scholarly journals Dual Promoters Improve the Rescue of Recombinant Measles Virus in Human Cells

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1723
Author(s):  
Soroth Chey ◽  
Juliane Maria Palmer ◽  
Laura Doerr ◽  
Uwe Gerd Liebert

Reverse genetics is a technology that allows the production of a virus from its complementary DNA (cDNA). It is a powerful tool for analyzing viral genes, the development of novel vaccines, and gene delivery vectors. The standard reverse genetics protocols are laborious, time-consuming, and inefficient for negative-strand RNA viruses. A new reverse genetics platform was established, which increases the recovery efficiency of the measles virus (MV) in human 293-3-46 cells. The novel features compared with the standard system involving 293-3-46 cells comprise (a) dual promoters containing the RNA polymerase II promoter (CMV) and the bacteriophage T7 promoter placed in uni-direction on the same plasmid to enhance RNA transcription; (b) three G nucleotides added just after the T7 promoter to increase the T7 RNA polymerase activity; and (c) two ribozymes, the hairpin hammerhead ribozyme (HHRz), and the hepatitis delta virus ribozyme (HDVrz), were used to cleavage the exact termini of the antigenome RNA. Full-length antigenome cDNA of MV of the wild type IC323 strain or the vaccine AIK-C strain was inserted into the plasmid backbone. Both virus strains were easily rescued from their respective cloned cDNA. The rescue efficiency increased up to 80% compared with the use of the standard T7 rescue system. We assume that this system might be helpful in the rescue of other human mononegavirales.

2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (12) ◽  
pp. 5708-5715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnold Martin ◽  
Peter Staeheli ◽  
Urs Schneider

ABSTRACT De novo generation of negative-strand RNA viruses depends on the efficient expression of antigenomic RNA (cRNA) from cDNA. To improve the rescue system of Borna disease virus (BDV), a member of the Mononegavirales with a nuclear replication phase, we evaluated different RNA polymerase (Pol) promoters for viral cRNA expression. Human and mouse Pol I promoters did not increase the recovery rate of infectious BDV from cDNA compared to the originally employed T7 RNA polymerase system. In contrast, expression of viral cRNA under the control of an RNA Pol II promoter increased the rescue efficacy by nearly 20-fold. Similarly, rescue of measles virus (MV), a member of the Mononegavirales with a cytoplasmic replication phase, was strongly improved by Pol II-controlled expression of viral cRNA. Analysis of transcription levels derived from different promoters suggested that the rescue-enhancing function of the Pol II promoter was due mainly to enhanced cRNA synthesis from the plasmid. Remarkably, correct 5′-terminal processing of Pol II-transcribed cRNA by a hammerhead ribozyme was not necessary for efficient rescue of BDV or MV. The correct 5′ termini were reconstituted during replication of the artificially prolonged cRNA, indicating that the BDV and MV replicase complexes are able to recognize internal viral replication signals.


2000 ◽  
Vol 74 (22) ◽  
pp. 10737-10744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uta Gassen ◽  
Fergal M. Collins ◽  
W. Paul Duprex ◽  
Bert K. Rima

ABSTRACT Canine distemper virus (CDV) has been rescued from a full-length cDNA clone. Besides Measles virus (MV) andRinderpest virus, a third morbillivirus is now available for genetic analysis using reverse genetics. A plasmid p(+)CDV was constructed by sequential cloning using the Onderstepoort vaccine strain large-plaque-forming variant. The presence of a T7 promoter allowed transcription of full-length antigenomic RNA by a T7 RNA polymerase, which was provided by a host range mutant of vaccinia virus (MVA-T7). Plasmids expressing the nucleocapsid protein, the phosphoprotein, and the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, also under control of a T7 promoter, have been generated. Infection of HeLa cells with MVA-T7 and subsequent transfection of p(+)CDV plus the helper plasmids led to syncytium formation and release of infectious recombinant (r) CDV. Comparison of the rescued virus with the parental virus revealed no major differences in the progression of infection or in the shape and size of syncytia. A genetic tag, consisting of two nucleotide changes within the coding region of the L protein, has been identified in the rCDV genome. Expression by rCDV of all the major viral structural proteins has been demonstrated by immunofluorescence.


2006 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 1723-1733 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheila Q. Xie ◽  
Sonya Martin ◽  
Pascale V. Guillot ◽  
David L. Bentley ◽  
Ana Pombo

“Splicing speckles” are major nuclear domains rich in components of the splicing machinery and polyA+ RNA. Although speckles contain little detectable transcriptional activity, they are found preferentially associated with specific mRNA-coding genes and gene-rich R bands, and they accumulate some unspliced pre-mRNAs. RNA polymerase II transcribes mRNAs and is required for splicing, with some reports suggesting that the inactive complexes are stored in splicing speckles. Using ultrathin cryosections to improve optical resolution and preserve nuclear structure, we find that all forms of polymerase II are present, but not enriched, within speckles. Inhibition of polymerase activity shows that speckles do not act as major storage sites for inactive polymerase II complexes but that they contain a stable pool of polymerase II phosphorylated on serine2 residues of the C-terminal domain, which is transcriptionally inactive and may have roles in spliceosome assembly or posttranscriptional splicing of pre-mRNAs. Paraspeckle domains lie adjacent to speckles, but little is known about their protein content or putative roles in the expression of the speckle-associated genes. We find that paraspeckles are transcriptionally inactive but contain polymerase II, which remains stably associated upon transcriptional inhibition, when paraspeckles reorganize around nucleoli in the form of caps.


1976 ◽  
Vol 156 (2) ◽  
pp. 391-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
T C Spelsberg

1. Varied doses of labelled or unlabelled progesterone were injected into immature chicks which had previously been stimulated with oestrogen. The concentrations of nuclear bound [3H]progesterone were correlated with the effects of the hormone on endogenous RNA polymerase I and II activities in isolated oviduct nuclei. 2. The extent of nuclear localization of [3H]progesterone in oviduct (a progesterone target tissue) was shown to be much greater than in lung (non-target tissue). The conccentration of bivalent cations in solvents used in the nuclei isolations has a marked effect on the amount of bound hormone in the nuclei. 3. Evidence for the existence of several classes of binding sites for progesterone in the oviduct nuclei is given. These classes represent about 1000) 10000 and 100000 molecules of the hormone per cell nucleus and are saturated by injecting approx. 10, 100 and 1000 mug of progesterone respectively. 4. When saturation of the first (highest affinity) class of nuclear sites occurs, a marked inhibition in RNA polymerase II (but not RNA polymerase I) activity was observed. When the second class of sites was saturated, alterations in both RNA polymerase I and II activities were observed. Binding to the third class of nuclear binding sites was not accompained by further changes in polymerase activity. It is suggested that the first two classes of nuclear binding sites may represent functional sites for progesterone action in the chick oviduct.


2013 ◽  
Vol 87 (17) ◽  
pp. 9633-9642 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Ito ◽  
M. Iwasaki ◽  
M. Takeda ◽  
T. Nakamura ◽  
Y. Yanagi ◽  
...  

1972 ◽  
Vol 130 (4) ◽  
pp. 1095-1099 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vijendra K. Singh ◽  
S. C. Sung

1. Transcription of ox brain chromatin by brain nuclear RNA polymerase II and Escherichia coli RNA polymerase was studied. 2. The soluble chromatin prepared from brain nuclei contained DNA, RNA, histone and non-histone proteins. Such chromatin preparations did not display any endogenous RNA polymerase activity, when assayed in the presence of concentrations of KCl as high as 0.4m. 3. The chromatin-templated activity of brain nuclear polymerase II was stimulated by KCl, with an optimum around 0.25m. 4. The template activity of brain chromatin for brain nuclear polymerase II and E. coli enzyme was about 20–25% of that of pure DNA. This greatly repressed templatecapacity of chromatin was probably due to the acid-soluble chromosomal proteins. 5. Brain nuclear polymerase II was 3–4 times more active with dehistonized chromatin than with pure DNA as template, whereas bacterial enzyme was almost equally active with either of these two templates, reflecting the specificity of the transcriptional control mechanisms in mammalian cells.


2020 ◽  
pp. jbc.RA120.015386
Author(s):  
Zongliang Gao ◽  
Yme Ubeles van der Velden ◽  
Minghui Fan ◽  
Cynthia Alyssa van der Linden ◽  
Monique Vink ◽  
...  

RNA polymerase III promoters such as 7SK, U6 and H1 are widely used for the expression of small non-coding RNAs, including short hairpin RNAs for RNAi experiments and guide RNAs for CRISPR-mediated genome editing. We previously reported dual RNA polymerase activity (Pol II/III) for the human H1 promoter and demonstrated that this promiscuous RNA polymerase use can be exploited for the simultaneous expression of both a non-coding RNA and an mRNA. However, this combination is not a desired feature in other experimental and therapeutic settings. To overcome this limitation of the H1 promoter we engineered a miniature H1/7SK hybrid promoter with minimal Pol II activity, thereby boosting the Pol III activity to a level that is higher than that of either parental promoter. In parallel, we also engineered small Pol II-specific H1 promoter variants and explored their use as general Pol II promoters for protein expression. The newly engineered promoter variants form an attractive alternative to the commonly-used H1 promoter in terms of activity and small promoter size, but also concerning safety by exclusive expression of the desired therapeutic transcript (either Pol II or Pol III, but not both).


1999 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 2967-2976 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young Chul Lee ◽  
Jin Mo Park ◽  
Soyoung Min ◽  
Sang Jun Han ◽  
Young-Joon Kim

ABSTRACT The Mediator complex of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is required for both general and regulated transcription of RNA polymerase II (PolII) and is composed of two stable subcomplexes (Srb4 and Rgr1 subcomplexes). To decipher the function of each Mediator subcomplex and to delineate the functional relationship between the subcomplexes, we characterized the compositions and biochemical activities of PolII-Mediator complexes (holoenzymes) prepared from several Mediator mutant strains of S. cerevisiae. We found that holoenzymes devoid of a functional Gal11 module were defective for activated but not basal transcription in a reconstituted in vitro system. This activation-specific defect was correlated with a crippled physical interaction to transcriptional activator proteins, which could be bypassed by artificial recruitment of a mutant holoenzyme to a promoter. Consistent with this observation, a direct interaction between Gal11 and gene-specific transcriptional activator proteins was detected by far-Western analyses and column binding assays. In contrast, the srb5 deletion mutant holoenzyme was defective for both basal and activated transcription, despite its capacity for activator binding that is comparable to that of the wild-type holoenzyme. These results demonstrate that the Gal11 module of the Rgr1 subcomplex is required for the efficient recruitment of PolII holoenzyme to a promoter via activator-specific interactions, while the Srb4 subcomplex functions in the modulation of general polymerase activity.


2007 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-112
Author(s):  
Zorica Zakula ◽  
Esma Isenovic ◽  
Mojca Stojiljkovic ◽  
G. Koricanac ◽  
Snezana Tepavcevic ◽  
...  

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of estradiol (E2) on activity of RNA polymerase I and RNA polymerase II in uterine nuclei of ovariectomized (OVX) female rats. The obtained results show that estrogen-receptor (E-R) complexes in 30 min induced an increase of polymerase II activity. A second increase of polymerase II activity was observed after 3 h-incubation of nuclei with the E-R complex formed in the cytosol fraction. However, activity of polymerase I was increased 2 h after the start of incubation, with highest activity detected at 3 h in nuclei incubated with E-R complexes. On the contrary, no stimulatory effect on either polymerase I or polymerase II activity was observed in nuclei incubated with E2 alone. These results indicate that E2 stimulates the cytosolic estrogen receptor (ER), which in turn causes uterotrophic responses in OVX rats. In addition, they suggest that in order to provoke uterotrophic responses E-R complexes formed in the cytosol need to be retained in the nucleus for a longer period of time. .


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