scholarly journals Sterilization of drug-resistant influenza virus through genetic interference: use of unnatural amino acid-engineered virions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuesheng Wu ◽  
Zhetao Zheng ◽  
Hongmin Chen ◽  
Haishuang Lin ◽  
Yuelin Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Influenza Virus ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Genetic Code ◽  
Unnatural Amino Acids ◽  
Influenza A ◽  
Antiviral Agent ◽  
Unnatural Amino Acid ◽  
Drug Resistant ◽  
Genetic Code Expansion

AbstractThe frequent emergence of drug resistance during the treatment of influenza A virus (IAV) infections highlights a need for effective antiviral countermeasures. Here, we present an antiviral method that utilizes unnatural amino acid-engineered drug-resistant (UAA-DR) virus. The engineered virus is generated through genetic code expansion to combat emerging drug-resistant viruses. The UAA-DR virus has unnatural amino acids incorporated into its drug-resistant protein and its polymerase complex for replication control. The engineered virus can undergo genomic segment reassortment with normal virus and produce sterilized progenies due to artificial amber codons in the viral genome. We validate in vitro that UAA-DR can provide a broad-spectrum antiviral strategy for several H1N1 strains, different DR-IAV strains, multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains, and even antigenically distant influenza strains (e.g., H3N2). Moreover, a minimum dose of neuraminidase (NA) inhibitors for influenza virus can further enhance the sterilizing effect when combating inhibitor-resistant strains, partly due to the promoted superinfection of unnatural amino acid-modified virus in cellular and animal models. We also exploited the engineered virus to achieve adjustable efficacy after external UAA administration, for mitigating DR virus infection on transgenic mice harboring the pair, and to have substantial elements of the genetic code expansion technology, which further demonstrated the safety and feasibility of the strategy. We anticipate that the use of the UAA-engineered DR virion, which is a novel antiviral agent, could be extended to combat emerging drug-resistant influenza virus and other segmented RNA viruses.

scholarly journals Transferability of N-terminal mutations of pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase in one species to that in another species on unnatural amino acid incorporation efficiency

Amino Acids ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas L. Williams ◽  
Debra J. Iskandar ◽  
Alexander R. Nödling ◽  
Yurong Tan ◽  
Louis Y. P. Luk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Genetic Code ◽  
Unnatural Amino Acids ◽  
Trna Synthetase ◽  
Unnatural Amino Acid ◽  
Amino Acid Incorporation ◽  
Acid Incorporation ◽  
Genetic Code Expansion ◽  
Incorporation Efficiency

AbstractGenetic code expansion is a powerful technique for site-specific incorporation of an unnatural amino acid into a protein of interest. This technique relies on an orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA pair and has enabled incorporation of over 100 different unnatural amino acids into ribosomally synthesized proteins in cells. Pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase (PylRS) and its cognate tRNA from Methanosarcina species are arguably the most widely used orthogonal pair. Here, we investigated whether beneficial effect in unnatural amino acid incorporation caused by N-terminal mutations in PylRS of one species is transferable to PylRS of another species. It was shown that conserved mutations on the N-terminal domain of MmPylRS improved the unnatural amino acid incorporation efficiency up to five folds. As MbPylRS shares high sequence identity to MmPylRS, and the two homologs are often used interchangeably, we examined incorporation of five unnatural amino acids by four MbPylRS variants at two temperatures. Our results indicate that the beneficial N-terminal mutations in MmPylRS did not improve unnatural amino acid incorporation efficiency by MbPylRS. Knowledge from this work contributes to our understanding of PylRS homologs which are needed to improve the technique of genetic code expansion in the future.

scholarly journals Characterization of an enhanced antigenic change in the pandemic 2009 H1N1 influenza virus haemagglutinin

2014 ◽  
Vol 95 (5) ◽  
pp. 1033-1042 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blanca García-Barreno ◽  
Teresa Delgado ◽  
Sonia Benito ◽  
Inmaculada Casas ◽  
Francisco Pozo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Influenza Virus ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Influenza A ◽  
Point Mutations ◽  
Antigenic Site ◽  
Single Amino Acid ◽  
Antigenic Structure ◽  
Human Antibody ◽  
2009 H1n1

Murine hybridomas producing neutralizing mAbs specific to the pandemic influenza virus A/California/07/2009 haemagglutinin (HA) were isolated. These antibodies recognized at least two different but overlapping new epitopes that were conserved in the HA of most Spanish pandemic isolates. However, one of these isolates (A/Extremadura/RR6530/2010) lacked reactivity with the mAbs and carried two unique mutations in the HA head (S88Y and K136N) that were required simultaneously to eliminate reactivity with the murine antibodies. This unusual requirement directly illustrates the phenomenon of enhanced antigenic change proposed previously for the accumulation of simultaneous amino acid substitutions at antigenic sites of the influenza A virus HA during virus evolution (Shih et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 104 , 6283–6288, 2007). The changes found in the A/Extremadura/RR6530/2010 HA were not found in escape mutants selected in vitro with one of the mAbs, which contained instead nearby single amino acid changes in the HA head. Thus, either single or double point mutations may similarly alter epitopes of the new antigenic site identified in this work in the 2009 H1N1 pandemic virus HA. Moreover, this site is relevant for the human antibody response, as shown by competition of mAbs and human post-infection sera for virus binding. The results are discussed in the context of the HA antigenic structure and challenges posed for identification of sequence changes with possible antigenic impact during virus surveillance.

scholarly journals Genetic Characterization of Avian Influenza A (H11N9) Virus Isolated from Mandarin Ducks in South Korea in 2018

Viruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 203
Author(s):  
Hien Thi Tuong ◽  
Ngoc Minh Nguyen ◽  
Haan Woo Sung ◽  
Hyun Park ◽  
Seon-Ju Yeo
Keyword(s):  
Influenza Virus ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Avian Influenza ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Avian Influenza Virus ◽  
Influenza A ◽  
Sequence Similarity ◽  
Basic Amino Acid ◽  
Wild Birds

In July 2018, a novel avian influenza virus (A/Mandarin duck/South Korea/KNU18-12/2018(H11N9)) was isolated from Mandarin ducks in South Korea. Phylogenetic and molecular analyses were conducted to characterize the genetic origins of the H11N9 strain. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that eight gene segments of strain H11N9 belonged to the Eurasian lineages. Analysis of nucleotide sequence similarity of both the hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) genes revealed the highest homology with A/duck/Kagoshima/KU57/2014 (H11N9), showing 97.70% and 98.00% nucleotide identities, respectively. Additionally, internal genes showed homology higher than 98% compared to those of other isolates derived from duck and wild birds. Both the polymerase acidic (PA) and polymerase basic 1 (PB1) genes were close to the H5N3 strain isolated in China; whereas, other internal genes were closely related to that of avian influenza virus in Japan. A single basic amino acid at the HA cleavage site (PAIASR↓GLF), the lack of a five-amino acid deletion (residue 69–73) in the stalk region of the NA gene, and E627 in the polymerase basic 2 (PB2) gene indicated that the A/Mandarin duck/South Korea/KNU18-12/2018(H11N9) isolate was a typical low-pathogenicity avian influenza. In vitro viral replication of H11N9 showed a lower titer than H1N1 and higher than H9N2. In mice, H11N9 showed lower adaptation than H1N1. The novel A/Mandarin duck/South Korea/KNU18-12/2018(H11N9) isolate may have resulted from an unknown reassortment through the import of multiple wild birds in Japan and Korea in approximately 2016–2017, evolving to produce a different H11N9 compared to the previous H11N9 in Korea (2016). Further reassortment events of this virus occurred in PB1 and PA in China-derived strains. These results indicate that Japanese- and Chinese-derived avian influenza contributes to the genetic diversity of A/Mandarin duck/South Korea/KNU18-12/2018(H11N9) in Korea.

scholarly journals Laninamivir-Interferon Lambda 1 Combination Treatment Promotes Resistance by Influenza A Virus More Rapidly than Laninamivir Alone

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone E. Adams ◽  
Vladimir Y. Lugovtsev ◽  
Anastasia Kan ◽  
Nicolai V. Bovin ◽  
Raymond P. Donnelly ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Influenza Virus ◽  
Influenza A Virus ◽  
Combination Treatment ◽  
Influenza A ◽  
Influenza Virus Infection ◽  
The United States ◽  
Epithelial Cell Line ◽  
Drug Resistant ◽  
Interferon Lambda

ABSTRACT Each year, 5% to 20% of the population of the United States becomes infected with influenza A virus. Combination therapy with two or more antiviral agents has been considered a potential treatment option for influenza virus infection. However, the clinical results derived from combination treatment with two or more antiviral drugs have been variable. We examined the effectiveness of cotreatment with two distinct classes of anti-influenza drugs, i.e., neuraminidase (NA) inhibitor, laninamivir, and interferon lambda 1 (IFN-λ1), against the emergence of drug-resistant virus variants in vitro. We serially passaged pandemic A/California/04/09 [A(H1N1)pdm09] influenza virus in a human lung epithelial cell line (Calu-3) in the presence or absence of increasing concentrations of laninamivir or laninamivir plus IFN-λ1. Surprisingly, laninamivir used in combination with IFN-λ1 promoted the emergence of the E119G NA mutation five passages earlier than laninamivir alone (passage 2 versus passage 7, respectively). Acquisition of this mutation resulted in significantly reduced sensitivity to the NA inhibitors laninamivir (∼284-fold) and zanamivir (∼1,024-fold) and decreased NA enzyme catalytic activity (∼5-fold) compared to the parental virus. Moreover, the E119G NA mutation emerged together with concomitant hemagglutinin (HA) mutations (T197A and D222G), which were selected more rapidly by combination treatment with laninamivir plus IFN-λ1 (passages 2 and 3, respectively) than by laninamivir alone (passage 10). Our results show that treatment with laninamivir alone or in combination with IFN-λ1 can lead to the emergence of drug-resistant influenza virus variants. The addition of IFN-λ1 in combination with laninamivir may promote acquisition of drug resistance more rapidly than treatment with laninamivir alone.

scholarly journals Genetic Code Expansion of Vibrio natriegens

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eden Ozer ◽  
Lital Alfonta
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Code ◽  
Unnatural Amino Acids ◽  
Unnatural Amino Acid ◽  
Negative Bacterium ◽  
Amino Acid Incorporation ◽  
Gram Negative ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Acid Incorporation ◽  
Genetic Code Expansion ◽  
First Time

Escherichia coli has been considered as the most used model bacteria in the majority of studies for several decades. However, a new, faster chassis for synthetic biology is emerging in the form of the fast-growing gram-negative bacterium Vibrio natriegens. Different methodologies, well established in E. coli, are currently being adapted for V. natriegens in the hope to enable a much faster platform for general molecular biology studies. Amongst the vast technologies available for E. coli, genetic code expansion, the incorporation of unnatural amino acids into proteins, serves as a robust tool for protein engineering and biorthogonal modifications. Here we designed and adapted the genetic code expansion methodology for V. natriegens and demonstrate an unnatural amino acid incorporation into a protein for the first time in this organism.

scholarly journals Characterization of Drug-Resistant Influenza Virus A(H1N1) and A(H3N2) Variants SelectedIn Vitrowith Laninamivir

2014 ◽  
Vol 58 (9) ◽  
pp. 5220-5228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mélanie Samson ◽  
Yacine Abed ◽  
François-Marc Desrochers ◽  
Stephanie Hamilton ◽  
Angela Luttick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Influenza Virus ◽  
Influenza A ◽  
Solomon Islands ◽  
The United States ◽  
Drug Resistant ◽  
Virus Infections ◽  
Influenza A Viruses ◽  
Oseltamivir Resistance ◽  
Susceptibility Profiles

ABSTRACTNeuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs) play a major role for managing influenza virus infections. The widespread oseltamivir resistance among 2007-2008 seasonal A(H1N1) viruses and community outbreaks of oseltamivir-resistant A(H1N1)pdm09 strains highlights the need for additional anti-influenza virus agents. Laninamivir is a novel long-lasting NAI that has demonstratedin vitroactivity against influenza A and B viruses, and its prodrug (laninamivir octanoate) is in phase II clinical trials in the United States and other countries. Currently, little information is available on the mechanisms of resistance to laninamivir. In this study, we first performed neuraminidase (NA) inhibition assays to determine the activity of laninamivir against a set of influenza A viruses containing NA mutations conferring resistance to one or many other NAIs. We also generated drug-resistant A(H1N1) and A(H3N2) viruses underin vitrolaninamivir pressure. Laninamivir demonstrated a profile of susceptibility that was similar to that of zanamivir. More specifically, it retained activity against oseltamivir-resistant H275Y and N295S A(H1N1) variants and the E119V A(H3N2) variant.In vitro, laninamivir pressure selected the E119A NA substitution in the A/Solomon Islands/3/2006 A(H1N1) background, whereas E119K and G147E NA changes along with a K133E hemagglutinin (HA) substitution were selected in the A/Quebec/144147/2009 A(H1N1)pdm09 strain. In the A/Brisbane/10/2007 A(H3N2) background, a large NA deletion accompanied by S138A/P194L HA substitutions was selected. This H3N2 variant had altered receptor-binding properties and was highly resistant to laninamivir in plaque reduction assays. Overall, we confirmed the similarity between zanamivir and laninamivir susceptibility profiles and demonstrated that both NA and HA changes can contribute to laninamivir resistancein vitro.

Antiviral Effect of Gingyo-San, a Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine, on Influenza A2Virus Infection in Mice

1999 ◽  
Vol 27 (01) ◽  
pp. 53-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Makiko Kobayashi ◽  
Stephen M. Davis ◽  
Tokuichiro Utsunomiya ◽  
Richard B. Pollard ◽  
Fujio Suzuki
Keyword(s):  
Influenza Virus ◽  
Influenza A ◽  
Mdck Cells ◽  
Influenza Virus Infection ◽  
Antiviral Agent ◽  
Antiviral Effect ◽  
Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine ◽  
Antiviral Activities ◽  
The Common

Gingyo-san is a crude drug containing extracts from 7 medicinal plants and fermented soybeans in a specific ratio. It has been used clinically in China as a therapeutic agent for the common cold. In the present study, we examined the antiviral effect of this agent on influenza virus infection in mice. Gingyo-san and its components were administered orally to mice 1 day before, then 1 and 4, days after the inhalation of a mouse-adopted strain of influenza A2(H2N2) virus. After infection with a 10 LD50of the virus, 100% of mice treated with 10 mg/kg of the agent survived as compared with a 0% survival of control mice treated with saline. Also, the mean survival days were ncreased and consolidation scores were decreased in treated mice as compared with those of control mice. Two components contained in the agent, extracts from Glycyrrhizae radix and Arctii fructus, expressed antiviral activities in mice infected with influenza virus. However, in vitro growth of influenza virus in MDCK cells or viability of the virus was not affected by these extracts or Gingyo-san. From these results Gingyo-san was shown to be an antiviral agent in mice infected with a lethal amount of a mouse-adopted strain of influenza A2virus.

scholarly journals Evolving Bacterial Fitness with an Expanded Genetic Code

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Drew S. Tack ◽  
Austin C. Cole ◽  
R. Shroff ◽  
B.R. Morrow ◽  
Andrew D. Ellington
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Genetic Code ◽  
Unnatural Amino Acid ◽  
Noncanonical Amino Acids ◽  
Bacterial Fitness ◽  
Genetic Code Expansion ◽  
Encoding Strategy ◽  
Translation Systems ◽  
Expanded Genetic Code

AbstractEvolution has for the most part used the canonical 20 amino acids of the natural genetic code to construct proteins. While several theories regarding the evolution of the genetic code have been proposed, experimental exploration of these theories has largely been restricted to phylogenetic and computational modeling. The development of orthogonal translation systems has allowed noncanonical amino acids to be inserted at will into proteins. We have taken advantage of these advances to evolve bacteria to accommodate a 21 amino acid genetic code in which the amber codon ambiguously encodes either 3-nitro-L-tyrosine or stop. Such an ambiguous encoding strategy recapitulates numerous models for genetic code expansion, and we find that evolved lineages first accommodate the unnatural amino acid, and then begin to evolve on a neutral landscape where stop codons begin to appear within genes. The resultant lines represent transitional intermediates on the way to the fixation of a functional 21 amino acid code.

scholarly journals Engineering RNA viruses with unnatural amino acid to evoke adjustable immune response in mice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhetao Zheng ◽  
Yu Wang ◽  
Xuesheng Wu ◽  
Haoran Zhang ◽  
Hongmin Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune Response ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Genetic Code ◽  
Rna Viruses ◽  
Enterovirus 71 ◽  
Unnatural Amino Acid ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Strong Immune Response ◽  
Genetic Code Expansion ◽  
Dose Dependent

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) viruses pose heavy burdens on public-health systems. Synthetic biology holds great potential for artificially controlling their replication, a strategy that could be used to attenuate infectious viruses but is still in the exploratory stage. Herein, we used the genetic-code expansion technique to convert Enterovirus 71 (EV71), a model of RNA virus, into a controllable EV71 strain carrying the unnatural amino acid (UAA) Nε-2-azidoethyloxycarbonyl-L-lysine (NAEK), which we termed an EV71-NAEK virus. EV71-NAEK could recapitulate an authentic NAEK time- and dose-dependent infection in vitro and in vivo, which could serve as a novel method to manipulate virulent viruses in conventional laboratories. We further validated the prophylactic effect of EV71-NAEK in two mouse models. In susceptible parent mice, vaccination with EV71-NAEK elicited a strong immune response and potentially protected their neonatal offspring from lethal challenge similar to that of commercial vaccines. Meanwhile, in transgenic mice harboring a PylRS-tRNAPyl CUA pair, substantial elements of genetic-code expansion technology, EV71-NAEK evoked an adjustable neutralizing-antibody response in a strictly external NAEK dose-dependent manner. These findings suggested that EV71-NAEK could be the basis of a feasible immunization program for populations with different levels of immunity. Moreover, we expanded the strategy to generate controllable coxsackieviruses and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) for conceptual verification. In combination, these results could underlie a competent strategy for attenuating viruses and priming the immune system via artificial control, which might be a promising direction for the development of amenable vaccine candidates and be broadly applied to other RNA viruses.

Phosphoramidate Derivatives of Stavudine as Inhibitors of HIV: Unnatural Amino Acids May Substitute for Alanine

2000 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher McGuigan ◽  
Laure Bidois ◽  
Aziz Hiouni ◽  
Carlo Ballatore ◽  
Erik De Clercq ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Unnatural Amino Acids ◽  
Alkyl Chain ◽  
Unnatural Amino Acid ◽  
Small Loss ◽  
Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Amino Acid Analogues ◽  
Derivatives Of ◽  
Carboxyl Esterase

Some novel phosphoramidate derivatives of the nucleoside analogue stavudine have been prepared as membrane-soluble prodrugs of the bioactive free phosphate forms. Phenyl phosphates linked via nitrogen to methyl esterified amino acid analogues were studied, where the amino acid was an unnatural α-alkyl (or aryl) glycine or an α,α- dialkyl glycine. All compounds were characterized by a range of spectroscopic, spectrometric and analytical methods and were subjected to in vitro evaluation of their anti-human immunodeficiency virus efficacy. It is notable that certain unnatural amino acid derivatives could substitute for alanine with only a relatively small loss of activity and, moreover, that this activity did not fall-off with increasing alkyl chain length for the C2-C4 mono-alkyl series. These data are further probed by the application of our recently reported 31P-NMR-based carboxyl esterase assay, with informative results.

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