Luteolin inhibits viral-induced inflammatory response in RAW264.7 cells via suppression of STAT1/3 dependent NF-κB and activation of HO-1.

Luteolin is a common dietary flavonoid present in Chinese herbal medicines that has been reported to have important anti-inflammatory properties. Previous studies have shown that luteolin is an anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative agent. In this study, the anti-virus inflammatory capacity of luteolin and its molecular mechanisms of action were analyzed. The cytotoxic effects of luteolin were assessed in the presence or absence of pseudorabies virus (PRV) via LDH and MTT assays. The results showed that luteolin (<10µM) had no toxic effects and there were tendencies toward higher cell survival. In PRV-infected RAW264.7 cells, luteolin potently inhibited the production of NO, iNOS, COX-2 and inflammatory cytokine production. Luteolin did not inhibit the phosphorylation of ERK 1/2, p38, and JNK 1/2 either. We found that PRV-induced NF-κB activation is regulated through inhibition of STAT1and STAT3 phosphorylation in response to luteolin. Additionally, luteolin caused the induction of HO-1 via upregulation of Nrf2, both of which are involved in the secretion of proinflammatory mediators. The blockade of HO-1 expression with SnPP, a HO-1 inhibitor, attenuated HO-1 induction by luteolin and thus mitigated its anti-inflammatory effects during PRV-infected RAW264.7 cells. Taken together, our data indicate that luteolin diminishes the proinflammatory mediators NO, inflammatory cytokines and the expression of their regulatory genes, iNOS and COX-2, in PRV-infected RAW264.7 cells by inhibiting STAT1/3 dependent NF-κB activation and inducing Nrf2mediated HO-1 expression.

The cytotoxicity to leukemia cells and antiviral effects of Isatis indigotica extracts on pseudorabies virus.

AIM OF THE STUDY: Isatis indigotica (I. indigotica), Cruciferae, has been used in Chinese medicine for anti-leukemia and anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The aim of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxicity of Isatis indigotica extracts on human leukemia cell line (HL-60) and the antiviral activity on swine pseudorabies virus (PrV) in in vitro assays. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Extracts and derived fractions of Isatis indigotica were prepared from root (R) and leaf (L) using methanol (M), ethyl acetate (E) and distilled water (D). The cytotoxic effect of extracts on swine peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and HL-60 was assessed by MTT method. The cytopathic effect (CPE) reduction, plaque reduction and inhibition assays on viral replication, and virucidal activity were further conducted to investigate the anti-PrV activity. RESULTS: Indirubin, one of the biological active compounds of Isatis indigotica, had the most significant cytotoxicity on HL-60 cells and inhibitory effect on PrV replication. Extracts from roots and leaves of Isatis indigotica also presented CPE inhibition either before or after infection of PrV on porcine kidney (PK-15) cells. Leaf extracts had better virucidal activity than roots, and ethyl acetate extracts exhibited the highest efficacy among extracts tested. CONCLUSION: Isatis indigotica posses a valuable virucidal effect in disease control of pseudorabies virus infection in swine.

Transcriptome signature of virulent and attenuated pseudorabies virus-infected rodent brain.

Mammalian alphaherpesviruses normally establish latent infections in ganglia of the peripheral nervous system in their natural hosts. Occasionally, however, these viruses spread to the central nervous system (CNS), where they cause damaging, often fatal, infections. Attenuated alphaherpesvirus derivatives have been used extensively as neuronal circuit tracers in a variety of animal models. Their circuit-specific spread provides a unique paradigm to study the local and global CNS response to infection. Thus, we systematically analyzed the host gene expression profile after acute pseudorabies virus (PRV) infection of the CNS using Affymetrix GeneChip technology. Rats were injected intraocularly with one of three selected virulent and attenuated PRV strains. Relative levels of cellular transcripts were quantified from hypothalamic and cerebellar tissues at various times postinfection. The number of cellular genes responding to infection correlated with the extent of virus dissemination and relative virulence of the PRV strains. A total of 245 out of 8,799 probe sets, corresponding to 182 unique cellular genes, displayed increased expression ranging from 2- to more than 100-fold higher than in uninfected tissue. Over 60% thereof were categorized as immune, proinflammatory, and other cellular defense genes. Additionally, a large fraction of infection-induced transcripts represented cellular stress responses, including glucocorticoid- and redox-related pathways. This is the first comprehensive in vivo analysis of the global transcriptional response of the mammalian CNS to acute alphaherpesvirus infection. The differentially regulated genes reported here are likely to include potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets for viral encephalitides and other neurodegenerative or neuroinflammatory diseases.

Circuit-specific coinfection of neurons in the rat central nervous system with two pseudorabies virus recombinants.

Neurotropic alphaherpesviruses have become popular tools for transynaptic analysis of neural circuitry. It has also been demonstrated that coinfection with two viruses expressing unique reporters can be used to define more complicated circuitry. However, the coinfection studies reported to date have employed nonisogenic strains that differ in their invasive properties. In the present investigation we used two antigenically distinct recombinants of the swine pathogen pseudorabies virus (PRV) in single and double infections of the rat central nervous system. Both viruses are derivatives of PRV-Bartha, a strain with reduced virulence that is widely used for circuit analysis. PRV-BaBlu expresses beta-galactosidase, and PRV-D expresses the PRV membrane protein gI, the gene for which is deleted in PRV-BaBlu. Antibodies to beta-galactosidase identify neurons infected with PRV-BaBlu, and antibodies monospecific for PRV gI identify neurons infected with PRV-D. The ability of these strains to establish coinfections in neurons was evaluated in visual and autonomic circuitry in which the parental virus has previously been characterized. The following conclusions can be drawn from these experiments. First, PRV-D is significantly more neuroinvasive than PRV-Bartha or PRV-BaBlu in the same circuitry. Second, PRV-D is more virulent than either PRV-Bartha or PRV-BaBlu, and PRV-BaBlu is less virulent than PRV-Bartha. Third, in every model examined, PRV-D and PRV-BaBlu coinfect some neurons, but single infections predominate. Fourth, prior infection with one virus renders neurons less permissive to infection by another virus. Fifth, prior infection by PRV-D is more effective than PRV-BaBlu in reducing invasion and spread of the second virus. Collectively, the data define important variables that must be considered in coinfection experiments and suggest that the most successful application of this approach would be accomplished by using isogenic strains of virus with equivalent virulence.

Protective effect of glycoprotein gC-rich antigen against pseudorabies virus.

A trial vaccine containing pseudorabies virus (PRV) glycoprotein gC as the main component showed excellent protection against virulent virus infection in pigs. Glycoprotein gC-rich antigen was prepared by heparin affinity chromatography from PRV-infected cell lysates. The preparations were mixed with mineral oil adjuvant as a water-in-oil emulsion. Six-week-old pigs were immunized twice at two-week intervals with trial vaccines containing 128,000, 12,800 and 1,280 HA units per dose of gC antigen. They were then challenged with a virulent PRV at day 7 after the final immunization. Neutralizing (NT) antibodies were produced with increase of antibody titers after challenge. Pigs immunized with 128,000 HA units per dose of gC survived and showed no virus shedding during the 2-week experimental period after the challenge. The role of cell-mediated immunity was examined using BALB/c mice, and induction of gC-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) was detected by 51Cr release assay. From these results with mice, it is inferred that cell-mediated immunity, especially CTL, may play an important role in the effectiveness of our trial vaccine in addition to humoral immunity.

Vaccination with recombinant vaccinia virus vaccines expressing glycoprotein genes of pseudorabies virus in the presence of maternal immunity.

Piglets which had received colostral antibody to pseudorabie virus (PRV) were divided into four groups and inoculated with a NYVAC vaccinia recombinant expressing glycoprotein gD of PRV, a NYVAC recombinant expressing glycoprotein gB of PRV, an inactivated PRV vaccine, or no vaccine. The piglets were vaccinated twice, 3 weeks apart, beginning at approximately 2 weeks of age and later challenged with virulent PRV oronasally. All three vaccines protected similarly when no maternal antibody was present. Although all three vaccines induced some active immunity in piglets with maternal antibody, piglets receiving the NYVAC/gB vaccine were the only ones protected similarly whether or not they had maternal antibodies to PRV.

Specific pseudorabies virus infection of the rat visual system requires both gI and gp63 glycoproteins.

Transneuronal transport of pseudorabies virus (PRV) from the retina to visual centers that mediate visual discrimination and reflexes requires specific genes in the unique short region of the PRV genome. In contrast, these same viral genes are not required to infect retinorecipient areas of the brain involved in circadian rhythm regulation. In this report, we demonstrate that viral mutants carrying defined deletions of the genes encoding glycoprotein gI or gp63, or both, result in the same dramatic transport defect. Efficient export of either gI or gp63 from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus in a fibroblast cell line requires the presence of both proteins. We also show that gI and gp63 physically interact, as demonstrated by pulse-chase and sucrose gradient sedimentation experiments. Complex formation is rapid compared with homodimerization of PRV glycoprotein gII. We suggest that gI and gp63 function in concert to affect neurotropism in the rat visual circuitry and that a heterodimer is likely to be the unit of function.