Transdominant Rev and Protease Mutant Proteins of HIV/SIV as Potential Antiviral Agents In vitro and In vivo (AIDS)

1992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flossie Wong-Staal
2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng-Fei Fu ◽  
Xuan Cheng ◽  
Bing-Qian Su ◽  
Li-Fang Duan ◽  
Cong-Rong Wang ◽  
...  

AbstractPseudorabies, caused by pseudorabies virus (PRV) variants, has broken out among commercial PRV vaccine-immunized swine herds and resulted in major economic losses to the pig industry in China since late 2011. However, the mechanism of virulence enhancement of variant PRV is currently unclear. Here, a recombinant PRV (rPRV HN1201-EGFP-Luc) with stable expression of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and firefly luciferase as a double reporter virus was constructed on the basis of the PRV variant HN1201 through CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology coupled with two sgRNAs. The biological characteristics of the recombinant virus and its lethality to mice were similar to those of the parental strain and displayed a stable viral titre and luciferase activity through 20 passages. Moreover, bioluminescence signals were detected in mice at 12 h after rPRV HN1201-EGFP-Luc infection. Using the double reporter PRV, we also found that 25-hydroxycholesterol had a significant inhibitory effect on PRV both in vivo and in vitro. These results suggested that the double reporter PRV based on PRV variant HN1201 should be an excellent tool for basic virology studies and evaluating antiviral agents.


1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 3197-3207
Author(s):  
P R Caron ◽  
P Watt ◽  
J C Wang

A set of carboxy-terminal deletion mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA topoisomerase II were constructed for studying the functions of the carboxyl domain in vitro and in vivo. The wild-type yeast enzyme is a homodimer with 1,429 amino acid residues in each of the two polypeptides; truncation of the C terminus to Ile-1220 has little effect on the function of the enzyme in vitro or in vivo, whereas truncations extending beyond Gln-1138 yield completely inactive proteins. Several mutant enzymes with C termini in between these two residues were found to be catalytically active but unable to complement a top2-4 temperature-sensitive mutation. Immunomicroscopy results suggest that the removal of a nuclear localization signal in the C-terminal domain is likely to contribute to the physiological dysfunction of these proteins; the ability of these mutant proteins to relax supercoiled DNA in vivo shows, however, that at least some of the mutant proteins are present in the nuclei in a catalytically active form. In contrast to the ability of the catalytically active mutant proteins to relax supercoiled intracellular DNA, all mutants that do not complement the temperature-dependent lethality and high frequency of chromosomal nondisjunction of top2-4 were found to lack decatenation activity in vivo. The plausible roles of the DNA topoisomerase II C-terminal domain, in addition to providing a signal for nuclear localization, are discussed in the light of these results.


1995 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. 6729-6735 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Liu ◽  
W Zhou ◽  
P W Doetsch

Dihydrouracil (DHU) is a major base damage product formed from cytosine following exposure of DNA to ionizing radiation under anoxic conditions. To gain insight into the DNA lesion structural requirements for RNA polymerase arrest or bypass at various DNA damages located on the transcribed strand during elongation, DHU was placed onto promoter-containing DNA templates 20 nucleotides downstream from the transcription start site. In vitro, single-round transcription experiments carried out with SP6 and T7 RNA polymerases revealed that following a brief pause at the DHU site, both enzymes efficiently bypass this lesion with subsequent rapid generation of full-length runoff transcripts. Direct sequence analysis of these transcripts indicated that both RNA polymerases insert primarily adenine opposite to the DHU site, resulting in a G-to-A transition mutation in the lesion bypass product. Such bypass and insertion events at DHU sites (or other types of DNA damages), if they occur in vivo, have a number of important implications for both the repair of such lesions and the DNA damage-induced production of mutant proteins at the level of transcription (transcriptional mutagenesis).


Pathogens ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constanza Cárdenas ◽  
Fanny Guzmán ◽  
Marisela Carmona ◽  
Cristian Muñoz ◽  
Luis Nilo ◽  
...  

Viral infections in salmonids represent an ongoing challenge for the aquaculture industry. Two RNA viruses, the infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) and the infectious salmon anemia virus (ISAV), have become a latent risk without healing therapies available for either. In this context, antiviral peptides emerge as effective and relatively safe therapeutic molecules. Based on in silico analysis of VP2 protein from IPNV and the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase from ISAV, a set of peptides was designed and were chemically synthesized to block selected key events in their corresponding infectivity processes. The peptides were tested in fish cell lines in vitro, and four were selected for decreasing the viral load: peptide GIM182 for IPNV, and peptides GIM535, GIM538 and GIM539 for ISAV. In vivo tests with the IPNV GIM 182 peptide were carried out using Salmo salar fish, showing a significant decrease of viral load, and proving the safety of the peptide for fish. The results indicate that the use of peptides as antiviral agents in disease control might be a viable alternative to explore in aquaculture.


1999 ◽  
Vol 144 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Hellman ◽  
Marc Vanhove ◽  
Annabelle Lejeune ◽  
Fred J. Stevens ◽  
Linda M. Hendershot

Immunoglobulin heavy chain-binding protein (BiP) is a member of the hsp70 family of chaperones and one of the most abundant proteins in the ER lumen. It is known to interact transiently with many nascent proteins as they enter the ER and more stably with protein subunits produced in stoichiometric excess or with mutant proteins. However, there also exists a large number of secretory pathway proteins that do not apparently interact with BiP. To begin to understand what controls the likelihood that a nascent protein entering the ER will associate with BiP, we have examined the in vivo folding of a murine λI immunoglobulin (Ig) light chain (LC). This LC is composed of two Ig domains that can fold independent of the other and that each possess multiple potential BiP-binding sequences. To detect BiP binding to the LC during folding, we used BiP ATPase mutants, which bind irreversibly to proteins, as “kinetic traps.” Although both the wild-type and mutant BiP clearly associated with the unoxidized variable region domain, we were unable to detect binding of either BiP protein to the constant region domain. A combination of in vivo and in vitro folding studies revealed that the constant domain folds rapidly and stably even in the absence of an intradomain disulfide bond. Thus, the simple presence of a BiP-binding site on a nascent chain does not ensure that BiP will bind and play a role in its folding. Instead, it appears that the rate and stability of protein folding determines whether or not a particular site is recognized, with BiP preferentially binding to proteins that fold slowly or somewhat unstably.


2010 ◽  
Vol 298 (2) ◽  
pp. H679-H687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias J. Merkel ◽  
Lijuan Liu ◽  
Zhiping Cao ◽  
William Packwood ◽  
Jennifer Young ◽  
...  

Soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) metabolizes epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs), primarily 14,15-EET. EETs are derived from arachidonic acid via P-450 epoxygenases and are cardioprotective. We tested the hypothesis that sEH deficiency and pharmacological inhibition elicit tolerance to ischemia via EET-mediated STAT3 signaling in vitro and in vivo. In addition, the relevance of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of EPHX2 (the gene encoding sEH) on tolerance to oxygen and glucose deprivation and reoxygenation and glucose repletion (OGD/RGR) was assessed in male C57BL\6J (WT) or sEH knockout (sEHKO) cardiomyocytes by using transactivator of transcription (TAT)-mediated transduction with sEH mutant proteins. Cell death and hydrolase activity was lower in Arg287Gln EPHX2 mutants vs. nontransduced controls. Excess 14,15-EET and SEH inhibition did not improve cell survival in Arg287Gln mutants. In WT cells, the putative EET receptor antagonist, 14,15-EEZE, abolished the effect of 14,15-EET and sEH inhibition. Cotreatment with 14,15-EET and SEH inhibition did not provide increased protection. In vitro, STAT3 inhibition blocked 14,15-EET cytoprotection, but not the effect of SEH inhibition. However, STAT3 small interfering RNA (siRNA) abolished cytoprotection by 14,15-EET and sEH inhibition, but cells pretreated with JAK2 siRNA remained protected. In vivo, STAT3 inhibition abolished 14,15-EET-mediated infarct size reduction. In summary, the Arg287Gln mutation is associated with improved tolerance against ischemia in vitro, and inhibition of sEH preserves cardiomyocyte viability following OGD/RGR via an EET-dependent mechanism. In vivo and in vitro, 14,15-EET-mediated protection is mediated in part by STAT3.


2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 899-911 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young Jin Cho ◽  
Jess M. Cunnick ◽  
Sun-Ju Yi ◽  
Vesa Kaartinen ◽  
John Groffen ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Small GTPases of the Rho family are key regulators of phagocytic leukocyte function. Abr and Bcr are homologous, multidomain proteins. Their C-terminal domain has GTPase-activating protein (GAP) activity that, in vitro, is specific for Rac and Cdc42. To address the in vivo relevance of these entire proteins, of which little is known, the current study examined the effect of the genetic ablation of Abr and Bcr in murine macrophages. The concomitant loss of Abr and Bcr induced multiple alterations of macrophage cellular behavior known to be under the control of Rac. Macrophages lacking both Abr and Bcr exhibited an atypical, elongated morphology that was reproduced by the ectopic expression of GAP domain mutant Abr and Bcr in a macrophage cell line and of constitutively active Rac in primary macrophages. A robust increase in colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF-1)-directed motility was observed in macrophages deficient for both proteins and, in response to CSF-1 stimulation, Abr and Bcr transiently translocated to the plasma membrane. Phagocytosis of opsonized particles was also increased in macrophages lacking both proteins and correlated with sustained Rac activation. Bcr and Abr GAP mutant proteins localized around phagosomes and induced distinct phagocytic cup formation. These results identify Abr and Bcr as the only GAPs to date that specifically negatively regulate Rac function in vivo in primary macrophages.


2001 ◽  
Vol 183 (7) ◽  
pp. 2289-2297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco P. Cicero ◽  
Meghan M. Sharp ◽  
Carol A. Gross ◽  
Kenneth N. Kreuzer

ABSTRACT Bacteriophage T4 middle-mode transcription requires two phage-encoded proteins, the MotA transcription factor and AsiA coactivator, along with Escherichia coli RNA polymerase holoenzyme containing the ς70 subunit. AmotA positive control (pc) mutant, motA-pc1, was used to select for suppressor mutations that alter other proteins in the transcription complex. Separate genetic selections isolated two AsiA mutants (S22F and Q51E) and five ς70 mutants (Y571C, Y571H, D570N, L595P, and S604P). All seven suppressor mutants gave partial suppressor phenotypes in vivo as judged by plaque morphology and burst size measurements. The S22F mutant AsiA protein and glutathione S-transferase fusions of the five mutant ς70 proteins were purified. All of these mutant proteins allowed normal levels of in vitro transcription when tested with wild-type MotA protein, but they failed to suppress the mutant MotA-pc1 protein in the same assay. The ς70 substitutions affected the 4.2 region, which binds the −35 sequence of E. coli promoters. In the presence of E. coli RNA polymerase without T4 proteins, the L595P and S604P substitutions greatly decreased transcription from standard E. colipromoters. This defect could not be explained solely by a disruption in −35 recognition since similar results were obtained with extended −10 promoters. The generalized transcriptional defect of these two mutants correlated with a defect in binding to core RNA polymerase, as judged by immunoprecipitation analysis. The L595P mutant, which was the most defective for in vitro transcription, failed to support E. coli growth.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 2053
Author(s):  
Dalma Ménesi ◽  
Éva Klement ◽  
Györgyi Ferenc ◽  
Attila Fehér

Plant Rho-type GTPases (ROPs) are versatile molecular switches involved in a number of signal transduction pathways. Although it is well known that they are indirectly linked to protein kinases, our knowledge about their direct functional interaction with upstream or downstream protein kinases is scarce. It is reasonable to suppose that similarly to their animal counterparts, ROPs might also be regulated by phosphorylation. There is only, however, very limited experimental evidence to support this view. Here, we present the analysis of two potential phosphorylation sites of AtROP1 and two types of potential ROP-kinases. The S74 site of AtROP1 has been previously shown to potentially regulate AtROP1 activation dependent on its phosphorylation state. However, the kinase phosphorylating this evolutionarily conserved site could not be identified: we show here that despite of the appropriate phosphorylation site consensus sequences around S74 neither the selected AGC nor CPK kinases phosphorylate S74 of AtROP1 in vitro. However, we identified several phosphorylation sites other than S74 for the CPK17 and 34 kinases in AtROP1. One of these sites, S97, was tested for biological relevance. Although the mutation of S97 to alanine (which cannot be phosphorylated) or glutamic acid (which mimics phosphorylation) somewhat altered the protein interaction strength of AtROP1 in yeast cells, the mutant proteins did not modify pollen tube growth in an in vivo test.


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