conversions, the fusion proteins induce membranes to progress through stages of close apposition, hemifusion, and then the formation of small, and finally large, fusion pores. Clearly, highly divergent proteins have converged on the same overall strategy to mediate fusion, an essential step in the life cycle of every enveloped virus.

Co-injection of interleukin 8 with the glycoprotein gene from viral haemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) modulates the cytokine response in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Since previous results showed that interleukin 8 (IL-8) was induced in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in response to viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) infection, we have cloned IL-8 in an expression vector (pIL8+) and studied its possible adjuvant effect on the early response to a VHSV immunization model, focusing on the early response of several cytokines induced by a vector coding for the glycoprotein of VHSV (pMCV1.4-G) in the spleen and head kidney. First, we demonstrated that the pIL8+ successfully transcribed IL-8, by induction of IL-8 transcription in the muscle and blood, and by a massive infiltration of neutrophils at the muscle inoculation site. We have studied the effect of pIL8+ co-administration on the expression of two pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1beta and tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha); cytokines that have mainly an inhibitory role, IL-11 and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta); and a Th1 type cytokine, IL-18. We demonstrated that the co-administration of pIL8+ with pMCV1.4-G modulates the cytokine response that is induced, mainly by having its effect increasing pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1beta and TNF-alpha1), with a greater impact on the spleen, and to a lesser extent in the head kidney. All these data suggest that IL-8 is able to modulate the early cytokine immune response that is produced in response to a DNA vaccine, and therefore, might be a potential immune adjuvant in fish viral vaccination. More work should be done to determine if this modulation has a beneficial effect on protection as seen in other mammal viral models.

Reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) for rapid detection of viral hemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHS)

A one step reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay was developed for detection of viral hemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHS). A set of six primers were designed, based on the G-protein sequence of the VHS virus serotypes (He, F1, 23.75, Klapmolle and Rindsholm). The assay was optimised to amplify VHS RNA by incubation at 63 °C for only 1 h, and required only a simple water bath or heating block to provide a constant temperature of 63 °C. RT-LAMP amplification products were detected by visual inspection using SYBR Green I stain and had a ladder-like appearance when electrophoresed on an agarose gel. The detection limit of the RT-LAMP assay was found to be similar to the commonly used RT-PCR method: both methods detected VHS RNA at a dilution of 10⁶. The assay was evaluated using clinical samples and the results indicated the suitability and simplicity of the test as a rapid, field diagnostic tool for VHS virus.