Scrapie infection activates the replication of ecotropic, xenotropic, and polytropic murine leukemia virus (MuLV) in brains and spinal cords of senescence-accelerated mice: Implication of MuLV in progression of scrapie pathogenesis

2006 ◽  
Vol 349 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyung-Hee Lee ◽  
Byung-Hoon Jeong ◽  
Jae-Kwang Jin ◽  
Harry C. Meeker ◽  
Jae-Il Kim ◽  
...  
mBio ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Harvey J. Alter ◽  
Judy A. Mikovits ◽  
William M. Switzer ◽  
Francis W. Ruscetti ◽  
Shyh-Ching Lo ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The disabling disorder known as chronic fatigue syndrome or myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) has been linked in two independent studies to infection with xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) and polytropic murine leukemia virus (pMLV). Although the associations were not confirmed in subsequent studies by other investigators, patients continue to question the consensus of the scientific community in rejecting the validity of the association. Here we report blinded analysis of peripheral blood from a rigorously characterized, geographically diverse population of 147 patients with CFS/ME and 146 healthy subjects by the investigators describing the original association. This analysis reveals no evidence of either XMRV or pMLV infection. IMPORTANCE Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis has an estimated prevalence of 42/10,000 in the United States, with annual direct medical costs of $7 billion. Here, the original investigators who found XMRV and pMLV (polytropic murine leukemia virus) in blood of subjects with this disorder report that this association is not confirmed in a blinded analysis of samples from rigorously characterized subjects. The increasing frequency with which molecular methods are used for pathogen discovery poses new challenges to public health and support of science. It is imperative that strategies be developed to rapidly and coherently address discoveries so that they can be carried forward for translation to clinical medicine or abandoned to focus resource investment more productively. Our study provides a paradigm for pathogen dediscovery that may be helpful to others working in this field.


Author(s):  
L. Z. de Tkaczevski ◽  
E. de Harven ◽  
C. Friend

Despite extensive studies, the correlation between the morphology and pathogenicity of murine leukemia viruses (MLV) has not yet been clarified. The virus particles found in the plasma of leukemic mice belong to 2 distinct groups, 1 or 2% of them being enveloped A particles and the vast majority being of type C. It is generally believed that these 2 types of particles represent different phases in the development of the same virus. Particles of type A have been thought to be an earlier form of type C particles. One of the tissue culture lines established from Friend leukemia solid tumors has provided the material for the present study. The supernatant fluid of the line designated C-1A contains an almost pure population of A particles as illustrated in Figure 1. The ratio is, therefore, the reverse of what is unvariably observed in the plasma of leukemic mice where C particles predominate.


Author(s):  
Ray A. Weigand ◽  
Gregory C. Varjabedian

We previously described the intracellular localization of murine mammary tumor virus (MuMTV) p28 protein in thin sections (1). In that study, MuMTV containing cells fixed in 3% paraformaldehyde plus 0.05% glutaraldehyde were labelled after thin sectioning using ferritin-antiferritin in an unlabelled antibody technique. We now describe the labelling of murine leukemia virus (MuLV) particles using the unlabelled antibody technique coupled to ferritin-Fab antiferritin. Cultures of R-MuLV in NIH/3T3 cells were grown to 90% confluence (2), fixed with 2% paraformaldehyde plus 0.5% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M cacodylate at pH 7.2, postfixed with buffered 17 OsO4, dehydrated with a series of etha-nols, and embedded in Epon. Thin sections were collected on nickel grids, incubated in 107 H2O2, rinsed in HEPES buffered saline, and subjected to the immunoferritin labelling procedure. The procedure included preincubation in 27 egg albumin, a four hour incubation in goat antisera against purified gp69/71 of MuLV (3) (primary antibody), incubation in F(ab’)2 fragments of rabbit antisera to goat IgG (secondary antibody), incubation in apoferritin, incubation in ferritin-Fab ferritin, and a brief fixation with 2% glutaraldehyde. The sections were stained with uranyl acetate and examined in a Siemens IA electron microscope at an accelerating voltage of 60 KV.


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