scholarly journals Deletion of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Cytoplasmic Tail Increases Infectivity in Pseudovirus Neutralization Assays

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingyou Yu ◽  
Zhenfeng Li ◽  
Xuan He ◽  
Makda S. Gebre ◽  
Esther A. Bondzie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Viral Entry ◽  
Lentiviral Vector ◽  
Limit Of Detection ◽  
Cytoplasmic Tail ◽  
Neutralization Assay ◽  
Etiologic Agent ◽  
Target Cells ◽  
Viral Pathogens ◽  
Level 3 ◽  
Assay Precision

Pseudotyped viruses are valuable tools for studying virulent or lethal viral pathogens that need to be handled in biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) or higher facilities. With the explosive spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the establishment of a BSL-2 adapted SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus neutralization assay is needed to facilitate the development of countermeasures. Here we describe an approach to generate a single-round lentiviral vector-based SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus, which produced a signal more than 2 logs above background. Specifically, a SARS-CoV-2 spike variant with a cytoplasmic tail deletion of 13 amino acids, termed SΔCT13, conferred enhanced spike incorporation into pseudovirions and increased viral entry into cells as compared with full-length spike (S). We further compared S and SΔCT13 in terms of their sensitivity to vaccine sera, purified convalescent IgG, hACE2-mIgG, and the virus entry inhibitor BafA1. We developed a SΔCT13-based pseudovirus neutralization assay and defined key assay characteristics, including linearity, limit of detection, and intra- and intermediate-assay precision. Our data demonstrate that the SΔCT13-based pseudovirus shows enhanced infectivity in target cells, which will facilitate the assessment of humoral immunity to SARS-CoV-2 infection, antibody therapeutics, and vaccination. This pseudovirus neutralization assay can also be readily adapted to SARS-CoV-2 variants that emerge. IMPORTANCE SARS-CoV-2 is the etiologic agent of the COVID-19 pandemic. The development of a high throughput pseudovirus neutralization assay is critical for the development of vaccines and immune-based therapeutics. In this study, we show that deletion of the cytoplasmic tail of the SARS-CoV-2 spike leads to pseudoviruses with enhanced infectivity. This SΔCT13-based pseudovirus neutralization assay should be broadly useful for the field.

scholarly journals Establishment of a well-characterized SARS-CoV-2 lentiviral pseudovirus neutralization assay using 293T cells with stable expression of ACE2 and TMPRSS2

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabari Nath Neerukonda ◽  
Russell Vassell ◽  
Rachel Herrup ◽  
Shufeng Liu ◽  
Tony Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neutralizing Antibodies ◽  
293T Cell ◽  
Neutralization Assay ◽  
Target Cells ◽  
Highly Pathogenic ◽  
Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 ◽  
Pathogenic Viruses ◽  
Screening Assays ◽  
Assay Precision ◽  
Transmembrane Serine Protease

AbstractPseudoviruses are useful surrogates for highly pathogenic viruses because of their safety, genetic stability, and scalability for screening assays. Many different pseudovirus platforms exist, each with different advantages and limitations. Here we report our efforts to optimize and characterize an HIV-based lentiviral pseudovirus assay for screening neutralizing antibodies for SARS-CoV-2 using a stable 293T cell line expressing human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2). We assessed different target cells, established conditions that generate readouts over at least a two-log range, and confirmed consistent neutralization titers over a range of pseudovirus input. Using reference sera and plasma panels, we evaluated assay precision and showed that our neutralization titers correlate well with results reported in other assays. Overall, our lentiviral assay is relatively simple, scalable, and suitable for a variety of SARS-CoV-2 entry and neutralization screening assays.

scholarly journals Establishment of a well-characterized SARS-CoV-2 lentiviral pseudovirus neutralization assay using 293T cells with stable expression of ACE2 and TMPRSS2

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0248348
Author(s):  
Sabari Nath Neerukonda ◽  
Russell Vassell ◽  
Rachel Herrup ◽  
Shufeng Liu ◽  
Tony Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neutralizing Antibodies ◽  
293T Cell ◽  
Neutralization Assay ◽  
Target Cells ◽  
Highly Pathogenic ◽  
Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 ◽  
Pathogenic Viruses ◽  
Screening Assays ◽  
Assay Precision ◽  
Transmembrane Serine Protease

Pseudoviruses are useful surrogates for highly pathogenic viruses because of their safety, genetic stability, and scalability for screening assays. Many different pseudovirus platforms exist, each with different advantages and limitations. Here we report our efforts to optimize and characterize an HIV-based lentiviral pseudovirus assay for screening neutralizing antibodies for SARS-CoV-2 using a stable 293T cell line expressing human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2). We assessed different target cells, established conditions that generate readouts over at least a two-log range, and confirmed consistent neutralization titers over a range of pseudovirus input. Using reference sera and plasma panels, we evaluated assay precision and showed that our neutralization titers correlate well with results reported in other assays. Overall, our lentiviral assay is relatively simple, scalable, and suitable for a variety of SARS-CoV-2 entry and neutralization screening assays.

scholarly journals Clathrin-Dependent Entry of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus into Target Cells Expressing ACE2 with the Cytoplasmic Tail Deleted

2007 ◽  
Vol 81 (16) ◽  
pp. 8722-8729 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuuki Inoue ◽  
Nobuyuki Tanaka ◽  
Yoshinori Tanaka ◽  
Shingo Inoue ◽  
Kouichi Morita ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
Viral Entry ◽  
Cytoplasmic Tail ◽  
Host Cells ◽  
Target Cells ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Virus Attachment ◽  
Caveolin 1 ◽  
Early Endosomes ◽  
Interfering Rna

ABSTRACT The penetration of various viruses into host cells is accomplished by hijacking the host endocytosis machinery. In the case of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) infection, viral entry is reported to require a low pH in intracytoplasmic vesicles; however, little is known about how SARS-CoV invades such compartments. Here we demonstrate that SARS-CoV mainly utilizes the clathrin-mediated endocytosis pathway for its entry to target cells by using infectious SARS-CoV, as well as a SARS-CoV pseudovirus packaged in the SARS-CoV envelope. The SARS-CoV entered caveolin-1-negative HepG2 cells, and the entry was significantly inhibited by treatment with chlorpromazine, an inhibitor for clathrin-dependent endocytosis, and by small interfering RNA-mediated gene silencing for the clathrin heavy chain. Furthermore, the SARS-CoV entered COS7 cells transfected with the mutant of ACE2 with the cytoplasmic tail deleted, SARS-CoV receptor, as well as the wild-type ACE2, and their entries were significantly inhibited by treatment with chlorpromazine. In addition, ACE2 translocated into EEA1-positive early endosomes immediately after the virus attachment to ACE2. These results suggest that when SARS-CoV binds ACE2 it is internalized and penetrates early endosomes in a clathrin-dependent manner and that the cytoplasmic tail of ACE2 is not required for the penetration of SARS-CoV.

scholarly journals Insertion Mutations in Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Glycoprotein H Reduce Cell Surface Expression, Slow the Rate of Cell Fusion, or Abrogate Functions in Cell Fusion and Viral Entry

2009 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 2038-2046 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia O. Jackson ◽  
Erick Lin ◽  
Patricia G. Spear ◽  
Richard Longnecker
Keyword(s):  
Herpes Simplex Virus ◽  
Herpes Simplex ◽  
Cell Surface ◽  
Cell Fusion ◽  
Viral Entry ◽  
Cytoplasmic Tail ◽  
Target Cells ◽  
Simplex Virus ◽  
Insertion Mutations ◽  
Hsv 1

ABSTRACT Of the four required herpes simplex virus (HSV) entry glycoproteins, the precise role of gH-gL in fusion remains the most elusive. The heterodimer gH-gL has been proposed to mediate hemifusion after the interaction of another required glycoprotein, gD, with a receptor. To identify functional domains of HSV-1 gH, we generated 22 randomized linker-insertion mutants. Analyses of 22 gH mutants revealed that gH is relatively tolerant of insertion mutations, as 15 of 22 mutants permitted normal processing and transport of gH-gL to the cell surface. gH mutants that were not expressed well at the cell surface did not function in fusion or viral entry. The screening of gH mutants for function revealed the following: (i) for wild-type gH and some gH mutants, fusion with nectin-1-expressing target cells occurred more rapidly than with herpesvirus entry mediator (HVEM)-expressing target cells; (ii) some gH mutants reduced the rate of cell fusion without abrogating fusion completely, indicating that gH may play a role in governing the kinetics of fusion and may be responsible for a rate-limiting first stage in HSV-1 fusion; and (iii) only one gH mutant, located within the short cytoplasmic tail, completely abrogated function, indicating that the gH cytoplasmic tail is crucial for cell fusion and viral infectivity.

scholarly journals Medicinal Plants, Phytochemicals, and Herbs to Combat Viral Pathogens Including SARS-CoV-2

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1775
Author(s):  
Arumugam Vijaya Anand ◽  
Balasubramanian Balamuralikrishnan ◽  
Mohandass Kaviya ◽  
Kathirvel Bharathi ◽  
Aluru Parithathvi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medicinal Plants ◽  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
Viral Entry ◽  
Antiviral Agents ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Direct Inhibition ◽  
Viral Pathogens ◽  
Important Health ◽  
Antiviral Activities ◽  
Important Health Issue

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), is the most important health issue, internationally. With no specific and effective antiviral therapy for COVID-19, new or repurposed antiviral are urgently needed. Phytochemicals pose a ray of hope for human health during this pandemic, and a great deal of research is concentrated on it. Phytochemicals have been used as antiviral agents against several viruses since they could inhibit several viruses via different mechanisms of direct inhibition either at the viral entry point or the replication stages and via immunomodulation potentials. Recent evidence also suggests that some plants and its components have shown promising antiviral properties against SARS-CoV-2. This review summarizes certain phytochemical agents along with their mode of actions and potential antiviral activities against important viral pathogens. A special focus has been given on medicinal plants and their extracts as well as herbs which have shown promising results to combat SARS-CoV-2 infection and can be useful in treating patients with COVID-19 as alternatives for treatment under phytotherapy approaches during this devastating pandemic situation.

scholarly journals PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF A FRET-BASED IMMUNOASSAY FOR QUANTITATION OF INFLIXIMAB ON A POINT-OF-CARE INSTRUMENT SYSTEM

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S57-S57
Author(s):  
Edgar Ong ◽  
Ruo Huang ◽  
Richard Kirkland ◽  
Michael Hale ◽  
Larry Mimms
Keyword(s):  
Whole Blood ◽  
Limit Of Detection ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
Quantitative Detection ◽  
Therapeutic Drug ◽  
Analytical Sensitivity ◽  
Sample Type ◽  
Hook Effect ◽  
Limit Of Quantitation ◽  
Assay Precision

Abstract Introduction A fast (<5 min), time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based immunoassay was developed for the quantitative detection of infliximab (IFX) and biosimilars for use in therapeutic drug monitoring using only 20 µL of fingerstick whole blood or serum at the point-of-care. The Procise IFX assay and ProciseDx analyzer are CE-marked. Studies were performed to characterize analytical performance of the Procise IFX assay on the ProciseDx analyzer. Methods Analytical testing was performed by spiking known amounts of IFX into negative serum and whole blood specimens. Analytical sensitivity was determined using limiting concentrations of IFX. Linearity was determined by testing IFX across the assay range. Hook effect was assessed at IFX concentrations beyond levels expected to be found within a patient. Testing of assay precision, cross-reactivity and potential interfering substances, and biosimilars was performed. The Procise IFX assay was also compared head-to-head with another CE-marked assay: LISA-TRACKER infliximab ELISA test (Theradiag, France). The accuracy of the Procise IFX assay is established through calibrators and controls traceable to the WHO 1st International Standard for Infliximab (NIBSC code: 16/170). Results The Procise IFX assay shows a Limit of Blank, Limit of Detection, and Lower Limit of Quantitation (LLoQ) of 0.1, 0.2, and 1.1 µg/mL in serum and 0.6, 1.1, and 1.7 µg/mL in whole blood, respectively. The linear assay range was determined to be 1.7 to 77.2 µg/mL in serum and whole blood. No hook effect was observed at an IFX concentration of 200 µg/mL as the value reported as “>ULoQ”. Assay precision testing across 20 days with multiple runs and reagent lots showed an intra-assay coefficient of variation (CV) of 2.7%, an inter-assay CV of <2%, and a total CV of 3.4%. The presence of potentially interfering/cross-reacting substances showed minimal impact on assay specificity with %bias within ±8% of control. Testing of biosimilars (infliximab-dyyb and infliximab-abda) showed good recovery. A good correlation to the Theradiag infliximab ELISA was obtained for both serum (slope=1.01; r=0.99) and whole blood (slope=1.01; r=0.98) samples (Figure 1). Conclusion Results indicate that the Procise IFX assay is sensitive, specific, and precise yielding results within 5 minutes from both whole blood and serum without the operator needing to specify sample type. Additionally, it shows very good correlation to a comparator assay that takes several hours and sample manipulation to yield results. This makes the Procise IFX assay ideal for obtaining fast and accurate IFX quantitation, thus allowing for immediate drug level dosing decisions to be made by the physician during patient treatment.

scholarly journals SARS-CoV-2 Cellular Infection and Therapeutic Opportunities: Lessons Learned from Ebola Virus

Membranes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 64
Author(s):  
Jordana Muñoz-Basagoiti ◽  
Daniel Perez-Zsolt ◽  
Jorge Carrillo ◽  
Julià Blanco ◽  
Bonaventura Clotet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Viral Entry ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Productive Infection ◽  
Target Cells ◽  
Emerging Viruses ◽  
Highly Pathogenic ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Pathogenic Viruses ◽  
Cellular Machinery

Viruses rely on the cellular machinery to replicate and propagate within newly infected individuals. Thus, viral entry into the host cell sets up the stage for productive infection and disease progression. Different viruses exploit distinct cellular receptors for viral entry; however, numerous viral internalization mechanisms are shared by very diverse viral families. Such is the case of Ebola virus (EBOV), which belongs to the filoviridae family, and the recently emerged coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. These two highly pathogenic viruses can exploit very similar endocytic routes to productively infect target cells. This convergence has sped up the experimental assessment of clinical therapies against SARS-CoV-2 previously found to be effective for EBOV, and facilitated their expedited clinical testing. Here we review how the viral entry processes and subsequent replication and egress strategies of EBOV and SARS-CoV-2 can overlap, and how our previous knowledge on antivirals, antibodies, and vaccines against EBOV has boosted the search for effective countermeasures against the new coronavirus. As preparedness is key to contain forthcoming pandemics, lessons learned over the years by combating life-threatening viruses should help us to quickly deploy effective tools against novel emerging viruses.

scholarly journals Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Spike Protein Is Not Activated Directly by Cellular Furin during Viral Entry into Target Cells

2018 ◽  
Vol 92 (19) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shutoku Matsuyama ◽  
Kazuya Shirato ◽  
Miyuki Kawase ◽  
Yutaka Terada ◽  
Kengo Kawachi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Viral Entry ◽  
Cathepsin L ◽  
Inhibitory Effect ◽  
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
Cell Entry ◽  
Target Cells ◽  
Furin Cleavage ◽  
S Protein ◽  
Entry Assay

ABSTRACT Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) utilizes host cellular proteases to enter cells. A previous report shows that furin, which is distributed mainly in the Golgi apparatus and cycled to the cell surface and endosomes, proteolytically activates the MERS-CoV spike (S) protein following receptor binding to mediate fusion between the viral and cellular membranes. In this study, we reexamined furin usage by MERS-CoV using a real-time PCR-based virus cell entry assay after inhibition of cellular proteases. We found that the furin inhibitor dec-RVKR-CMK blocked entry of MERS-CoV harboring an S protein lacking furin cleavage sites; it even blocked entry into furin-deficient LoVo cells. In addition, dec-RVKR-CMK inhibited not only the enzymatic activity of furin but also those of cathepsin L, cathepsin B, trypsin, papain, and TMPRSS2. Furthermore, a virus cell entry assay and a cell-cell fusion assay provided no evidence that the S protein was activated by exogenous furin. Therefore, we conclude that furin does not play a role in entry of MERS-CoV into cells and that the inhibitory effect of dec-RVKR-CMK is specific for TMPRSS2 and cathepsin L rather than furin. IMPORTANCE Previous studies using the furin inhibitor dec-RVKR-CMK suggest that MERS-CoV utilizes a cellular protease, furin, to activate viral glycoproteins during cell entry. However, we found that dec-RVKR-CMK inhibits not only furin but also other proteases. Furthermore, we found no evidence that MERS-CoV uses furin. These findings suggest that previous studies in the virology field based on dec-RVKR-CMK should be reexamined carefully. Here we describe appropriate experiments that can be used to assess the effect of protease inhibitors on virus cell entry.

scholarly journals Benchmark of thirteen bioinformatic pipelines for metagenomic virus diagnostics using datasets from clinical samples

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jutte J.C. de Vries ◽  
Julianne R. Brown ◽  
Nicole Fischer ◽  
Igor A. Sidorov ◽  
Sofia Morfopoulou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
De Novo ◽  
Respiratory Infections ◽  
Limit Of Detection ◽  
Bioinformatic Analysis ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Mixed Infections ◽  
Metagenomic Sequencing ◽  
User Friendliness ◽  
Viral Pathogens ◽  
Clinical Diagnostic

Metagenomic sequencing is increasingly being used in clinical settings for difficult to diagnose cases. The performance of viral metagenomic protocols relies to a large extent on the bioinformatic analysis. In this study, the European Society for Clinical Virology (ESCV) Network on NGS (ENNGS) initiated a benchmark of metagenomic pipelines currently used in clinical virological laboratories. Methods Metagenomic datasets from 13 clinical samples from patients with encephalitis or viral respiratory infections characterized by PCR were selected. The datasets were analysed with 13 different pipelines currently used in virological diagnostic laboratories of participating ENNGS members. The pipelines and classification tools were: Centrifuge, DAMIAN, DIAMOND, DNASTAR, FEVIR, Genome Detective, Jovian, MetaMIC, MetaMix, One Codex, RIEMS, VirMet, and Taxonomer. Performance, characteristics, clinical use, and user-friendliness of these pipelines were analysed. Results Overall, viral pathogens with high loads were detected by all the evaluated metagenomic pipelines. In contrast, lower abundance pathogens and mixed infections were only detected by 3/13 pipelines, namely DNASTAR, FEVIR, and MetaMix. Overall sensitivity ranged from 80% (10/13) to 100% (13/13 datasets). Overall positive predictive value ranged from 71-100%. The majority of the pipelines classified sequences based on nucleotide similarity (8/13), only a minority used amino acid similarity, and 6 of the 13 pipelines assembled sequences de novo. No clear differences in performance were detected that correlated with these classification approaches. Read counts of target viruses varied between the pipelines over a range of 2-3 log, indicating differences in limit of detection. Conclusion A wide variety of viral metagenomic pipelines is currently used in the participating clinical diagnostic laboratories. Detection of low abundant viral pathogens and mixed infections remains a challenge, implicating the need for standardization and validation of metagenomic analysis for clinical diagnostic use. Future studies should address the selective effects due to the choice of different reference viral databases.

scholarly journals Structure, function and antigenicity of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra C. Walls ◽  
Young-Jun Park ◽  
M. Alexandra Tortorici ◽  
Abigail Wall ◽  
Andrew T. McGuire ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Receptor Binding ◽  
Viral Entry ◽  
Neutralizing Antibodies ◽  
Target Cells ◽  
Furin Cleavage ◽  
Humoral Immune ◽  
Binding Domains ◽  
Furin Cleavage Site ◽  
Recent Emergence ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

SUMMARYThe recent emergence of a novel coronavirus associated with an ongoing outbreak of pneumonia (Covid-2019) resulted in infections of more than 72,000 people and claimed over 1,800 lives. Coronavirus spike (S) glycoprotein trimers promote entry into cells and are the main target of the humoral immune response. We show here that SARS-CoV-2 S mediates entry in VeroE6 cells and in BHK cells transiently transfected with human ACE2, establishing ACE2 as a functional receptor for this novel coronavirus. We further demonstrate that the receptor-binding domains of SARS-CoV-2 S and SARS-CoV S bind with similar affinities to human ACE2, which correlates with the efficient spread of SARS-CoV-2 among humans. We found that the SARS-CoV-2 S glycoprotein harbors a furin cleavage site at the boundary between the S1/S2 subunits, which is processed during biogenesis and sets this virus apart from SARS-CoV and other SARS-related CoVs. We determined a cryo-electron microscopy structure of the SARS-CoV-2 S ectodomain trimer, demonstrating spontaneous opening of the receptor-binding domain, and providing a blueprint for the design of vaccines and inhibitors of viral entry. Finally, we demonstrate that SARS-CoV S murine polyclonal sera potently inhibited SARS-CoV-2 S-mediated entry into target cells, thereby indicating that cross-neutralizing antibodies targeting conserved S epitopes can be elicited upon vaccination.

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