Liposome-antigen-nucleic acid complexes protect mice from lethal challenge with western and eastern equine encephalitis viruses.

Alphaviruses are mosquito-borne viruses that cause significant disease in animals and humans. Western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV) and eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV), two New World alphaviruses, can cause fatal encephalitis, and EEEV is a select agent of concern in biodefense. However, we have no antiviral therapies against alphaviral disease, and current vaccine strategies target only a single alphavirus species. In an effort to develop new tools for a broader response to outbreaks, we designed and tested a novel alphavirus vaccine comprised of cationic lipid nucleic acid complexes (CLNCs) and the ectodomain of WEEV E1 protein (E1ecto). Interestingly, we found that the CLNC component, alone, had therapeutic efficacy, as it increased survival of CD-1 mice following lethal WEEV infection. Immunization with the CLNC-WEEV E1ecto mixture (lipid-antigen-nucleic acid complexes [LANACs]) using a prime-boost regimen provided 100% protection in mice challenged with WEEV subcutaneously, intranasally, or via mosquito. Mice immunized with LANACs mounted a strong humoral immune response but did not produce neutralizing antibodies. Passive transfer of serum from LANAC E1ecto-immunized mice to nonimmune CD-1 mice conferred protection against WEEV challenge, indicating that antibody is sufficient for protection. In addition, the LANAC E1ecto immunization protocol significantly increased survival of mice following intranasal or subcutaneous challenge with EEEV. In summary, our LANAC formulation has therapeutic potential and is an effective vaccine strategy that offers protection against two distinct species of alphavirus irrespective of the route of infection. We discuss plausible mechanisms as well the potential utility of our LANAC formulation as a pan-alphavirus vaccine.

Mechanisms of protein kinase PKR-mediated amplification of beta interferon induction by C protein-deficient measles virus.

The measles virus P gene products V and C antagonize the host interferon (IFN) response, blocking both IFN signaling and production. Using Moraten vaccine strain-derived measles virus and isogenic mutants deficient for either V or C protein production (V(ko) and C(ko), respectively), we observed that the C(ko) virus was a potent inducer of IFN-beta, while induction by V(ko) virus was an order of magnitude lower than that by the C(ko) virus. The parental recombinant Moraten virus did not significantly induce IFN-beta. The enhanced IFN-inducing capacity of the C(ko) virus correlated with an enhanced activation of IFN regulatory factor 3 (IRF-3), NF-kappaB, and ATF-2 in C(ko)-infected compared to V(ko) or parental virus-infected cells. Furthermore, protein kinase PKR and mitochondrial adapter IPS-1 were required for maximal C(ko)-mediated IFN-beta induction, which correlated with the PKR-mediated enhancement of mitogen-activated protein kinase and NF-kappaB activation. Our results reveal multiple consequences of C protein expression and document an important function for PKR as an enhancer of IFN-beta induction during measles virus infection.

Factors affecting recombinant Western equine encephalitis virus glycoprotein production in the baculovirus system.

In an effort to produce processed, soluble Western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV) glycoproteins for subunit therapeutic vaccine studies, we isolated twelve recombinant baculoviruses designed to express four different WEEV glycoprotein constructs under the transcriptional control of three temporally distinct baculovirus promoters. The WEEV glycoprotein constructs encoded full-length E1, the E1 ectodomain, an E26KE1 polyprotein precursor, and an artificial, secretable E2E1 chimera. The three different promoters induced gene expression during the immediate early (ie1), late (p6.9), and very late (polh) phases of baculovirus infection. Protein expression studies showed that the nature of the WEEV construct and the timing of expression both influenced the quantity and quality of recombinant glycoprotein produced. The full-length E1 product was insoluble, irrespective of the timing of expression. Each of the other three constructs yielded soluble products and, in these cases, the timing of expression was important, as higher protein processing efficiencies were generally obtained at earlier times of infection. However, immediate early expression did not yield detectable levels of every WEEV product, and expression during the late (p6.9) or very late (polh) phases of infection provided equal or higher amounts of processed, soluble product. Thus, while earlier foreign gene expression can provide higher recombinant glycoprotein processing efficiencies in the baculovirus system, in the case of the WEEV glycoproteins, earlier expression did not provide larger amounts of high quality, soluble recombinant glycoprotein product.

RNA-specific adenosine deaminase ADAR1 suppresses measles virus-induced apoptosis and activation of protein kinase PKR.

ADAR1 (adenosine deaminase acting on RNA) catalyzes the conversion of adenosine to inosine, a process known as A-to-I editing. Extensive A-to-I editing has been described in viral RNAs isolated from the brains of patients persistently infected with measles virus, although the precise role of ADAR during measles virus infection remains unknown. We generated human HeLa cells stably deficient in ADAR1 ("ADAR1(kd) cells") through short hairpin RNA-mediated knockdown, and using these cells, we tested the effect of ADAR1 deficiency on measles virus (MVvac strain) growth and virus-induced cell death. We found that the growth of mutant viruses lacking expression of the viral accessory proteins V and C (V(ko) and C(ko), respectively) was decreased in ADAR1-deficient cells compared with ADAR1-sufficient cells. In addition, apoptosis was enhanced in ADAR1-deficient cells following infection with wild type and V(ko) virus but not following infection with C(ko) virus or treatment with tumor necrosis factor-alpha or staurosporine. Furthermore, in C(ko)-infected ADAR1-sufficient cells when ADAR1 did not protect against apoptosis, caspase cleavage of the ADAR1 p150 protein was detected. Finally, enhanced apoptosis in ADAR1(kd) cells following infection with wild type and V(ko) virus correlated with enhanced activation of PKR kinase and interferon regulatory factor IRF-3. Taken together, these results demonstrate that ADAR1 is a proviral, antiapoptotic host factor in the context of measles virus infection and suggest that the antiapoptotic activity of ADAR1 is achieved through suppression of activation of proapoptotic and double-stranded RNA-dependent activities, as exemplified by PKR and IRF-3.

Protein kinase PKR mediates the apoptosis induction and growth restriction phenotypes of C protein-deficient measles virus.

The measles virus (MV) accessory proteins V and C play important roles in MV replication and pathogenesis. Infection with recombinant MV lacking either V or C causes more cell death than infection with the parental vaccine-equivalent virus (MVvac), and C-deficient virus grows poorly relative to the parental virus. Here, we show that a major effector of the C phenotype is the RNA-dependent protein kinase PKR. Using human HeLa cells stably deficient in PKR as a result of RNA interference-mediated knockdown (PKR(kd) cells), we demonstrated that a reduction in PKR partially rescued the growth defect of C knockout (C(ko)) virus but had no effect on the growth of either wild-type (WT) or V knockout (V(ko)) virus. Increased growth of the C(ko) virus in PKR(kd) cells correlated with increased viral protein expression, while defective growth and decreased protein expression in PKR-sufficient cells correlated with increased phosphorylation of PKR and the alpha subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2. Furthermore, infection with WT, V(ko), or especially C(ko) virus caused significantly less apoptosis in PKR(kd) cells than in PKR-sufficient cells. Although apoptosis induced by C(ko) virus infection in PKR-sufficient cells was blocked by a caspase antagonist, the growth of C(ko) virus was not restored to the WT level by treatment with this pharmacologic inhibitor. Taken together, these results indicate that PKR plays an important antiviral role during MV infection but that the virus growth restriction by PKR is not dependent upon the induction of apoptosis. Furthermore, the results establish that a principal function of the MV C protein is to antagonize the proapoptotic and antiviral activities of PKR.

A new insect cell glycoengineering approach provides baculovirus-inducible glycogene expression and increases human-type glycosylation efficiency.

Insect cells are often glycoengineered using DNA constructs encoding foreign glyocoenzymes under the transcriptional control of the baculovirus immediate early promoter, ie1. However, we recently found that the delayed early baculovirus promoter, 39K, provides inducible and higher levels of transgene expression than ie1 after baculovirus infection (Lin and Jarvis, 2013). Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess the utility of the 39K promoter for insect cell glycoengineering. We produced two polyclonal transgenic insect cell populations in parallel using DNA constructs encoding foreign glycoenzymes under either ie1 (Sfie1SWT) or 39K (Sf39KSWT) promoter control. The surface of Sfie1SWT cells was constitutively sialylated, whereas the Sf39KSWT cell surface was only strongly sialylated after baculovirus infection, indicating Sf39KSWT cells were inducibly-glycoengineered. All nine glycogene-related transcript levels were induced by baculovirus infection of Sf39KSWT cells and most reached higher levels in Sf39KSWT than in Sfie1SWT cells at early times after infection. Similarly, galactosyltransferase activity, sialyltransferase activity, and sialic acid levels were induced and reached higher levels in baculovirus-infected Sf39KSWT cells. Finally, two different recombinant glycoproteins produced by baculovirus-infected Sf39KSWT cells had lower proportions of paucimannose-type and higher proportions of sialylated, complex-type N-glycans than those produced by baculovirus-infected Sfie1SWT cells. Thus, the 39K promoter provides baculovirus-inducible expression of foreign glycogenes, higher glycoenzyme activity levels, and higher human-type N-glycan processing efficiencies than the ie1 promoter, indicating that this delayed early baculovirus promoter has great utility for insect cell glycoengineering.

Bioluminescent imaging and histopathologic characterization of WEEV neuroinvasion in outbred CD-1 mice.

Western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV; Alphavirus) is a mosquito-borne virus that can cause severe encephalitis in humans and equids. Previous studies have shown that intranasal infection of outbred CD-1 mice with the WEEV McMillan (McM) strain result in high mortality within 4 days of infection. Here in vivo and ex vivo bioluminescence (BLM) imaging was applied on mice intranasally infected with a recombinant McM virus expressing firefly luciferase (FLUC) to track viral neuroinvasion by FLUC detection and determine any correlation between BLM and viral titer. Immunological markers of disease (MCP-1 and IP-10) were measured and compared to wild type virus infection. Histopathology was guided by corresponding BLM images, and showed that neuroinvasion occurred primarily through cranial nerves, mainly in the olfactory tract. Olfactory bulb neurons were initially infected with subsequent spread of the infection into different regions of the brain. WEEV distribution was confirmed by immunohistochemistry as having marked neuronal infection but very few infected glial cells. Axons displayed infection patterns consistent with viral dissemination along the neuronal axis. The trigeminal nerve served as an additional route of neuroinvasion showing significant FLUC expression within the brainstem. The recombinant virus WEEV.McM.FLUC had attenuated replication kinetics and induced a weaker immunological response than WEEV.McM but produced comparable pathologies. Immunohistochemistry staining for FLUC and WEEV antigen showed that transgene expression was present in all areas of the CNS where virus was observed. BLM provides a quantifiable measure of alphaviral neural disease progression and a method for evaluating antiviral strategies.

Tipping the balance: antagonism of PKR kinase and ADAR1 deaminase functions by virus gene products.

The protein kinase regulated by RNA (PKR) and the adenosine deaminase acting on RNA (ADAR1) are interferon-inducible enzymes that play important roles in biologic processes including the antiviral actions of interferons, signal transduction, and apoptosis. PKR catalyzes the RNA-dependent phosphorylation of protein synthesis initiation factor eIF-2 alpha, thereby leading to altered translational patterns in interferon-treated and virus-infected cells. PKR also modulates signal transduction responses, including the induction of interferon. ADAR1 catalyzes the deamination of adenosine (A) to generate inosine (I) in RNAs with double-stranded character. Because I is recognized as G instead of A, A-to-I editing by ADAR1 can lead to genetic recoding and altered RNA structures. The importance of PKR and ADAR1 in innate antiviral immunity is illustrated by a number of viruses that encode either RNA or protein viral gene products that antagonize PKR and ADAR1 enzymatic activity, localization, or stability.