scholarly journals Evidence of the Mechanism by Which Polyomaviruses Exploit the Extracellular Vesicle Delivery System during Infection

Viruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Giannecchini

Increasing evidence suggests that human viruses can hijack extracellular vesicles (EVs) to deliver proteins, mRNAs, microRNAs (miRNAs) and whole viral particles during viral persistence in the host. Human polyomavirus (PyV) miRNAs, which downregulate large T-antigen expression and target host factors, help the virus escape immune elimination and may have roles in the success of viral persistence/replication and the development of diseases. In this context, several investigations have detected PyV miRNAs in EVs obtained from cell culture supernatants after viral infection, demonstrating the ability of these vesicles to deliver miRNAs to uninfected cells, potentially counteracting new viral infection. Additionally, PyV miRNAs have been identified in EVs derived from the biological fluids of clinical samples obtained from patients with or at risk of severe PyV-associated diseases and from asymptomatic control healthy subjects. Interestingly, PyV miRNAs were found to be circulating in blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, and saliva samples from patients despite their PyV DNA status. Recently, the association between EVs and PyV viral particles was reported, demonstrating the ability of PyV viral particles to enter the cell without natural receptor-mediated entry and evade antibody-mediated neutralization or to be neutralized at a step different from that of the neutralization of naked whole viral particles. All these data point toward a potential role of the association between PyVs with EVs in viral persistence, suggesting that further work to define the implication of this interaction in viral reactivation is warranted.

2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (13) ◽  
pp. 7264-7269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sujatha Radhakrishnan ◽  
Jennifer Gordon ◽  
Luis Del Valle ◽  
Jianqi Cui ◽  
Kamel Khalili

ABSTRACT The human polyomavirus, JC virus (JCV), encodes two regulatory proteins at the early (T antigen) and the late (agnoprotein) phases of viral infection whose activities are important for the production of the viral capsid proteins and the dysregulation of several host factors and their functions. For this study, we designed and utilized an RNA interference strategy via small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) that targeted the expression of T antigen and agnoprotein in human astrocytic cells. The treatment of cells with specific siRNA oligonucleotides targeting a conserved region of T antigen, nucleotides (nt) 4256 to 4276 (Mad-1 strain), caused a >50% decline in the level of T antigen and in its transcriptional activity upon the viral capsid genes as well as a significant reduction in viral DNA replication in infected cells. Similarly, a single siRNA that aimed at nt 324 to 342 of agnoprotein noticeably reduced early and late viral protein production. A combined treatment of the infected cells with both T-antigen and agnoprotein siRNAs completely abolished viral capsid protein production, indicative of the ability of the siRNAs to effectively halt multiplication of the virus in infected cells. These observations provide a new avenue for possible treatments of patients with the JCV-induced demyelinating disease progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.


2009 ◽  
Vol 83 (23) ◽  
pp. 12118-12128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyun Jin Kwun ◽  
Anna Guastafierro ◽  
Masahiro Shuda ◽  
Gretchen Meinke ◽  
Andrew Bohm ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV) is a recently discovered human polyomavirus causing the majority of human Merkel cell carcinomas. We mapped a 71-bp minimal MCV replication core origin sufficient for initiating eukaryotic DNA replication in the presence of wild-type MCV large T protein (LT). The origin includes a poly(T)-rich tract and eight variably oriented, GAGGC-like pentanucleotide sequences (PS) that serve as LT recognition sites. Mutation analysis shows that only four of the eight PS are required for origin replication. A single point mutation in one origin PS from a naturally occurring, tumor-derived virus reduces LT assembly on the origin and eliminates viral DNA replication. Tumor-derived LT having mutations truncating either the origin-binding domain or the helicase domain also prevent LT-origin assembly. Optimal MCV replication requires coexpression of MCV small T protein (sT), together with LT. An intact DnaJ domain on the LT is required for replication but is dispensable on the sT. In contrast, PP2A targeting by sT is required for enhanced replication. The MCV origin provides a novel model for eukaryotic replication from a defined DNA element and illustrates the selective pressure within tumors to abrogate independent MCV replication.


Author(s):  
Alain R. Trudel ◽  
M. Trudel

AirfugeR (Beckman) direct ultracentrifugation of viral samples on electron microscopy grids offers a rapid way to concentrate viral particles or subunits and facilitate their detection and study. Using the A-100 fixed angle rotor (30°) with a K factor of 19 at maximum speed (95 000 rpm), samples up to 240 μl can be prepared for electron microscopy observation in a few minutes: observation time is decreased and structural details are highlighted. Using latex spheres to calculate the increase in sensitivity compared to the inverted drop procedure, we obtained a 10 to 40 fold increase in sensitivity depending on the size of particles. This technique also permits quantification of viral particles in samples if an aliquot is mixed with latex spheres of known concentration.Direct ultracentrifugation for electron microscopy can be performed on laboratory samples such as gradient or column fractions, infected cell supernatant, or on clinical samples such as urine, tears, cephalo-rachidian liquid, etc..


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1407
Author(s):  
Matyas Bukva ◽  
Gabriella Dobra ◽  
Juan Gomez-Perez ◽  
Krisztian Koos ◽  
Maria Harmati ◽  
...  

Investigating the molecular composition of small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) for tumor diagnostic purposes is becoming increasingly popular, especially for diseases for which diagnosis is challenging, such as central nervous system (CNS) malignancies. Thorough examination of the molecular content of sEVs by Raman spectroscopy is a promising but hitherto barely explored approach for these tumor types. We attempt to reveal the potential role of serum-derived sEVs in diagnosing CNS tumors through Raman spectroscopic analyses using a relevant number of clinical samples. A total of 138 serum samples were obtained from four patient groups (glioblastoma multiforme, non-small-cell lung cancer brain metastasis, meningioma and lumbar disc herniation as control). After isolation, characterization and Raman spectroscopic assessment of sEVs, the Principal Component Analysis–Support Vector Machine (PCA–SVM) algorithm was performed on the Raman spectra for pairwise classifications. Classification accuracy (CA), sensitivity, specificity and the Area Under the Curve (AUC) value derived from Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analyses were used to evaluate the performance of classification. The groups compared were distinguishable with 82.9–92.5% CA, 80–95% sensitivity and 80–90% specificity. AUC scores in the range of 0.82–0.9 suggest excellent and outstanding classification performance. Our results support that Raman spectroscopic analysis of sEV-enriched isolates from serum is a promising method that could be further developed in order to be applicable in the diagnosis of CNS tumors.


2005 ◽  
Vol 206 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Trojanek ◽  
Sidney Croul ◽  
Thu Ho ◽  
Jin Ying Wang ◽  
Armine Darbinyan ◽  
...  

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