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Cao QM, Boonchuen P, Chen TC, Lei S, Somboonwiwat K, Sarnow P. Virus-derived circular RNAs populate hepatitis C virus-infected cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2313002121. [PMID: 38319965 PMCID: PMC10873615 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2313002121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 02/08/2024] Open
Abstract
It is known that pre-mRNAs in eukaryotic cells can be processed to circular RNAs by a backsplicing mechanism. Circular RNAs have great stability and can sequester proteins or small RNAs to exert functions on cellular pathways. Because viruses often exploit host pathways, we explored whether the RNA genome of the cytoplasmic hepatitis C virus is processed to yield virus-derived circRNAs (vcircRNAs). Computational analyses of RNA-seq experiments predicted that the viral RNA genome is fragmented to generate hundreds of vcircRNAs. More than a dozen of them were experimentally verified by rolling-circle amplification. VcircRNAs that contained the viral internal ribosome entry site were found to be translated into proteins that displayed proviral functions. Furthermore, two highly abundant, nontranslated vcircRNAs were shown to enhance viral RNA abundance. These findings argue that novel vcircRNA molecules modulate viral amplification in cells infected by a cytoplasmic RNA virus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qian M. Cao
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
| | - Pakpoom Boonchuen
- School of Biotechnology, Institute of Agricultural Technology, Suranaree University of Technology, Mueang Nakhon Ratchasima30000, Thailand
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok10330, Thailand
| | - Tzu-Chun Chen
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
| | - Shaohua Lei
- Center of Excellence for Leukemia Studies, Department of Pathology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN38105
- Center for Applied Bioinformatics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN38105
| | - Kunlaya Somboonwiwat
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok10330, Thailand
| | - Peter Sarnow
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
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Tian D, Subramaniam S, Heffron CL, Mahsoub HM, Sooryanarain H, Wang B, Cao QM, Hassebroek A, LeRoith T, Foss DL, Calvert JG, Meng XJ. Construction and efficacy evaluation of novel swine leukocyte antigen (SLA) class I and class II allele-specific poly-T cell epitope vaccines against porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus. J Gen Virol 2021; 101:1191-1201. [PMID: 32894211 DOI: 10.1099/jgv.0.001492] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) causes an economically important global swine disease. Here we report the development of subunit PRRSV-2 vaccines by expressing swine leucocyte antigen (SLA) class I and class II allele-specific epitope antigens in a robust adenovirus vector. SLA I-specific CD8 and SLA II-specific CD4 T cell epitopes of PRRSV-2 NADC20 were predicted in silico. Stable murine leukaemia cell lines (RMA-S), which are TAP-deficient and lacking endogenous class I epitope loading, were established to express different SLA I alleles. The binding stability of PRRSV T cell epitope peptides with SLA I alleles expressed on RMA-S cells was characterized. Two PRRSV poly-T cell epitope peptides were designed. NADC20-PP1 included 39 class I epitopes, consisting of 8 top-ranked epitopes specific to each of 5 SLA I alleles, and fused to 5 class II epitopes specific to SLA II alleles. NADC20-PP2, a subset of PP1, included two top-ranked class I epitopes specific to each of the five SLA I alleles. Two vaccine candidates, Ad-NADC20-PP1 and Ad-NADC20-PP2, were constructed by expressing the polytope peptides in a replication-incompetent human adenovirus 5 vector. A vaccination and challenge study in 30 piglets showed that animals vaccinated with the vaccines had numerically lower gross and histopathology lung lesions, and numerically lower PRRSV RNA loads in lung and serum after challenge compared to the controls, although there was no statistical significance. The results suggested that the Ad-NADC20-PP1 and Ad-NADC20-PP2 vaccines provided little or no protection, further highlighting the tremendous challenges faced in developing an effective subunit PRRSV-2 vaccine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Debin Tian
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Sakthivel Subramaniam
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - C Lynn Heffron
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Hassan M Mahsoub
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Harini Sooryanarain
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Bo Wang
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Qian M Cao
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Anna Hassebroek
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Tanya LeRoith
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | | | | | - Xiang-Jin Meng
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
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Chen TC, Tallo-Parra M, Cao QM, Kadener S, Böttcher R, Pérez-Vilaró G, Boonchuen P, Somboonwiwat K, Díez J, Sarnow P. Host-derived circular RNAs display proviral activities in Hepatitis C virus-infected cells. PLoS Pathog 2020; 16:e1008346. [PMID: 32764824 PMCID: PMC7437927 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2020] [Revised: 08/19/2020] [Accepted: 06/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Viruses subvert macromolecular pathways in infected host cells to aid in viral gene amplification or to counteract innate immune responses. Roles for host-encoded, noncoding RNAs, including microRNAs, have been found to provide pro- and anti-viral functions. Recently, circular RNAs (circRNAs), that are generated by a nuclear back-splicing mechanism of pre-mRNAs, have been implicated to have roles in DNA virus-infected cells. This study examines the circular RNA landscape in uninfected and hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected liver cells. Results showed that the abundances of distinct classes of circRNAs were up-regulated or down-regulated in infected cells. Identified circRNAs displayed pro-viral effects. One particular up-regulated circRNA, circPSD3, displayed a very pronounced effect on viral RNA abundances in both hepatitis C virus- and Dengue virus-infected cells. Though circPSD3 has been shown to bind factor eIF4A3 that modulates the cellular nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) pathway, circPSD3 regulates RNA amplification in a pro-viral manner at a post-translational step, while eIF4A3 exhibits the anti-viral property of the NMD pathway. Findings from the global analyses of the circular RNA landscape argue that pro-, and likely, anti-viral functions are executed by circRNAs that modulate viral gene expression as well as host pathways. Because of their long half-lives, circRNAs likely play hitherto unknown, important roles in viral pathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tzu-Chun Chen
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Stanford University SOM, Stanford, California, United States of America
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, California, United States of America
| | - Marc Tallo-Parra
- Molecular Virology Group, Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Qian M. Cao
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Stanford University SOM, Stanford, California, United States of America
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, California, United States of America
| | - Sebastian Kadener
- Department of Biology, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - René Böttcher
- Molecular Virology Group, Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Gemma Pérez-Vilaró
- Molecular Virology Group, Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Pakpoom Boonchuen
- Department of Biochemistry, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkog, Thailand
| | | | - Juana Díez
- Molecular Virology Group, Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Peter Sarnow
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Stanford University SOM, Stanford, California, United States of America
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, California, United States of America
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Lu Y, Gillam F, Cao QM, Rizzo A, Meng XJ, Zhang C. Hepatitis B core antigen-based vaccine demonstrates cross-neutralization against heterologous North American Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV-2) strains. J Virol Methods 2020; 285:113945. [PMID: 32735804 DOI: 10.1016/j.jviromet.2020.113945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2020] [Revised: 07/21/2020] [Accepted: 07/27/2020] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
The U.S. swine industry have been bearing the financial impact of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) for decades. Absent of a safe and efficacious vaccine to combat PRRS virus's genetic heterogeneity, it remains a costly disease on pig farms across the country. We have developed virus-like-particle (VLP) based vaccines that incorporate 4 PRRSV epitopes in the hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) backbone. Administration of the vaccines in female BALB/C mice resulted in extremely significant PRRSV epitope specific antibody response. One vaccine candidate GP3-4 was able to mount a significant viral neutralizing response against both parental PRRSV strain VR2385 and heterologous PRRSV strain NADC20, showing a promising potential for cross-protection against PRRSV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Lu
- Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
| | - Frank Gillam
- Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
| | - Qian M Cao
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
| | - Amy Rizzo
- University Veterinarian & Animal Resources, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
| | - X J Meng
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
| | - Chenming Zhang
- Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
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Cao QM, Tian D, Heffron CL, Subramaniam S, Opriessnig T, Foss DL, Calvert JG, Meng XJ. Cytotoxic T lymphocyte epitopes identified from a contemporary strain of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus enhance CD4+CD8+ T, CD8+ T, and γδ T cell responses. Virology 2019; 538:35-44. [PMID: 31561059 DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2019.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2019] [Revised: 09/12/2019] [Accepted: 09/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Immuno-stimulatory class I-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) epitopes of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) are important for vaccine development. In this study we first determined the expression frequency of swine leukocyte antigen (SLA) class I alleles in commercial pigs in the United States. The SLA genotyping result allowed us to predict potential CTL epitopes from a contemporary strain of PRRSV (RFLP 1-7-4) by using bioinformatic tools. The predicted epitopes were then evaluated in an ex vivo stimulation assay with peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from pigs experimentally-infected with PRRSV. Using flow-cytometry analysis, we identified a number of immuno-stimulatory CTL epitopes, including two peptides from GP3 and two from Nsp9 that significantly improved both degranulation marker CD107a and IFN-γ production in cytotoxic CD4+CD8+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, and γδ T cells, and two peptides that inhibited IFN-γ production. These CTL epitopes will aid future vaccine development against PRRSV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qian M Cao
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Debin Tian
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - C Lynn Heffron
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Sakthivel Subramaniam
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Tanja Opriessnig
- The Roslin Institute and the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Midlothian, UK
| | | | | | - Xiang-Jin Meng
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
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Subramaniam S, Overend C, Yugo DM, Heffron CL, Matzinger SR, Rogers AJ, Tian D, Cao QM, Kenney SP, Meng XJ. Isolation of Peripheral Blood CD8 T Cells Specific to Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus Utilizing Porcine CD137 Activation Marker. Viral Immunol 2018; 31:333-337. [PMID: 29489438 DOI: 10.1089/vim.2017.0189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
CD137 is a costimulatory molecule transiently expressed on activated T cells after mitogen or antigen stimulation that can be exploited for isolating antigen-specific T cells as reported in mouse models. By utilizing an antiporcine CD137 monoclonal antibody (mAb, clone 3B9) developed in our laboratory, we isolated virus-specific CD8β T cells from peripheral blood of pigs experimentally infected with different porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) strains. Similar to mouse, porcine CD8β T cells also express CD137 transiently upon Concavalin A stimulation while the unstimulated cells did not. Most frequently, virus-specific CD8β T cells were isolated at low levels from peripheral blood of pigs experimentally infected with PRRSV strains VR2385, NADC20, and MN184B at 49 and 63 days postinfection. The results suggest that porcine CD137-specific mAb is a useful tool for isolating virus-specific CD8 T cells from peripheral blood and tissues of pigs after in vitro stimulation with viral antigen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sakthivel Subramaniam
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , Blacksburg, Virginia
| | - Christopher Overend
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , Blacksburg, Virginia
| | - Danielle M Yugo
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , Blacksburg, Virginia
| | - C Lynn Heffron
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , Blacksburg, Virginia
| | - Shannon R Matzinger
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , Blacksburg, Virginia
| | - Adam J Rogers
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , Blacksburg, Virginia
| | - Debin Tian
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , Blacksburg, Virginia
| | - Qian M Cao
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , Blacksburg, Virginia
| | - Scott P Kenney
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , Blacksburg, Virginia
| | - Xiang-Jin Meng
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , Blacksburg, Virginia
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Subramaniam S, Cao D, Tian D, Cao QM, Overend C, Yugo DM, Matzinger SR, Rogers AJ, Heffron CL, Catanzaro N, Kenney SP, Opriessnig T, Huang YW, Labarque G, Wu SQ, Meng XJ. Efficient priming of CD4 T cells by Langerin-expressing dendritic cells targeted with porcine epidemic diarrhea virus spike protein domains in pigs. Virus Res 2016; 227:212-219. [PMID: 27784629 PMCID: PMC7114527 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2016.10.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2016] [Revised: 10/13/2016] [Accepted: 10/14/2016] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) first emerged in the United States in 2013 causing high mortality and morbidity in neonatal piglets with immense economic losses to the swine industry. PEDV is an alpha-coronavirus replicating primarily in porcine intestinal cells. PEDV vaccines are available in Asia and Europe, and conditionally-licensed vaccines recently became available in the United States but the efficacies of these vaccines in eliminating PEDV from swine populations are questionable. In this study, the immunogenicity of a subunit vaccine based on the spike protein of PEDV, which was directly targeted to porcine dendritic cells (DCs) expressing Langerin, was assessed. The PEDV S antigen was delivered to the dendritic cells through a single-chain antibody specific to Langerin and the targeted cells were stimulated with cholera toxin adjuvant. This approach, known as "dendritic cell targeting," greatly improved PEDV S antigen-specific T cell interferon-γ responses in the CD4posCD8pos T cell compartment in pigs as early as 7days upon transdermal administration. When the vaccine protein was targeted to Langerinpos DCs systemically through intramuscular vaccination, it induced higher serum IgG and IgA responses in pigs, though these responses require a booster dose, and the magnitude of T cell responses were lower as compared to transdermal vaccination. We conclude that PEDV spike protein domains targeting Langerin-expressing dendritic cells significantly increased CD4 T cell immune responses in pigs. The results indicate that the immunogenicity of protein subunit vaccines can be greatly enhanced by direct targeting of the vaccine antigens to desirable dendritic cell subsets in pigs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sakthivel Subramaniam
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
| | - Dianjun Cao
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
| | - Debin Tian
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
| | - Qian M Cao
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
| | - Christopher Overend
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
| | - Danielle M Yugo
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
| | - Shannon R Matzinger
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
| | - Adam J Rogers
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
| | - C Lynn Heffron
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
| | - Nicholas Catanzaro
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
| | - Scott P Kenney
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
| | - Tanja Opriessnig
- The Roslin Institute and The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Midlothian, EH25 9RG Scotland, UK
| | - Yao-Wei Huang
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Geoffrey Labarque
- Elanco Biological R&D, Eli Lilly and Company, Greenfield, IN 46140, USA
| | - Stephen Q Wu
- Elanco Biological R&D, Eli Lilly and Company, Greenfield, IN 46140, USA
| | - Xiang-Jin Meng
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
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Mahaffey JW, Griswold CM, Cao QM. The Drosophila genes disconnected and disco-related are redundant with respect to larval head development and accumulation of mRNAs from deformed target genes. Genetics 2001; 157:225-36. [PMID: 11139504 PMCID: PMC1461496 DOI: 10.1093/genetics/157.1.225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
HOM-C/hox genes specify body pattern by encoding regionally expressed transcription factors that activate the appropriate target genes necessary for differentiation of each body region. The current model of target gene activation suggests that interactions with cofactors influence DNA-binding ability and target gene activation by the HOM-C/hox proteins. Currently, little is known about the specifics of this process because few target genes and fewer cofactors have been identified. We undertook a deficiency screen in Drosophila melanogaster in an attempt to identify loci potentially encoding cofactors for the protein encoded by the HOM-C gene Deformed (Dfd). We identified a region of the X chromosome that, when absent, leads to loss of specific larval mouthpart structures producing a phenotype similar to that observed in Dfd mutants. The phenotype is correlated with reduced accumulation of mRNAs from Dfd target genes, though there appears to be no effect on Dfd protein accumulation. We show that these defects are due to the loss of two functionally redundant, neighboring genes encoding zinc finger transcription factors, disconnected and a gene we call disco-related. We discuss the role of these genes during differentiation of the gnathal segments and, in light of other recent findings, propose that regionally expressed zinc finger proteins may play a central role with the HOM-C proteins in establishing body pattern.
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Affiliation(s)
- J W Mahaffey
- Department of Genetics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7614, USA.
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