Evolution of human polyomavirus JC

Microbiology ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 81 (5) ◽  
pp. 1191-1200 ◽  
Author(s):  
John N. Hatwell ◽  
Paul M. Sharp

More than 20 near full-length genome sequences have been reported for human polyomavirus JC (JCV). These have previously been classified into seven genotypes, and additional subtypes, which exhibit geographical associations. One of these genotypes, Type 4, has been suggested to be a recombinant of Types 1 and 3. We have investigated the pattern of diversity, and evolutionary relationships, among these sequences. In direct contradiction of a recent report, we found that different phylogenetic methods gave consistent results for the phylogenetic relationships among strains. The single known strain representing Type 5 was shown to be a mosaic of sequences from Types 2 and 6, although whether this recombination occurred in vivo or in vitro is not clear. In contrast, there was no substantial evidence that Type 4 strains are recombinant; rather they seem to be simply divergent examples of Type 1. On the assumption that the major genotypes of JCV diverged with human populations, the rate of synonymous nucleotide substitution was estimated to be around 4×10−7 per site per year, about 10 times higher than a previous estimate for primate polyomaviruses.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 1177
Author(s):  
Abdulaziz Alhazmi ◽  
Magloire Pandoua Nekoua ◽  
Hélène Michaux ◽  
Famara Sane ◽  
Aymen Halouani ◽  
...  

The thymus gland is a primary lymphoid organ for T-cell development. Various viral infections can result in disturbance of thymic functions. Medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs) are important for the negative selection of self-reactive T-cells to ensure central tolerance. Insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) is the dominant self-peptide of the insulin family expressed in mTECs and plays a crucial role in the intra-thymic programing of central tolerance to insulin-secreting islet β-cells. Coxsackievirus B4 (CVB4) can infect and persist in the thymus of humans and mice, thus hampering the T-cell maturation and differentiation process. The modulation of IGF2 expression and protein synthesis during a CVB4 infection has been observed in vitro and in vivo in mouse models. The effect of CVB4 infections on human and mouse fetal thymus has been studied in vitro. Moreover, following the inoculation of CVB4 in pregnant mice, the thymic function in the fetus and offspring was disturbed. A defect in the intra-thymic expression of self-peptides by mTECs may be triggered by CVB4. The effects of viral infections, especially CVB4 infection, on thymic cells and functions and their possible role in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes (T1D) are presented.


1998 ◽  
Vol 6 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 331-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Specht ◽  
Hans-Gerd Pauels ◽  
Christian Becker ◽  
Eckehart Kölsch

The involvement of counteractiveCD8+T-cell subsets during tumor-specific immune responses was analyzed in a syngeneic murine plasmacytoma model.CD8+Tc cells against the immunogenic IL-10-producing BALB/c plasmacytoma ADJ-PC-5 can be easily induced by immunization of BALB/c mice with X-irradiated ADJ-PC-5 tumor cellsin vivoandin vitro. However, the failure of recipient mice to mount a protective Tc response against the tumor during early stages of a real or simulated tumor growth is not due to immunological ignorance, but depends on the induction of tumor-specific tolerance, involving a population of tumorinducedCD8+T cells that are able to inhibit the generation of tumor-specific Tc cells in a primary ADJ-PC-5-specific MLTC, using IFN-γas a suppressive factor. Whereas most longterm cultivated CD8+ADJ-PC-5-specific Tc lines produce type-1 cytokines on stimulation, at least two of them, which were derived from a primary MLTC, display a type-2 cytokine spectrum. Furthermore, the primaryin vitroTc response against ADJ-PC-5 cells shows characteristics of a Tc2 response. The Tc response is strictly depending on tumor-derived IL-10.CD8+Tc cells that are induced in a primary MLTC do not produce IFN-γ, and the tumor-specific Tc response is enhanced by IL-4 but suppressed by IFN-γor IL-12. In contrast, ADJ-PC- 5-specificCD8+Tc cells from immunized mice are IFN-γproducing Tc1 cells. Since the primaryin vitroTc response against the tumor is suppressed even by the smallest numbers of irradiated ADJ-PC-5-specific Tc1 cells via IFN-γthese Tc1 cells behave similar to the suppressiveCD8+T cells that are induced during early stages of ADJ-PC-5 tumorigenesis.


2006 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. S435 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Marko ◽  
G. Szabo ◽  
S. Udvari ◽  
M. Agoston ◽  
E. Szabo ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 399 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika B. Dolinska ◽  
Yuri V. Sergeev

AbstractTyrosinase, a melanosomal glycoenzyme, catalyzes initial steps of the melanin biosynthesis. While glycosylation was previously studiedin vivo, we present three recombinant mutant variants of human tyrosinase, which were obtained using multiple site-directed mutagenesis, expressed in insect larvae, purified and characterized biochemically. The mutagenesis demonstrated the reduced protein expression and enzymatic activity due to possible loss of protein stability and protein degradation. However, the complete deglycosylation of asparagine residuesin vitro, including the residue in position 371, interrupts tyrosinase function, which is consistent with a melanin loss in oculocutaneous albinism type 1 (OCA1) patients.


2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 1382-1391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michiko Tanaka ◽  
Hiroyuki Kagawa ◽  
Yuji Yamanashi ◽  
Tetsutaro Sata ◽  
Yasushi Kawaguchi

ABSTRACT In recent years, several laboratories have reported on the cloning of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) genomes as bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) in Escherichia coli and on procedures to manipulate these genomes by using the bacterial recombination machinery. However, the HSV-BACs reported so far are either replication incompetent or infectious, with a deletion of one or more viral genes due to the BAC vector insertion. For use as a multipurpose clone in research on HSV-1, we attempted to generate infectious HSV-BACs containing the full genome of HSV-1 without any loss of viral genes. Our results were as follows. (i) E. coli (YEbac102) harboring the full-length HSV-1 genome (pYEbac102) in which a BAC flanked by loxP sites was inserted into the intergenic region between UL3 and UL4 was constructed. (ii) pYEbac102 was an infectious molecular clone, given that its transfection into rabbit skin cells resulted in production of infectious virus (YK304). (iii) The BAC vector sequence was almost perfectly excisable from the genome of the reconstituted virus YK304 by coinfection of Vero cells with YK304 and a recombinant adenovirus, AxCANCre, expressing Cre recombinase. (iv) As far as was examined, the reconstituted viruses from pYEbac102 could not be phenotypically differentiated from wild-type viruses in vitro and in vivo. Thus, the viruses grew as well in Vero cells as did the wild-type virus and exhibited wild-type virulence in mice on intracerebral inoculation. (v) The infectious molecular clone pYEbac102 is in fact useful for mutagenesis of the HSV-1 genome by bacterial genetics, and a recombinant virus carrying amino acid substitutions in both copies of the α0 gene was generated. pYEbac102 will have multiple applications to the rapid generation of genetically engineered HSV-1 recombinants in basic research into HSV-1 and in the development of HSV vectors in human therapy.


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