scholarly journals Production- and Purification-Relevant Properties of Human and Murine Cytomegalovirus

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2481
Author(s):  
Sanda Ravlić ◽  
Marija Brgles ◽  
Lea Hiršl ◽  
Stipan Jonjić ◽  
Beata Halassy

There is a large unmet need for a prophylactic vaccine against human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) to combat the ubiquitous infection that is ongoing with this pathogen. A vaccination against HCMV could protect immunocompromised patients and prevent birth defects caused by congenital HCMV infections. Moreover, cytomegalovirus (CMV) has a number of features that make it a very interesting vector platform for gene therapy. In both cases, preparation of a highly purified virus is a prerequisite for safe and effective application. Murine CMV (MCMV) is by far the most studied model for HCMV infections with regard to the principles that govern the immune surveillance of CMVs. Knowledge transfer from MCMV and mice to HCMV and humans could be facilitated by better understanding and characterization of the biological and biophysical properties of both viruses. We carried out a detailed investigation of HCMV and MCMV growth kinetics as well as stability under the influence of clarification and different storage conditions. Further, we investigated the possibilities to concentrate and purify both viruses by ultracentrifugation and ion-exchange chromatography. Defective enveloped particles were not separately analyzed; however, the behavior of exosomes was examined during all experiments. The effectiveness of procedures was monitored using CCID50 assay, Nanoparticle tracking analysis, ELISA for host cell proteins, and quantitative PCR for host cell DNA. MCMV generally proved to be more robust in handling. Despite its greater sensitivity, HCMV was efficiently (100% recovery) purified and concentrated by anion-exchange chromatography using QA monolithic support. The majority of the host genomic DNA as well as most of the host cell proteins were removed by this procedure.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 3212
Author(s):  
Noa Miguez ◽  
Peter Kidibule ◽  
Paloma Santos-Moriano ◽  
Antonio O. Ballesteros ◽  
Maria Fernandez-Lobato ◽  
...  

Chitooligosaccharides (COS) are homo- or hetero-oligomers of D-glucosamine (GlcN) and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (GlcNAc) that can be obtained by chitosan or chitin hydrolysis. Their enzymatic production is preferred over other methodologies (physical, chemical, etc.) due to the mild conditions required, the fewer amounts of waste and its efficiency to control product composition. By properly selecting the enzyme (chitinase, chitosanase or nonspecific enzymes) and the substrate properties (degree of deacetylation, molecular weight, etc.), it is possible to direct the synthesis towards any of the three COS types: fully acetylated (faCOS), partially acetylated (paCOS) and fully deacetylated (fdCOS). In this article, we review the main strategies to steer the COS production towards a specific group. The chemical characterization of COS by advanced techniques, e.g., high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD) and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, is critical for structure–function studies. The scaling of processes to synthesize specific COS mixtures is difficult due to the low solubility of chitin/chitosan, the heterogeneity of the reaction mixtures, and high amounts of salts. Enzyme immobilization can help to minimize such hurdles. The main bioactive properties of COS are herein reviewed. Finally, the anti-inflammatory activity of three COS mixtures was assayed in murine macrophages after stimulation with lipopolysaccharides.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn A Robinson ◽  
Terri D Lyddon ◽  
Hwi Min Gil ◽  
David T. Evans ◽  
Yury V Kuzmichev ◽  
...  

HIV-1 Vpu targets the host cell proteins CD4 and BST-2/Tetherin for degradation, ultimately resulting in enhanced virus spread and host immune evasion. The discovery and characterization of small molecules that antagonize Vpu would further elucidate the contribution of Vpu to pathogenesis and lay the foundation for the study of a new class of novel HIV-1 therapeutics. To identify novel compounds that block Vpu activity, we developed a cell-based 'gain of function' assay that produces a positive signal in response to Vpu inhibition. To develop this assay, we took advantage of the viral glycoprotein, GaLV Env. In the presence of Vpu, GaLV Env is not incorporated into viral particles, resulting in non-infectious virions. Vpu inhibition restores infectious particle production. Using this assay, a high throughput screen of >650,000 compounds was performed to identify inhibitors that block the biological activity of Vpu. From this screen, we identified several positive hits but focused on two compounds from one structural family, SRI-41897 and SRI-42371. It was conceivable that the compounds inhibited the formation of infectious virions by targeting host cell proteins instead of Vpu directly, so we developed independent counter-screens for off target interactions of the compounds and found no off target interactions. Additionally, these compounds block Vpu-mediated modulation of CD4, BST-2/Tetherin and antibody dependent cell-mediated toxicity (ADCC). Unfortunately, both SRI-41897 and SRI-42371 were shown to be specific to the N-terminal region of NL4-3 Vpu and did not function against other, more clinically relevant, strains of Vpu.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 1934578X1801301
Author(s):  
Huiqin Wang ◽  
Guanzhen Gao ◽  
Lijing Ke ◽  
Jianwu Zhou ◽  
Pingfan Rao

A novel lectin-like protein with MW 63.2 kDa, designated as SBLP, has been isolated and characterized from the dried roots of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (Lamiaceae). SBLP was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation and anion exchange chromatography. It is a glycoprotein according to a PAS staining assay and consisting of protein (86.0%) and sugar (14.0%). Its N-terminal amino acid sequence was determined as GSAVGFLY by Edman degradation. SBLP showed hemagglutinating activity against human and rooster erythrocytes, which were stable below 60°C and in the pH range of 4 −10. Furthermore, SBLP was found to be stimulated by Ca2+, Na+, Ba2+, Zn2+ ions, which suggested it was a metal-dependent lectin. SBLP inhibited the growth of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici and Alternaria eichhorniae in the a dose-dependent manner, and suppressed the proliferation of HepG2 tumor cells with an IC50 of 1.00 μM. This is the first report of a lectin from Radix Scutellariae.


Virus Genes ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yangyang Yuan ◽  
Dongyang Fan ◽  
Sidong Zhu ◽  
Jifang Yang ◽  
Jigang Chen

mAbs ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 1128-1137 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A Madsen ◽  
Victor Farutin ◽  
Theresa Carbeau ◽  
Steve Wudyka ◽  
Yan Yin ◽  
...  

1994 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Prokop ◽  
Peter Rapp ◽  
Fritz Wagner

Production of extracellular β-1, 3-glucanase activity by a monokaryotic Schizophyllum commune strain was monitored and results indicated that the β-glucanase activity consisted of an endo- β-1, 3-glucanase activity, besides a negligible amount of β-1, 6-glucanase and β-glucosidase activity. Unlike the β-1, 3-glucanase production of the dikaryotic parent strain S. commune ATCC 38548, the β-1, 3-glucanase formation of the monokaryon was not regulated by catabolite repression. The endo- β-1, 3-glucanase of the monokaryon was purified from the culture filtrate by lyophilization, anion exchange chromatography on Mono Q, and gel filtration on Sephacryl S-100. It appeared homogeneous on SDS-PAGE with a molecular mass of 35.5 kDa and the isoelectric point was 3.95. The enzyme was only active toward glucans containing β-1, 3-linkages, including lichenan, a β-1, 3-1, 4-D-glucan. It attacked laminarin in an endo-like fashion to form laminaribiose, laminaritriose, and high oligosaccharides. While the extracellular β-glucanases from the dikaryotic S. commune ATCC 38548 degraded significant amounts of schizophyllan, the endo- β-1, 3-glucanase from the monokaryon showed greatly reduced activity toward this high molecular mass β-1, 3-/β-1, 6-glucan. The Km of the endoglucanase, using laminarin as substrate, was 0.28 mg/mL. Optimal pH and temperature were 5.5 and 50 °C, respectively. The enzyme was stable between pH 5.5 and 7.0 and at temperatures below 50 °C. The enzyme was completely inhibited by 1 mM Hg2+. Growth of the monokaryotic S. commune strain was not affected by its constitutive endo- β-1, 3-glucanase formation.Key words: endo- β-1, 3-glucanase, Schizophyllum commune, monokaryon, constitutive endo- β-1, 3-glucanase formation.


Vaccine ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 16 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 119-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven P. Richieri ◽  
Richard Bartholomew ◽  
Roland C. Aloia ◽  
Jay Savary ◽  
Richard Gore ◽  
...  

Parasitology ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 108 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Kong ◽  
Y.-B. Chung ◽  
S.-Y. Cho ◽  
S.-H. Choi ◽  
S.-Y. Kang

SUMMARYIn the pathogenesis of sparganosis, proteases have been considered to play important roles in tissue migration and parasite feeding. Several bands of proteolysis were observed when crude extracts of Spirometra mansoni plerocercoid (sparganum) were examined using gelatin substrate gel at neutral pH, of which two proteases of 198 and 104 kDa were purified by two chromatographic steps, and a 36 kDa protease was purified by gelatin-affinity and DEAE–anion exchange chromatography. All the purified proteases exhibited optimal activity at pH 7·5 and 0·1 M Tris–HCI. Proteolytic activities at 198 and 104 kDa were inhibited specifically by serine protease inhibitors, and 4-(amidinophenyl)methansulfonyl fluoride (APMSF, 0·5 m) and N-α–p–tosyl-L-lysine chloromethyl ketone (TLCK, 1 mM), which strongly suggested that these two proteases were trypsin-like proteases. The activity of the 36 kDa protease was inhibited by N-tosyl-l-phenylalanine chloromethyl ketone (TPCK, I mM) and chymostatin (0·1 mM), and was potentiated in 10 mM Ca2+ which showed that the protease had a chymotrypsin-like property. All the proteases were Schiff(PAS) positive. Proteases of 198 and 104 kDa degraded collagen completely within 24 h. The 36 kDa enzyme cleaved human recombinant interferon-γ (rIFNγ) and bovine myelin basic protein. In addition, all the purified proteins elicited strong antibody responses in the infected patients.


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