No description available.

The drug, N,N bis (ethylene)-P (1-adamantyl) phosphonic diamide inhibits focus formation of Rous Sarcoma Virus in tissue culture. Transformation of chick cells was inhibited when the drug was added to chick cells prior to infection. The drug did not inhibit the transformation of Normal Rat Kidney Cells infected with RSV, when the cells were grown at non-permissive temperatures and shifted to permissive temperatures upon addition of the drug. Nor did the drug revert cells transformed at permissive temperatures. These studies indicated that the inhibition of RSV is in the early stage of viral growth, possible penetration or uncoating.

Ren-Wang Jiang. / "July 2002." / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

HBV DNA replicates through a genomic RNA intermediate. The HBV reverse transcriptase lacks proof-reading activity, resulting in a much higher mutation rate for the HBV genome compared with other DNA viruses. HBV DNA thus is often present in quasi-species in an individual. One or more species may be favorably selected by factors like host immune clearance and use of antiviral drugs. / Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infected millions of people worldwide. Chronic HBV infection is the leading cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). / In summary, this study developed and validated two platforms for (1) HBV mutation discovery; and (2) HBV mutation detection in viral quasi-species. These tools may be useful for research on HBV drug resistant mutations, clinical instructing and monitoring of antiviral treatment. / In this study, I have developed high-throughput methods for (1) discovery of novel HBV mutations; and (2) highly multiplexed detection of known HBV mutations, both in the background of HBV quasi-species. Patients undergoing long-term lamivudine treatment were used for mutation discovery. For mutation discovery in quasi-species, the MassCLEAVE(TM) technology, a method based on base-specific RNA cleavage and automated Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), was used. I found that MassCLEAVE(TM) can be used to discover mutations present as minorities. Additionally, a synergistic effect was found between direct sequencing and MassCLEAVE(TM) in identifying minority mutations. Multi-PLEX, a method based on single nucleotide extension and automated MALDI-TOF MS, was used to develop a highly multiplexed assay for simultaneous detection of 60 HBV mutations including all functionally known HBV mutations and other frequently observed mutations during antiviral treatment with unknown functions. This multiplex assay was tested on a large cohort of single and multiple drug-resistant patients and was shown to be highly accurate in detecting HBV viral mutations in quasi-species. / Nucleotide and nucleoside analogues (NAs) are widely used for antiviral therapy by effectively suppressing viral DNA replication. However, long-term administration may select for drug-resistant mutant strains, leading to treatment failure and liver disease progression. A number of HBV mutations such as rtM204V/I, rtN236T and rtL180M within the HBV reverse transcriptase are known to confer drug resistance. Detection of these known mutations is useful genotypic markers for monitoring antiviral treatment. In addition, novel drug resistant mutations continue to be discovered. / by Luan, Ju. / Adviser: Chunming Ding. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-09, Section: B, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-149). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

Thesis (doctoral)--Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 1988. / Extra t.p. with thesis statement inserted. Includes bibliographical references.

Human adenoviruses (HAdVs) are common viruses often associated withgastrointestinal, ocular and respiratory infections. They can infect a widevariety of cells, both dividing and non-dividing. HAdVs attach to and infecttarget cells through interactions with cellular receptors. It has also beenshown that HAdVs can use soluble host components in body fluids forindirect binding to target cells, a feature that enables the usage of new typesof receptors resulting in a more efficient HAdV infection. We thereforeevaluated the influence of soluble components from four different bodyfluids on HAdV infection of epithelial cells, representing the respiratory andocular tropism of most HAdVs. We found that plasma, saliva, and tear fluidpromote binding and infection of HAdV-5 (species C) and that plasmapromotes infection of HAdV-31 (species A). Further binding and infectionexperiments identified coagulation factor IX (FIX) and X (FX) as thecomponents of plasma responsible for increase of HAdV-5 infection whileFIX alone mediates increase of HAdV-31 infection. We found that as little as1% of the physiological concentration of these factors is required to facilitatemaximum binding. The effect of coagulation factors on HAdV infection was thereafterextended to include all species A HAdVs: HAdV-12, -18 and -31. Species AHAdVs normally cause infections involving the airways and/or the intestine.These infections are often mild but species A HAdVs in general, and HAdV-31 in particular, have been shown to cause severe and life-threateninginfections in immunocompromised patients. We show here that FIXefficiently increase HAdV-18 and -31 (but not HAdV-12) binding andinfection of human epithelial cells, representing the respiratory andgastrointestinal tropism. FIX was shown to interact with the hexon proteinof HAdV-31 and surface plasmon resonance analysis revealed that theHAdV-31:FIX interaction is slightly stronger than that of the HAdV-5:FIX/FX interactions, but more interestingly, the half-lives of theseinteractions are profoundly different. By performing binding and infectionexperiments using cells expressing specific glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and ivGAG-cleaving enzymes we found that the HAdV-31:FIX and HAdV-5:FIX/FX complexes bind to heparan sulfate-containing GAGs on targetcells, but we could also see a difference in GAG dependence and specificitybetween these complexes.We conclude that the use of coagulation factors might be of moreimportance than previously recognized and that this may affect not only theliver tropism seen when administering adenovirus vectors into thecirculation but also regulate primary infections by wild-type viruses of theirnatural target cells. We also believe that our findings may contribute tobetter design of HAdV-based vectors for gene and cancer therapy and thatthe interaction between the HAdV-31 hexon and FIX may serve as a targetfor antiviral treatment. HAdV vectors are mainly based on HAdV-5 and several problems haverecently become evident when using these vectors. Major challenges withHAdV-5 based vectors include pre-existing neutralizing antibodies, pooraccess to the receptor CAR (coxsackie and adenovirus receptor), and offtarget effects to the liver due to interactions with coagulation factors. Theneed for new HAdV vectors devoid of these problems is evident.HAdV-52 is one of only three HAdVs that are equipped with two differentfiber proteins, one long and one short. We show here, by means of bindingand infection experiments, that HAdV-52 can use CAR as a cellular receptor,but that most of the binding is dependent on sialic acid-containingglycoproteins. Flow cytometry, ELISA and surface plasmon resonanceanalyses revealed that the terminal knob domain of the long fiber (52LFK)binds to CAR, and the knob domain of the short fiber (52SFK) binds tosialylated glycoproteins. X-ray crystallographic analysis of 52SFK in complexwith sialic acid revealed a new sialic acid binding site compared to otherknown adenovirus:glycan interactions. Moreover, glycan array analysisidentified α2,8-linked oligosialic acid, mimicking the naturally occurringpolysialic acid (PSia), as a potential sialic acid-containing glycan receptor for52SFK. ELISA and surface plasmon resonance confirmed the ability of52SFK to interact with PSia. Flow cytometry analysis also showed a fivefold vincrease in binding of 52SFK to PSia-expressing cells compared to controlcells. X-ray crystallographic analysis of 52SFK in complex with oligo-PSiarevealed engagement at the non-reducing end of oligo-PSia to the canonicalsialic acid-binding site, but also suggested the presence of a 'steering rim'consisting of positively charged amino acids contributing to the contact bylong-range electrostatic interactions. PSia is nearly absent on cells in healthy adults but can be expressed inhigh amounts on several types of cancers including: glioma, neuroblastomaand lung cancer. We show here that the short fiber of HAdV-52 bindsspecifically to PSia. Taking into account that HAdV-52 has a supposedly lowseroprevalence and is incapable of interacting with coagulation factors webelieve that HAdV-52 based vectors can be useful for treatment of cancertypes with elevated PSia expression.

<p>Nevirapine (NVP) is a cheap anti-retroviral drug used in poor countries worldwide, administered to pregnant women at the onset of labour to inhibit HIV enzyme reverse transcriptase. Viruses which may get transmitted to newborns are deficient in this enzyme, and HIV-1 infection cannot be established, thereby preventing mother to child transmission (MTCT). In some cases, babies get infected and positive selection for viruses resistant to nevirapine may be inferred. Positive selection can be inferred from sequence data, when the rate of nonsynonymous substitutions is significantly greater than the rate of synonymous substitutions.</p> <p>Unfortunately, it is found that available positive selection methods should not be used to analyse before- and after- NVP treatment sequence pairs associated with MTCT. Methods which use phylogenetic trees to infer positive selection trace synonymous and nonsynonymous substitutions further back in time than the short time duration during which selection for NVP occurred. The other group of methods for inferring positive selection, the pairwise methods, do not have appreciable power, because they average susbtituion rates over all codons in a sequence pair and not just at single codons. We introduce a simple counting method which we call the Pairwise Homologous Codons (PHoCs) method with which we have inferred positive selection resulting from NVP treatment in longitudinal HIV-1 reverse transcriptase sequences. The PHoCs method estimates rates of substitutions between before- and after- NVP treatment codons, using a simple pairwise method.</p>

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 2014. / RNA interference (RNAi) is a highly conserved gene regulatory mechanism triggered by the presence of double-stranded RNAs and results in post-transcriptional and transcriptional gene silencing. RNAi has been demonstrated to have therapeutic potential to treat chronic viral infections including HIV-1. Due to the side effects of and eventual drug resistance to highly active antiretroviral therapy, a novel anti-HIV-1 therapy is required. The most suitable exogenous RNAi triggers to use in anti-HIV-1 RNAi-based therapy are expressed short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs). Despite being highly developed, shRNA systems still pose safety concerns. Highly expressed shRNAs are at risk of over-saturating the endogenous RNAi pathway, inducing an innate immune response or silencing off-target mRNA. The purpose of this study was to minimise shRNA-associated off-target effects and simultaneously maximise the potency and specificity of expressed shRNAs for potential therapeutic application. ShRNAs shorter than 19 base pairs are not recognised by the endonuclease Dicer, which is an important component of the RNAi pathway, but miR-451 is Dicer-independent. Smaller shRNAs that retain their potency would be easier to deliver into a disease model. For this study, 25mers and miR-451-mimicking 19mers were generated. The shRNA pairs exhibited significant knockdown of their respective targets in dual-luciferase assays. The 19mers are more specific gene silencers compared to the 25mers. A 19mer that is more potent than its 25mer counterpart was identified. None of the hairpins induced an innate immune response, caused cytotoxic effects or saturated the endogenous RNAi pathway. This study concludes that the 19mers were processed in a manner similar to miR-451 resulting in a single ~30 nt mature RNA product. We dubbed these miR-451-mimicking 19mers, guide shRNAs. The single RNA strand of mature guide shRNAs abolishes the risk sense strand-associated off-targeting thus improving shRNA specificity. These revolutionary guide shRNAs can be developed into highly potent activators of the RNAi pathway in a therapeutic setting.

Orientador: Chung Man Chin / Coorientador: Priscila Longhin Bosquesi / Banca: Eduardo René Pérez González / Banca: Renato Farina Menegon / Resumo: A leishmaniose tegumentar possui ampla distribuição mundial, segundo dados da Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS) e estima-se que haja o surgimento de 500 mil a um milhão de casos por ano. Segundo dados do Departamento de Informática do Sistema Único de Saúde (DATASUS), no ano de 2005 registraram-se mais de 180 milhões de casos de leishmaniose tegumentar no Brasil. Apesar da existência de tratamentos disponíveis, a cura da leishmaniose é um processo complexo, em virtude das dificuldades na administração dos fármacos injetáveis, dos inúmeros efeitos adversos e da toxicidade hepática, renal e cardíaca. Dessa forma o desenvolvimento de novos fármacos mais eficazes e menos tóxicos torna-se urgente. O bioisosterismo é uma ferramenta de modificação molecular que visa à obtenção de novos análogos com a mesma atividade biológica. Assim, tem sido utilizado na pesquisa de novos fármacos, buscando a melhoria na eficácia e segurança no tratamento de diversas doenças. O nitrofural (NF), 5-nitro-2-furaldeído semicarbazona, é um fármaco utilizado como antimicrobiano de uso tópico em vários tipos de lesões de pele, que apresenta atividade descrita contra formas amastigotas de L. donovani, L. enriettii e L. major. Baseando-se nas diversas atividades do fármaco, o trabalho proposto objetivou a síntese de bioisósteros de nitrofural e avaliação dos compostos quanto à atividade leishmanicida in vitro. Foram sintetizados e caracterizados através de métodos analíticos oito compostos, sendo um inédito. Sete deles foram avaliados quanto à atividade biológica frente às formas amastigotas de L.amazonensis, através do ensaio de MTT (brometo de 3-metil[4,5-dimetiltiazol-2-il]-2,5 difeniltetrazólio). O composto Lapdesf-MetSFS (8) apresentou atividade comparável à da pentamidina, fármaco padrão utilizado na terapêutica. / Abstract: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a world widely distributed disease and it is estimated, by the World Health Organization (WHO), the incidence of 500,000 to one million cases per year. According to the Department of the Unified Health System (DATASUS), in 2005 it was registered more than 180 million cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Brazil. Although treatments for leishmaniasis are available, it is a complex process, because of difficulties in administration, once the majority of the drugs are injectable, the several numbers of adverse effects, and liver, renal and cardiac toxicity. Due to that, the development of more effective and less toxic drugs becomes urgent. The bioisosterism is a molecular modification strategy that aims to obtain new analogues with the same biological activity. It has been used in the research for new drugs, in order to improve the effectiveness and safety in the treatment of various diseases. The nitrofural (NF) 5-nitro-2-furaldehyde semicarbazone, is a drug used as topical antimicrobial in various types of skin lesions is described which has activity against L. donovani, L. enriettii and L. major amastigote forms. Based on the various drug activities, the proposed work aimed the synthesis of bioisosters of nitrofural and evaluation of compounds for in vitro leishmanicidal activity. Were synthesized and characterized via analytical methods eight compounds, one unpublished. Seven of them were evaluated for biological activity against the amastigotesn forms of L. amazonensis by MTT assay (3-methyl bromide [4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl] -2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide). The Lapdesf-MetSFS (8) compound showed activity comparable to that of pentamidine, standard drug used in therapy. / Mestre

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.