Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed on June 24, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

Zugl.: Sydney, NSW, Univ. of Sydney, Diss., 2004 / Hergestellt on demand

Devido a existência de 2 alphavírus artritogênicos no Brasil, os vírus Mayaro (MAYV) e Chikungunya (CHIKV) tornou-se importante desenvolver testes diagnósticos eficazes para discriminar suas infecções. No presente trabalho, desenvolvemos ELISAs indiretos para diagnóstico de CHIKV e MAYV utilizando proteínas de envelope viral E2 recombinantes, produzidas em Escherichia coli, as rE2-CHIKV e rE2-MAYV ELISAs. As proteínas E2 recombinantes tiveram suas antigenicidades verificadas nos ensaios utilizando anticorpos policlonais oriundos de camundongos hiperimunizados com CHIKV, MAYV e outros alphavírus. O rE2-CHIKV ELISA detectou anticorpos murinos de forma homotípica e não produziu reações cruzadas evidenciáveis utilizando anticorpos murinos específicos contra outros Alphavírus. O rE2-MAYV ELISA detectou anticorpos murinos homotípicos e também, reagiu cruzadamente com anticorpos murinos anti-CHIKV, mas não para outros Alphavírus. Esses ELISAs, também, foram usados na detecção de anticorpos em soros de pacientes com suspeita de infecção arboviral. Pelo o rE2-CHIKV ELISA, testaram-se 59 soros, resultando em 26 amostras IgG positivas. Resultados desse ELISA, quando comparados aos obtidos por teste de neutralização, demonstraram sensibilidade de 89,66% e especificidade de 100%. Soros humanos IgG positivos foram detectados em altas diluições pelo rE2-CHIKV ELISA. Quanto a detecção de IgM, o rE2- CHIKV ELISA apresentou moderada concordância com outros ensaios sorológicos. Com rE2- MAYV ELISA, testaram-se 68 soros resultando em 23 amostras IgG positivas, das quais 11 também mostraram-se positivas em teste de neutralização, demonstrando sensibilidade de 100% e especificidade de 78,95%. Portanto, os rE2-CHIKV e rE2 MAYV ELISAs, particularmente para detecção de IgG, mostraram-se adequadamente sensíveis e específicos para serem validados em estudos com maiores números de amostras e serem aplicados ao diagnóstico de pacientes infectados com CHIKV e MAYV. / Due the existence of 2 arthritogenic alphaviruses in Brasil, the viruses Mayaro (MAYV) and Chikungunya (CHIKV), it became important the development of efficient diagnose tests to discriminate their infections. In the present work, we developed indirect ELISAs for CHIKV and MAYV diagnosis using viral recombinant envelope proteins E2, produced in Escherichia coli, the rE2-CHIKV and rE2-MAYV. The recombinant E2 proteins had their antigenicity confirmed in the assay by using polyclonal antibodies produced in hyperimmunized mice with CHIKV, MAYV and other alphaviruses. The rE2-CHIKV ELISA detected homotypic murine antibodies and did not produced detectable cross-reactivity signal when using murine antibodies from other alphaviruses. The rE2-MAYV ELISA detected homotypic antibodies and also cross-reacted with murine anti-CHIKV antibodies, but not to other alphaviruses. These ELISAs were also tested for the detection of human antibodies, using patient sera suspected of arboviral infection. For rE2- CHIKV ELISA, it were tested 59 sera, resulting in 26 positive IgG samples. These ELISA results, when compared to those of a neutralizing assay, demonstrated a sensibility of 89.66% and specificity of 100%. The IgG positive human sera were detected in high dilutions by rE2-CHIKV ELISA. Regarding the detection of IgM, the rE2-CHIKV ELISA showed a moderate samples detection agreement when compared to other serologic assays. For rE2-MAYV ELISA, it were tested 68 sera, resulting in 23 positive IgG samples, of which 11 demonstrated to be positive by the neutralization assay, demonstrating a sensibility of 100% and specificity of 78.95%. Therefore, the rE2-CHIKV and rE2-MAYV ELISAs, especially for IgG detection, demonstrated to be properly sensitive and specific to be validated in studies using a greater number of samples, and also to be applied in the diagnosis of infected CHIKV and MAYV patients.

Les syncytines sont des gènes d'enveloppes rétrovirales (env) capturés qui sont essentiels pour l'établissement du placenta chez les mammifères. Il a été proposé que la diversité des syncytines capturées explique pourquoi le placenta est l'organe le plus variable chez les mammifères. Ici nous avons employé deux approches pour étudier le lien entre la capture d'env et l'émergence et la diversité des structures placentaires. D'abord, nous avons étudié la placentation des Hyaenidae, les seuls carnivores à présenter un placenta très invasif hémochorial, comme l'humain. Comme tous les carnivores, les hyènes expriment la syncytin-Car1 précédemment décrite, mais nous avons identifié une nouvelle env, capturée uniquement chez ces dernières, que nous avons nommée Hyena-Env2. Ce nouveau gène est présent au même locus chez toutes les hyènes, ayant été capturé pendant la radiation de la famille. Il est non-fusiogène mais a néanmoins été conservé pendant plus de 10 millions d'années et est exprimé à l'interface materno-fœtale du placenta, ce qui en fait un gène candidat pour expliquer le passage à la placentation hémochoriale qui a eu lieu chez les Hyaenidae. Ensuite, nous avons cherché des gènes syncytine dans le genre non-mammifère Mabuya, des lézards vivipares présentant un type rare de placenta très complexe et proche de celui des mammifères. Nous avons identifié une env qui a été capturée et conservée dans ce genre depuis sa radiation, il y a 25 millions d'années. Ce gène, que nous avons appelé syncytin-Mab1, est capable d'induire la fusion cellule-cellule et est exprimé dans une couche de cellules fusionnées à l'interface materno-fœtale du placenta, deux propriétés canoniques de syncytine. Nous avons aussi identifié le récepteur de syncytin-Mab1, MPZL1, et avons montré que leur interaction induit son activation et sa phosphorylation. L'activation de MPZL1 a été liée à la migration et à l'invasion cellulaire, indiquant que cette interaction env-récepteur pourrait jouer un rôle dans l'invasion placentaire du tissu maternel observée chez les Mabuya. Pour conclure, la caractérisation de ces deux nouvelles env indique que les gènes de type syncytine ont pu jouer un rôle à la fois dans l'émergence du placenta de Mabuya et dans la structure atypique du placenta des hyènes, supportant la notion que la capture d'env est une force évolutive majeure. / Syncytins are captured retroviral envelope genes (env) that are essential for the establishment of placental structures in mammals. The syncytins present in different mammalian families are highly diverse, resulting from distinct capture events, and it has been suggested that this might play a role in making the placenta the most diverse structure in mammals. Here we used two different approaches to investigate the links between env capture and emergence and diversity of placental structures. First, we investigated placentation in Hyaenidae, the only carnivorans that present a highly invasive hemochorial placenta, as is also found in humans. Hyenas express the previously identified syncytin-Car1 gene, as do all carnivorans, but we identified a new hyena-specific captured env that we named Hyena-Env2. This new gene is present at the same locus in all hyenas, having been captured during the radiation of this family. It is non-fusiogenic but still conserved over at least 10 million years of evolution and expressed at the materno-fetal interface in the hyena placenta, making it a candidate gene for explaining the endotheliochorial to hemochorial placental transition that occurred in Hyeanidae. Second, we searched for syncytin-like genes in the non-mammalian Mabuya lizards, which are viviparous and present a rare type of highly complex placenta that is very reminiscent of mammalian placentas. We identified an env gene that was captured and conserved in this genus since its radiation 25 million years ago. This gene, that we named syncytin-Mab1, is able to mediate cell-cell fusion in vitro and is expressed in a fused cell layer at the materno-fetal interface of the placenta in vivo, characteristic features of canonical mammalian syncytin genes. We also identified the cellular gene MPZL1 as the cognate receptor of syncytin-Mab1 and showed that their interaction induces activation and phosphorylation of the former. MPZL1 activation has been linked with cell migration and invasion, indicating that this env-receptor interaction could play a role in the placental invasion of maternal tissues observed in Mabuya. In conclusion, the characterization of these two novel env genes indicates that syncytin-like env might have played a role both in the emergence of the Mabuya placenta and the atypical placental structure of hyenas, reinforcing the notion that env capture is a major driving force in evolution.

Despite 30 years of intensive research，an effective human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccine still remains elusive. The desirable immune response capable of providing protection against HIV acquisition is still not clear. The accumulating evidence learned from a recent vaccine efficacy correlate study not only confirmed the importance of antibody responses, but also highlighted potential protective functions of antibodies with a broad repertoire of HIV-1 epitope specificities and a wide range of different antiviral mechanisms. This necessitates a deep understanding of the complexity and diversity of antibody responses elicited by HIV-1 vaccines. My dissertation characterizes antibody response profiles of HIV-1 Env antibodies elicited by several novel immunogens or different immunization regimens, in terms of magnitude, persistence, epitope specificity, binding affinity, and biological function. First, to overcome the challenge of studying polyclonal sera without established assays, we expanded a novel platform to isolate Env-specific Rabbit mAbs (RmAb) elicited by DNA prime-protein boost immunization. These RmAbs revealed diverse epitope specificity and cross-reactivity against multiple gp120 antigens from more than one subtype, and several had potent and broad neutralizing activities against sensitive Tier 1 viruses. Further, structural analysis of two V3 mAbs demonstrated that a slight shift of the V3 epitope might have a dramatic impact on their neutralization activity. All of these observations provide a useful tool to study the induction of a desired type of antibody by different immunogens or different immunization regimens. Since heavily glycosylated HIV Env protein is a critical component of an HIV vaccine, we wanted to determine the impact of the HIV Env-associated glycan shield on antibody responses. We were able to produce Env proteins with a selective and homogeneous pattern of N-glycosylation using a glycoengineered yeast cell line. Antigenicity of these novel Env proteins was examined by well-characterized human mAbs. Immunogenicity studies showed that they were immunogenic and elicited gp120- specific antibody responses. More significantly, sera elicited by glycan-modified gp120 protein immunogens revealed better neutralizing activities and increased diversity of epitopes compared to sera elicited by traditional gp120 produced in Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells. Further, we examined the impact of the delivery order of DNA and protein immunization on antibody responses. We found that DNA prime-protein boost induced a comparable level of Env-specific binding Abs at the peak immunogenicity point to codelivery of DNA. However, antibody responses from DNA prime-protein boost had high avidity and diverse specificities, which improved potency and breadth of neutralizing Abs against Tier 1 viruses. Our data indicate that DNA vaccine priming of the immune system is essential for generation of high-quality antibodies. Additionally, we determined the relative immunogenicity of gp120 and gp160 Env in the context of DNA prime-protein boost vaccination to induce high-quality antibody responses. Immunized sera from gp120 DNA primed animals, but not those primed with gp160 DNA, presented with distinct antibody repertoire specificities, a high magnitude of CD4 binding site-directed binding capabilities as well as neutralizing activities. We confirmed the importance of using the gp120 Env form at the DNA priming phase, which directly determined the quality of antibody response.

No description available.

There is an urgent need for detection of viral respiratory pathogens to identify the causal agent(s) involved and to prevent the spread of related diseases. The first part of this dissertation focuses on development, optimization and validation of Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) assays for the detection of several common equine viral pathogens: equine arteritis virus (EAV), equine influenza virus and equine rhinitis viruses A and B. Emphasis of the second part of this dissertation is on studying the role of EAV envelope proteins in virus attachment and entry. Using an infectious cDNA clone of EAV and reverse genetics, a panel of chimeric viruses was generated by swapping the N-terminal ectodomains and full-lengths of the two major envelope proteins (GP5 and M) from porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV). The recombinant viruses expressing the N-terminal ectodomain of PRRSV GP5 or M or both (GP5ecto, Mecto, and GP5&Mecto, respectively) in an EAV backbone were viable and genetically stable. Compared to the parental virus, these three chimeric viruses produced lower titers and smaller plaque sizes indicating that they have a crippled phenotype. Interestingly, the three chimeric viruses could only infect EAV susceptible cell lines but not the PRRSV susceptible cell line. Therefore, the exchange of GP5 and/or M protein N-terminal ectodomains from PRRSV did not alter the cellular tropism of the chimeric viruses. We also investigated the role of one of the minor envelope proteins (E) of EAV in virus attachment and entry. The results showed that EAV infection of equine endothelial cells is heparin-dependent and the Cterminus of the E protein contains a putative heparin-binding domain. We generated a panel of arginine to glycine mutations in the conserved region of both the full-length EAV infectious cDNA clone and individual E protein expression vectors. The triple mutation R52,60,65G construct grew significantly slower and produced much smaller plaques. The double mutant R52,60G completely blocked the interaction between E protein and heparin. Taken together, these data indicated that E protein interacts with heparin to facilitate virus attachment and plays a major role in EAV infection.

<p>In all vertebrate species, reproduction is a hormonally controlled process, important for growth and maturation of gonads and germ cells. Production of functional germ cells is of outmost importance to secure the survival of a species. Fish comprises 50% of the known vertebrates and are found in aquatic habitats all over the world. Even though fish have evolved a wide variety of morphological and physiological characteristics, due to large differences in the living environment, the growth an maturation of germ cells follows the same pattern in all species. In this thesis the focus has been directed on oocyte growth and development in Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus), and if stress might inflict disturbances on the reproductive systems.</p><p>All sexually mature female egg laying vertebrates produces yolky eggs surrounded by an eggshell. Production of yolk and egg shell is under estrogenic control and it is known that production of egg components can be induced in male and juvenile fish by estrogenic substances. Many manmade chemicals have been found to interfere with hormonally controlled processes. Therefore production of the egg yolk precursor, vitellogenin (VTG), and the egg shell components, vitelline envelope proteins (VEP), have been used as biomarkers for estrogenic effect. Exposure to endocrine disrupting substances (EDS) does not only give rise to hormonal effects on the organism, but in addition it also gives rise to an increase in stress hormone, cortisol (F), levels. </p><p>It is evident that a wide variety of substances may affect Arctic char oocyte growth and maturation. VTG and VEP production is found to be under dose dependent estrogenic control, but the production was directly affected by F. Under natural condition it has been found that F increases towards ovulation. Even though both VTG and VTG is under estrogenic control, these studies showed that stress lead to a decrease of VTG while the VEP production increased. These effects was only observed on protein levels indicating that a post transcriptional down regulation of VTG production is mediated by F in Arctic char.</p><p>In order for an egg to become fertilizatible, it must undergo a maturation phase. This maturation phase is primarily induced by gonadotropins, which in turn induce the production of species specific maturation inducing substances (MIS). To investigate oocyte development in Arctic char a characterization of its MIS receptor was made. The MIS receptor is localized on the oocyte surface and displays a single class of high affinity and low capacity binding sites. The binding moieties displays association and dissociation kinetics typical of steroid membrane receptors.</p><p>Even though high specificity for Arctic char MIS was observed, it was found that some EDS bind to the Arctic char oocyte membrane receptor. This suggest that certain EDS might affect oocyte maturation and thereby might alter the reproductive success. Furthermore, it was found that F did not bind to the MIS receptor in Arctic char. It is therefore suggested that oocytes are more sensitive to stress during the growth phase than during maturation</p>

In all vertebrate species, reproduction is a hormonally controlled process, important for growth and maturation of gonads and germ cells. Production of functional germ cells is of outmost importance to secure the survival of a species. Fish comprises 50% of the known vertebrates and are found in aquatic habitats all over the world. Even though fish have evolved a wide variety of morphological and physiological characteristics, due to large differences in the living environment, the growth an maturation of germ cells follows the same pattern in all species. In this thesis the focus has been directed on oocyte growth and development in Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus), and if stress might inflict disturbances on the reproductive systems. All sexually mature female egg laying vertebrates produces yolky eggs surrounded by an eggshell. Production of yolk and egg shell is under estrogenic control and it is known that production of egg components can be induced in male and juvenile fish by estrogenic substances. Many manmade chemicals have been found to interfere with hormonally controlled processes. Therefore production of the egg yolk precursor, vitellogenin (VTG), and the egg shell components, vitelline envelope proteins (VEP), have been used as biomarkers for estrogenic effect. Exposure to endocrine disrupting substances (EDS) does not only give rise to hormonal effects on the organism, but in addition it also gives rise to an increase in stress hormone, cortisol (F), levels. It is evident that a wide variety of substances may affect Arctic char oocyte growth and maturation. VTG and VEP production is found to be under dose dependent estrogenic control, but the production was directly affected by F. Under natural condition it has been found that F increases towards ovulation. Even though both VTG and VTG is under estrogenic control, these studies showed that stress lead to a decrease of VTG while the VEP production increased. These effects was only observed on protein levels indicating that a post transcriptional down regulation of VTG production is mediated by F in Arctic char. In order for an egg to become fertilizatible, it must undergo a maturation phase. This maturation phase is primarily induced by gonadotropins, which in turn induce the production of species specific maturation inducing substances (MIS). To investigate oocyte development in Arctic char a characterization of its MIS receptor was made. The MIS receptor is localized on the oocyte surface and displays a single class of high affinity and low capacity binding sites. The binding moieties displays association and dissociation kinetics typical of steroid membrane receptors. Even though high specificity for Arctic char MIS was observed, it was found that some EDS bind to the Arctic char oocyte membrane receptor. This suggest that certain EDS might affect oocyte maturation and thereby might alter the reproductive success. Furthermore, it was found that F did not bind to the MIS receptor in Arctic char. It is therefore suggested that oocytes are more sensitive to stress during the growth phase than during maturation

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), a member of the family flaviviridae, is one of the most important pathogens of the developing countries, causing high mortality and morbidity amongst children. The present study is aimed at the development of a DNA vaccine for Japanese Encephalitis (JE). As a first step towards developing a DNA vaccine for JE, an eukaryotic expression plasmid encoding the envelope (E) glycoprotein of Japanese Encephalitis Virus (pCMXENV) was constructed. This plasmid expresses the E protein intracellularly, when transfected into Vero cells in culture. Several independent immunization and intracerebral (i.e.) JEV challenge experiments were carried out and the results indicate that 51% and 59% of the mice are protected from lethal i.e. JEV challenge, when immunized with pCMXENV via intramuscular (i.m.) and intranasal (i.n.) routes respectively. JEV-specific antibodies were not detected in pCMXENV-immunized mice either before or after challenge. JEV-specific T cells were observed in mice immunized with pCMXENV, which increased significantly after JEV challenge indicating the presence of vaccination-induced memory T cells. Enhanced production of interferon-y (EFN-y) and complete absence of interleukin-4 (IL-4) in splenocytes of pCMXENV-immunized mice on restimulation with JEV antigens in vitro indicated that the protection is likely to be mediated by T helper (Th) lymphocytes of the Thl sub type. These results demonstrated that immunization with a plasmid DNA expressing intracellular form of JEV E protein confers significant protection against i.e. JEV challenge even in the absence of detectable antiviral antibodies. We then examined the potency of JEV DNA vaccines as well as that of the inactivated mouse brain derived BIKEN vaccine in the i.e. challenge model. The results indicate that all the mice immunized with BIKEN JE vaccine were protected against i.e. JEV challenge while 50% protection was observed in case of mice immunized with pJME or pJNSl and 38% protection was observed in pCMXENV-immunized mice. Immunization with both pJME and pJNSl resulted in 66% protection. These results indicate that the BIKEN JE vaccine confers better protection against i.e. JEV challenge than DNA vaccines. The fact that the BIKEN vaccine conferred better protection against i.e. JEV challenge than DNA vaccines indicated that the i.e. JEV challenge model can be exploited further to examine the potency of different DNA vaccine constructs. Towards this goal, we constructed plasmids that encode secretory or nonsecretory forms of JEV E protein and examined their potency in the i.e. JEV challenge model. Our results indicate that i.m. immunization of mice with plasmid encoding secretory form of JEV E protein confers higher level (75%-80%) protection than those encoding nonsecretory forms. Cytokine analysis of splenocytes isolated from DNA immunized mice after stimulation in vitro with JEV revealed that immunization with plasmid encoding secretory form of JEV E protein induces both Thl and Th2 responses while those encoding nonsecretory forms induce only Thl type of response. Thus, synthesis of secretory form of JEV E protein results in an altered immune response leading better protection against i.e. JEV challenge. Based on our studies, we propose that both cellular and humoral immune responses play a key role in protective immunity against i.e. JEV challenge and DNA vaccines that can induce higher levels of neutralizing antibodies will be as efficient as the BIKEN vaccine in conferring protection against i.e. JEV challenge.