Characterization of novel monoclonal antibodies against MERS-coronavirus spike protein

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Identification of neutralizing mAbs using MERS-CoV spike-pseudotyped virus.

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Transmembrane domain-deleted spike subunit protein induced neutralizing antibodies.

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Neutralizing antibodies could bind to RBD of MERS-CoV spike, but not vice versa.

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Mutation in residue 506–509 or 529 of S elicits neutralization escape of MERS-CoV.

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Our mAbs can be utilized for identification of specific mutation of MERS-CoV.

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) causes severe pulmonary infection, with ∼35 % mortality. Spike glycoprotein (S) of MERS-CoV is a key target for vaccines and therapeutics because S mediates viral entry and membrane-fusion to host cells. Here, four different S subunit proteins, receptor-binding domain (RBD; 358–606 aa), S1 (1–751 aa), S2 (752–1296 aa), and SΔTM (1–1296 aa), were generated using the baculoviral system and immunized in mice to develop neutralizing antibodies. We developed 77 hybridomas and selected five neutralizing mAbs by immunization with SΔTM against MERS-CoV EMC/2012 strain S-pseudotyped lentivirus. However, all five monoclonal antibodies (mAb) did not neutralize the pseudotyped V534A mutation. Additionally, one mAb RBD-14F8 did not show neutralizing activity against pseudoviruses with amino acid substitution of L506 F or D509 G (England1 strain, EMC/2012 L506 F, and EMC/2012 D509 G), and RBD-43E4 mAb could not neutralize the pseudotyped I529 T mutation, while three other neutralizing mAbs showed broad neutralizing activity. This implies that the mutation in residue 506–509, 529, and 534 of S is critical to generate neutralization escape variants of MERS-CoV. Interestingly, all five neutralizing mAbs have binding affinity to RBD, although most mAbs generated by RBD did not have neutralizing activity. Additionally, chimeric antibodies of RBD-14F8 and RBD-43E4 with human Fc and light chain showed neutralizing effect against wild type MERS-CoV KOR/KNIH/002, similar to the original mouse mAbs. Thus, our mAbs can be utilized for the identification of specific mutations of MERS-CoV.

94 Efficient generation of myostatin mutation in Korean beef cattle

In recent years, CRISPR/Cas9 has become known as a powerful tool for generating genetically modified cells or animal models with its site-specific gene editing capability. Because myostatin (MSTN) is associated with muscle differentiation and growth, ablation of MSTN would be ideal for studying phenotypes associated with muscle growth in beef cattle. The aim of this study is to produce Korean beef cattle with MSTN mutation through microinjection of CRISPR/Cas9. For this study, ovaries of Korean beef cattle were obtained from slaughterhouses; 122 immature oocytes were aspirated from 8 Korean beef cattle. The oocytes were matured in tissue culture medium 199-based medium for 22h and inseminated with frozen-thawed semen to produce zygotes. All 122 zygotes were directly injected with 200ng of Cas9 mRNA and 100ng of sgRNA for MSTN after IVF and were cultured for 7 days in two-step chemically defined medium. Each embryo from the individual cattle was cultured separately to distinguish its lineage. After 7 d, 29 (23.8±8.9) blastocysts were recovered, and all blastocysts were assessed with T7 endonuclease (T7E1) mutation assay to check for mutations at the MSTN locus. Based on T7E1, 26 out of 29 blastocysts (89.7±10.5%) had heterozygous mutation in the MSTN gene. After analysis, additional blastocysts were produced and transferred into 14 surrogates. All surrogates were diagnosed for pregnancy via rectal palpation and ultrasonography at Day 55, at which time normal fetuses and embryonic sacs were confirmed in 10 surrogates. In conclusion, these data demonstrate that CRISPR/Cas9 could be employed as an efficient method to genetically modify the MSTN gene in Korean beef cattle.

Secondary metabolites from Vietnamese marine invertebrates with activity against Trypanosoma brucei and T. cruzi

Marine-derived natural products from invertebrates comprise an extremely diverse and promising source of the compounds from a wide variety of structural classes. This study describes the discovery of five marine natural products with activity against Trypanosoma species by natural product library screening using whole cell in vitro assays. We investigated the anti-trypanosomal activity of the extracts from the soft corals and echinoderms living in Vietnamese seas. Of the samples screened, the methanolic extracts of several marine organisms exhibited potent activities against cultures of Trypanosoma brucei and T. cruzi (EC₅₀ < 5.0 μg/mL). Among the compounds isolated from these extracts, laevigatol B (1) from Lobophytum crassum and L. laevigatum, (24S)-ergost-4-ene-3-one (2) from Sinularia dissecta, astropectenol A (3) from Astropecten polyacanthus, and cholest-8-ene-3β,5α,6β,7α-tetraol (4) from Diadema savignyi showed inhibitory activity against T. brucei with EC₅₀ values ranging from 1.57 ± 0.14 to 14.6 ± 1.36 μM, relative to the positive control, pentamidine (EC₅₀ = 0.015 ± 0.003 μM). Laevigatol B (1) and 5α-cholest-8(14)-ene-3β,7α-diol (5) exhibited also significant inhibitory effects on T. cruzi. The cytotoxic activity of the pure compounds on mammalian cells was also assessed and found to be insignificant in all cases. This is the first report on the inhibitory effects of marine organisms collected in Vietnamese seas against Trypanosoma species responsible for neglected tropical diseases.

49 CLONING OF CANCER SNIFFING DOG BY SOMATIC CELL NUCLEAR TRANSFER

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) has been considered as an important method for the production of genetically identical animals and propagation of valuable genotypes. A 3-year-old dog with an outstanding talent for sniffing a cancer was used as a donor dog for SCNT. The donor dog cannot get pregnant by natural fertilization after she suffered pyometra leading to the removal of her reproductive tract. Thus, the aim of this study was to preserve the cancer sniffing dog with excellent genetic background by SCNT. Skin fibroblast from a piece of ear tissue was isolated and cultured. For SCNT, in vivo matured dog oocytes were collected by flushing the oviducts of estrus females. The oocytes were enucleated, microinjected with a donor cell, and fused by electric stimulation. One hundred thirty out of 163, reconstructed embryos (79.8%) were successfully fused. The cloned embryos were chemically activated and transferred into the uterine tube of 7 naturally estrus-synchronized surrogates as with previous report (Lee et al. 2005 Nature). One among them became pregnant, maintained to term, and delivered 4 cloned live offspring (3.1%, live birth/transferred embryos), weighting 450, 410, 430, and 420 g by Caesarean section. The parentage analysis was performed and all cloned pups were genetically identical to the donor dog, and their mitochondrial DNA was originated from their oocyte donor dogs. The present results demonstrated the successful production of four cloned cancer sniffing dogs by SCNT. To date, all cloned puppies have been healthy, growing without apparent abnormalities. Cloned dogs will be trained for cancer sniffing and will be able to provide potential scientific evidence toward the cancer detecting mechanism. This study was financially supported by KOSEF (grant # M10625030005-08N250300510), SNU foundation (Benefactor; RNL BIO), and the Korean MEST, through the BK21 program for Veterinary Science.

303 EFFECT OF SERUM SUPPLEMENTATION AND ESTRUS CYCLE STAGE ON IN VITRO NUCLEAR MATURATION OF CANINE OOCYTES

The present study investigated the effects of the estrus cycle stage and serum supplementation on nuclear maturation of canine oocytes. Ovaries were collected from a private clinic after ovariohysterectomy and classified into follicular, luteal, or anestrus stages through a combination of ovarian morphology and vaginal cytology. A total of 2214 oocytes from 196 ovaries (903 oocytes from 96 anestrus ovaries, 609 oocytes from 36 follicular ovaries, and 702 oocytes from 64 luteal ovaries) were used for experiments. The oocyte retrieval per ovary was 10, 19, and 12 for anestrus, follicular and luteal-phase ovaries, respectively. In Exp. 1, immature oocytes were cultured for 72 h in TCM-199 alone or TCM-199 supplemented with 10% canine anestrus (CAS), estrus (CES), or diestrus (CDS) serum or fetal bovine serum (FBS). In Exp. 2, immature oocytes were cultured for 72 h in TCM-199 supplemented with 0, 5, 10, or 20% CES. After staining with Hoechst 33342, chromatin state and position as well as spindle formation were evaluated to determine the stage of meiosis: germinal vesicle (GV) stage, germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD), metaphase I (MI) stage, metaphase II (MII) stage. The experiments with anestrus and luteal-phase oocytes were repeated eight times and follicular-phase oocytes were repeated six times. Data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and protected least significant difference (LSD) test to determine differences among experimental groups by using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS, SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, NC, USA) program. Statistical significance was determined where P value was less than 0.05. In Exp. 1, the in vitro maturation of oocytes up to MII stage was higher when oocytes were collected from ovaries in follicular phase. The maturation rate up to MII stage was 0.0 to 1.7%, 1.3 to 10.2%, and 1.0 to 3.2% for the oocytes collected from the anestrus, follicular, and luteal-phase ovaries, respectively, depending on the culture media used. In basic TCM media only, 0.0, 1.3, and 2.3% oocytes reached the MII stage for anestrus, follicular, and luteal-phase oocytes, respectively. A significantly higher rate of maturation was obtained when oocytes collected from follicular phase were cultured in TCM-199 supplemented with 10% CES (10.2%), compared to 10% CAS (4.0%), CDS (2.7%), FBS (1.3%), or the control (1.3%). In Exp. 2, supplementing with 10% CES induced the highest (P < 0.05) maturation rate to the MII stage in oocytes collected from follicular-stage ovaries (11.5%) compared to supplementing with 0% (1.0%), 5% (1.3%), or 20% CES (5.1%). Supplementing with CES (5, 10, or 20%) did not have a significant effect on nuclear maturation of canine oocytes collected from anestrus or luteal-stage ovaries. In conclusion, supplementing in vitro maturation medium with 10% CES increased nuclear maturation of canine oocytes, and canine oocytes collected from follicular-stage ovaries are the most suitable to complete nuclear maturation in vitro. This study was supported by grants from the Biogreen 21-1000520030100000.