A potential live vector, foamy virus, directed intra-cellular expression of ovine interferon-tau exhibited the resistance to HIV infection

Interferon-tau (IFN-tau), produced by the embryonic trophectoderm, is a member of type I IFNs required for the establishment of pregnancy in the ruminant ungulates. Although this IFN possesses antiviral activity similar to other type I IFNs, the effectiveness of IFN-tau as an antiviral agent has not been well characterized. To investigate possible antiviral effects of ovine IFN-tau (oIFN-tau), oIFN-tau-GST fusion protein was expressed in E. coli BL21, from which the purified protein isolated possessed anti-viral activity. An apathogenic human foamy virus (hFV) was then used to establish a potential recombinant live vector consisting of oIFN-tau cDNA sense (+) or antisense (-) sequence, oIFN-tau(+)/hFV or oIFN-tau(-)/hFV, respectively. Human hematopoietic and other mammalian cell lines that had been transduced with hFV vector consisting of no oIFN-tau, oIFN-tau(+)/hFV or oIFN-tau(-)/hFV construct were cultured initially for 12 days, and three of cell lines were then maintained for up to 90 days. These cells with oIFN-tau expression directed by hFV exhibited the in vitro cytopathic effect minimally. Transduced cell lines that had been cultured for 90 days were subjected to studies on human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) infection, which was measured with infectivity of viral particles resulted from the GFP inserted T-cell tropic HIV SF2 or macrophage tropic HIV SF162: the number of HIV-1 positive cells was reduced by the hFV driven-intra-cellular oIFN-tau expression. Since oIFN-tau/hFV transduced cells exhibited the resistance to HIV-1 infection and/or replication, oIFN-tau could be considered as one of effective antiviral agents against HIV-1. These results suggest that the hFV genome could be an effective recombinant live vector for the expression of a targeted gene in various cell types.

Matrix-Metalloproteinases-2 and -9 Production in Bovine Endometrial Cell Culture

In vitro cell culture is a convenient tool for studying cellular mechanisms. In the present study, production of matrix-metalloproteinases (MMPs) in bovine endometrial (containing both epithelial and stromal cells) monolayer cells was examined. Blastocysts attached to the endometrial cells in a monolayer culture were examined for their effects on MMP-2 production. Initial attachment of blastocysts to the monolayer inhibited MMP-2 production by endometrial cells. But once trophoblast cells began to migrate into the endometrial cell layer, MMP-2 production increased, and at the same time MMP-9 production also became evident in the medium. In order to understand how blastocysts affected MMP-2 production, we examined the effect of progesterone, estradiol, insulin-like growth factors (IGFs), tumor necrosis factors (TNFs), and interferon-tau (IFN-tau) supplementation. It was IFN-tau that inhibited the production of MMP-2. In addition, progesterone at a lower dose appeared to inhibit MMP-2 production. Both TNF-alpha and TNF-beta strongly stimulated the production of MMP-2 and MMP-9, whereas IGFs had no effect. Based on these findings, it appears that conceptus has the capacity to inhibit MMP activity.