The biological features of most foamy viruses(FVs) are poorly understood, including bovine foamy virus(BFV). BFV strain 3026(BFV3026) was isolated from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of an infected cow in Zhan...The biological features of most foamy viruses(FVs) are poorly understood, including bovine foamy virus(BFV). BFV strain 3026(BFV3026) was isolated from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of an infected cow in Zhangjiakou, China. A full-length genomic clone of BFV3026 was obtained from BFV3026-infected cells, and it exhibited more than 99% amino acid(AA) homology to another BFV strain isolated in the USA. Upon transfection into fetal canine thymus cells, the full-length BFV3026 clone produced viral structural and auxiliary proteins, typical cytopathic effects, and virus particles. These results demonstrate that the full-length BFV3026 clone is fully infectious and can be used in further BFV3026 research.展开更多
In order to improve the accuracy for quantitating the bovine foamy virus (BFV) in vitro,we developed a baby hamster kidney cell (BHK)-21-derived indicator cell line containing a plasmid that encodes the firefly lucife...In order to improve the accuracy for quantitating the bovine foamy virus (BFV) in vitro,we developed a baby hamster kidney cell (BHK)-21-derived indicator cell line containing a plasmid that encodes the firefly luciferase driven by the BFV long terminal repeat promoter (LTR,from-7 to 1012).The BFV titer could be determined by detecting the luciferase expression since the viral trans-activator BTas protein activates the promoter activity of the LTR.One clone,designated BFVL,was selected from ten neomycin-resistant clones.BFVL showed a specific and inducible dose-and time-dependent luciferase activity in response to BFV infection.Although the changes in luciferase activity of BFVL peaked at 84 h post infection,it was possible to differentiate infected and uninfected cells at 48 h post infection.A linear relationship was established between the multiplicity of infection (MOI) of BFV and the activated ratio of luciferase expression in BFVL.Moreover,the sensitivity of the BFVL-based assay for detecting infectious BFV was 10,000 times higher than the conventional CPE-based assay at 48 h post infection.These findings suggest that the BFVL-based assay is rapid,easy,sensitive,quantitative and specific for detection of BFV infection.展开更多
The Borfl protein is encoded by an immediate-early gene of the bovine foamy virus （BFV） and plays a key role in the viral life cycle. Borfl is a DNA binding protein which can transactivate both the long terminal rep...The Borfl protein is encoded by an immediate-early gene of the bovine foamy virus （BFV） and plays a key role in the viral life cycle. Borfl is a DNA binding protein which can transactivate both the long terminal repeat （LTR） and the internal promoter （IP） of BFV by specifically binding to the transactivation responsive element （TRE）. To analyze the subcellular localization of Borfl during the BFV life cycle, this gene was cloned into a prokaryotic expression vector and expressed in a soluble form. After the purification and immunization, we raised the mouse anti-Borfl serum with a high titer based on ELISA results. Western blot analysis showed that the antiserum could specifically recognize the Borfl protein that was expressed in 293T cells. With this specific serum, we revealed the nuclear and cytoplasmic localization of Borfl in HeLa cells that was transfected with Borfl. Moreover, the immuno-fluorescence assay also showed that the localization of Borfl during the infection and transfection of BFV was identical.展开更多
In order to quantitate the bovine immunodeficiency virus line （BIVL） was established by transfecting baby hamster kidney （BIV） cells infection in vitro, a BIV indicator cell with reporter plasmids containing the f...In order to quantitate the bovine immunodeficiency virus line （BIVL） was established by transfecting baby hamster kidney （BIV） cells infection in vitro, a BIV indicator cell with reporter plasmids containing the firefly luciferase gene driven by a BIV long terminal repeat promoter. The BIV activates promoter activity of the LTR to express luciferase upon infection. BIV infection could therefore by quantified by detection of luciferase activity. Compared to standard assays used to detect BIV infection, the BIVL-based assay is 10 times more sensitive than the the CPE-based assay, and has similar sensitivity with the viral capsid protein Western blot assay BIV indicator cell line could detect BIV infection specifically. Luciferase activity of BIV infected BIVL cells showed a time dependent manner, and 60 h post infection is the optimal time to detect BIV infection. Luciferase activity of BIVL cells correlates with the BIV capsid protein expression. Moreover, a linear relationship was found between MOI and the activated intensity of luciferase expression. In brief, the BIV indicator cell line is an easy, robust and quantitive method for monitoring BIV infection.展开更多
Viruses (e.g. Human immunodeficiency virus, Human simplex virus and Prototype foamy virus) are obligate intracellular parasites and therefore depend on the cellular machinery for cellular trafficking. Bovine foamy vir...Viruses (e.g. Human immunodeficiency virus, Human simplex virus and Prototype foamy virus) are obligate intracellular parasites and therefore depend on the cellular machinery for cellular trafficking. Bovine foamy virus (BFV) is a member of the Spumaretrovirinae subfamily of Retroviruses, however, details of its cellular trafficking remain unknown. In this study, we cloned the BFV gag gene into prokaryotic expression vector pET28a and purified the denaturalized Gag protein. The protein was used to immunize BALB/c mouse to produce antiserum, which could specifically recognize the BFV Gag protein in BFV-infected cells through western blot assay. Additionally, these results demonstrated that both the optimal and suboptimal cleavage of Gag protein occur in BFV-infected cells. Subsequently, the Gag antiserum was used to investigate subcellular localization of BFV. In immunofluorescence microscopy assays, colocalization microtubules (MTs) and assembling viral particles were clearly observed, which implied that BFV may transport along cellular MTs in host cells. Furthermore, MTs-depolymerizing assay indicated MTs were required for the efficient replication of BFV. In conclusion, our study suggests that BFV has evolved the mechanism to hijack the cellular cytoskeleton for its replication.展开更多
Bovine foamy virus (BFV), a member of the spumavirus subfamily of retroviruses,contains two open reading frames (ORF-1 and ORF-2) in addition to the genes coding for gag,po/and env. Borf-1 protein, encoded by BFV ORF-...Bovine foamy virus (BFV), a member of the spumavirus subfamily of retroviruses,contains two open reading frames (ORF-1 and ORF-2) in addition to the genes coding for gag,po/and env. Borf-1 protein, encoded by BFV ORF-1, is identified as a transcriptional transactivator, which augments gene expression directed by the viral long terminal repeat (LTR).Further investigations in transient expression assays reveal that the Borf-1 responsive elements are located in the U3 domain of the LTR, upstream from position -140 ( + 1 represents the transcription initiation site), and the BFV RU5 region has an inhibitory effect in LTR-directed gene expression.展开更多
Bovine foamy virus encodes a transcriptional transactivitor, Tas or Borf-1, which governs the level of viral transcripts initiated by both the promoter in the long terminal repeat (LTR) and the internal promoter (IP) ...Bovine foamy virus encodes a transcriptional transactivitor, Tas or Borf-1, which governs the level of viral transcripts initiated by both the promoter in the long terminal repeat (LTR) and the internal promoter (IP) located in the env gene through their cis-acting targets. We have identified and characterized a 72 bp TBS (Borf-1) responsive element located in BFV3026, internal promoter (TREIP) by deletion mutant and transient expression assay. This cis-acting target element in the internal promoter has the properties of a transcriptional enhancer which functions independently of its orientation, position and also in heterologous promoters (BFV LTR and bovine immunodeficiency virus, BIV LTR). Alignments reveal that there are positional similarity and sequence homology among BFV TREIP, SFV-1 TREIP proximal element and SFV-3 TREIPH, which suggests that this kind of cis-acting elements possesses some common functional character.展开更多
Foamy viruses(FVs)have broad cellular tropism infecting vertebrates from fish to human being,which indicates that Env protein has a high capability for membrane fusion.Conservative features in all FV transmembrane(TM)...Foamy viruses(FVs)have broad cellular tropism infecting vertebrates from fish to human being,which indicates that Env protein has a high capability for membrane fusion.Conservative features in all FV transmembrane(TM)proteins include a region of hydrophobic domain called membrane-spanning domain(MSD),which contains several stretches of hydrophobic amino acids.To investigate whether these features were associated with the cytotoxicity effect of TM on Escherichia coli,a series of mutants were constructed and expressed in the E.coli BL21(DE3)using pET-32a(+)as expressing vector.The results showed that only TM3 without MSD was expressed in E.coli,whereas the other two containing full or part of the MSD(TM1 and TM2)could not be expressed.Furthermore,the bacterial amount and living bacteria analysis revealed that the cytotoxicity of TM was dependent on its MSD,especially on the stretches of hydrophobic amino acids.Western blotting analysis showed that TM3 protein was purified with affinity purification.展开更多
Two promoters, LTR (long terminal repeat) and IP (internal promoter), exist in genomes of foamy viruses. Cell transfection and transient expression assay demonstrated that: the basal activity of BFV (bovine foamy viru...Two promoters, LTR (long terminal repeat) and IP (internal promoter), exist in genomes of foamy viruses. Cell transfection and transient expression assay demonstrated that: the basal activity of BFV (bovine foamy virus) IP is much higher than that of BFV LTR; transactivator of BFV—Borf 1, which activates gene expression directed by BFV LTR, also functions on BFV IP with an activation fold higher than that on LTR. The results suggest that BFV IP and LTR may regulate viral gene expression by different mechanisms, and that Borf 1 may stimulate BFV IP and LTR in different ways. In addition, an in vivo DNA competition assay demonstrated that a common transcription factor may be involved in both mechanisms of the two promoters.展开更多
The long terminl repeat(LTR) of the bovine foamy virus(BFV) contains the viral promoter,which is responsible for viral gene expression in eukaryotic cells We have demonstrated that BFV LTR linked to the luciferase gen...The long terminl repeat(LTR) of the bovine foamy virus(BFV) contains the viral promoter,which is responsible for viral gene expression in eukaryotic cells We have demonstrated that BFV LTR linked to the luciferase gene can express the enzyme efficiently upon transformation into bacteria Deletion analysis and sequence comparison showed that the BFV LTR has a sequence(from-125 to-90)which is greatly homologous to the model bacteria promoter And the proposed transcriptional starting site is at the thymine of-91 or the cytosine of -92 Besides,being fully functional in E coli,the BFV LTR can also be specifically trans activated by BFV tas gene product,Borf-1 protein The responsive element lies between base -310 and -140,which is in accordance with the responsive region in eukaryotic cells The trans-activation of BFV LTR by Borf 1 protein in bacteria offers a useful system to investigate further the specific interaction between Borf-1 protein with BFV LTR and the mechanism of the trans展开更多
基金supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31070135, 31370182)the Tianjin Research Program of Application Foundation and Advanced Technology (12JCQNJC06100)New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-10-0508)
文摘The biological features of most foamy viruses(FVs) are poorly understood, including bovine foamy virus(BFV). BFV strain 3026(BFV3026) was isolated from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of an infected cow in Zhangjiakou, China. A full-length genomic clone of BFV3026 was obtained from BFV3026-infected cells, and it exhibited more than 99% amino acid(AA) homology to another BFV strain isolated in the USA. Upon transfection into fetal canine thymus cells, the full-length BFV3026 clone produced viral structural and auxiliary proteins, typical cytopathic effects, and virus particles. These results demonstrate that the full-length BFV3026 clone is fully infectious and can be used in further BFV3026 research.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(31070135,81071343)
文摘In order to improve the accuracy for quantitating the bovine foamy virus (BFV) in vitro,we developed a baby hamster kidney cell (BHK)-21-derived indicator cell line containing a plasmid that encodes the firefly luciferase driven by the BFV long terminal repeat promoter (LTR,from-7 to 1012).The BFV titer could be determined by detecting the luciferase expression since the viral trans-activator BTas protein activates the promoter activity of the LTR.One clone,designated BFVL,was selected from ten neomycin-resistant clones.BFVL showed a specific and inducible dose-and time-dependent luciferase activity in response to BFV infection.Although the changes in luciferase activity of BFVL peaked at 84 h post infection,it was possible to differentiate infected and uninfected cells at 48 h post infection.A linear relationship was established between the multiplicity of infection (MOI) of BFV and the activated ratio of luciferase expression in BFVL.Moreover,the sensitivity of the BFVL-based assay for detecting infectious BFV was 10,000 times higher than the conventional CPE-based assay at 48 h post infection.These findings suggest that the BFVL-based assay is rapid,easy,sensitive,quantitative and specific for detection of BFV infection.
基金National Natural Science Foundation ofChina (30570072, 30770097)Natural Science Foun-dation of Tianjin (05YFJM- JC01000).
文摘The Borfl protein is encoded by an immediate-early gene of the bovine foamy virus （BFV） and plays a key role in the viral life cycle. Borfl is a DNA binding protein which can transactivate both the long terminal repeat （LTR） and the internal promoter （IP） of BFV by specifically binding to the transactivation responsive element （TRE）. To analyze the subcellular localization of Borfl during the BFV life cycle, this gene was cloned into a prokaryotic expression vector and expressed in a soluble form. After the purification and immunization, we raised the mouse anti-Borfl serum with a high titer based on ELISA results. Western blot analysis showed that the antiserum could specifically recognize the Borfl protein that was expressed in 293T cells. With this specific serum, we revealed the nuclear and cytoplasmic localization of Borfl in HeLa cells that was transfected with Borfl. Moreover, the immuno-fluorescence assay also showed that the localization of Borfl during the infection and transfection of BFV was identical.
基金The General Foundation of Tianjin Science Committee for Applied Basic Research (08JCZDJC21000)Chinese Ministry of Education (30770081)
文摘In order to quantitate the bovine immunodeficiency virus line （BIVL） was established by transfecting baby hamster kidney （BIV） cells infection in vitro, a BIV indicator cell with reporter plasmids containing the firefly luciferase gene driven by a BIV long terminal repeat promoter. The BIV activates promoter activity of the LTR to express luciferase upon infection. BIV infection could therefore by quantified by detection of luciferase activity. Compared to standard assays used to detect BIV infection, the BIVL-based assay is 10 times more sensitive than the the CPE-based assay, and has similar sensitivity with the viral capsid protein Western blot assay BIV indicator cell line could detect BIV infection specifically. Luciferase activity of BIV infected BIVL cells showed a time dependent manner, and 60 h post infection is the optimal time to detect BIV infection. Luciferase activity of BIVL cells correlates with the BIV capsid protein expression. Moreover, a linear relationship was found between MOI and the activated intensity of luciferase expression. In brief, the BIV indicator cell line is an easy, robust and quantitive method for monitoring BIV infection.
基金The Key Project of the Ministry of Education of China (108028)National Natural Science Foundation of China (3090068)Grant from State Key Laboratory for Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control, SKL (2008SKLID310)
文摘Viruses (e.g. Human immunodeficiency virus, Human simplex virus and Prototype foamy virus) are obligate intracellular parasites and therefore depend on the cellular machinery for cellular trafficking. Bovine foamy virus (BFV) is a member of the Spumaretrovirinae subfamily of Retroviruses, however, details of its cellular trafficking remain unknown. In this study, we cloned the BFV gag gene into prokaryotic expression vector pET28a and purified the denaturalized Gag protein. The protein was used to immunize BALB/c mouse to produce antiserum, which could specifically recognize the BFV Gag protein in BFV-infected cells through western blot assay. Additionally, these results demonstrated that both the optimal and suboptimal cleavage of Gag protein occur in BFV-infected cells. Subsequently, the Gag antiserum was used to investigate subcellular localization of BFV. In immunofluorescence microscopy assays, colocalization microtubules (MTs) and assembling viral particles were clearly observed, which implied that BFV may transport along cellular MTs in host cells. Furthermore, MTs-depolymerizing assay indicated MTs were required for the efficient replication of BFV. In conclusion, our study suggests that BFV has evolved the mechanism to hijack the cellular cytoskeleton for its replication.
文摘Bovine foamy virus (BFV), a member of the spumavirus subfamily of retroviruses,contains two open reading frames (ORF-1 and ORF-2) in addition to the genes coding for gag,po/and env. Borf-1 protein, encoded by BFV ORF-1, is identified as a transcriptional transactivator, which augments gene expression directed by the viral long terminal repeat (LTR).Further investigations in transient expression assays reveal that the Borf-1 responsive elements are located in the U3 domain of the LTR, upstream from position -140 ( + 1 represents the transcription initiation site), and the BFV RU5 region has an inhibitory effect in LTR-directed gene expression.
基金This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 39970033 ) Doctoral Fund in High School (Grant No. 98005516).
文摘Bovine foamy virus encodes a transcriptional transactivitor, Tas or Borf-1, which governs the level of viral transcripts initiated by both the promoter in the long terminal repeat (LTR) and the internal promoter (IP) located in the env gene through their cis-acting targets. We have identified and characterized a 72 bp TBS (Borf-1) responsive element located in BFV3026, internal promoter (TREIP) by deletion mutant and transient expression assay. This cis-acting target element in the internal promoter has the properties of a transcriptional enhancer which functions independently of its orientation, position and also in heterologous promoters (BFV LTR and bovine immunodeficiency virus, BIV LTR). Alignments reveal that there are positional similarity and sequence homology among BFV TREIP, SFV-1 TREIP proximal element and SFV-3 TREIPH, which suggests that this kind of cis-acting elements possesses some common functional character.
基金This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation for Youth(No.30100003).
文摘Foamy viruses(FVs)have broad cellular tropism infecting vertebrates from fish to human being,which indicates that Env protein has a high capability for membrane fusion.Conservative features in all FV transmembrane(TM)proteins include a region of hydrophobic domain called membrane-spanning domain(MSD),which contains several stretches of hydrophobic amino acids.To investigate whether these features were associated with the cytotoxicity effect of TM on Escherichia coli,a series of mutants were constructed and expressed in the E.coli BL21(DE3)using pET-32a(+)as expressing vector.The results showed that only TM3 without MSD was expressed in E.coli,whereas the other two containing full or part of the MSD(TM1 and TM2)could not be expressed.Furthermore,the bacterial amount and living bacteria analysis revealed that the cytotoxicity of TM was dependent on its MSD,especially on the stretches of hydrophobic amino acids.Western blotting analysis showed that TM3 protein was purified with affinity purification.
文摘Two promoters, LTR (long terminal repeat) and IP (internal promoter), exist in genomes of foamy viruses. Cell transfection and transient expression assay demonstrated that: the basal activity of BFV (bovine foamy virus) IP is much higher than that of BFV LTR; transactivator of BFV—Borf 1, which activates gene expression directed by BFV LTR, also functions on BFV IP with an activation fold higher than that on LTR. The results suggest that BFV IP and LTR may regulate viral gene expression by different mechanisms, and that Borf 1 may stimulate BFV IP and LTR in different ways. In addition, an in vivo DNA competition assay demonstrated that a common transcription factor may be involved in both mechanisms of the two promoters.
文摘The long terminl repeat(LTR) of the bovine foamy virus(BFV) contains the viral promoter,which is responsible for viral gene expression in eukaryotic cells We have demonstrated that BFV LTR linked to the luciferase gene can express the enzyme efficiently upon transformation into bacteria Deletion analysis and sequence comparison showed that the BFV LTR has a sequence(from-125 to-90)which is greatly homologous to the model bacteria promoter And the proposed transcriptional starting site is at the thymine of-91 or the cytosine of -92 Besides,being fully functional in E coli,the BFV LTR can also be specifically trans activated by BFV tas gene product,Borf-1 protein The responsive element lies between base -310 and -140,which is in accordance with the responsive region in eukaryotic cells The trans-activation of BFV LTR by Borf 1 protein in bacteria offers a useful system to investigate further the specific interaction between Borf-1 protein with BFV LTR and the mechanism of the trans
