MicrobiologyBytes

The human JC polyomavirus is a bit of a mystery. Many people are infected with it, but few become ill as a result. This virus bides its time, waiting for your immune systen to let its guard down, then wham! People infected with HIV, those who have AIDS, or those receiving immunomodulatory therapies for autoimmune diseases are at serious risk for progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), where the virus can spread from the kidney to the central nervous system and cause a fatal, demyelinating disease.

Recent reports have shown that virus isolates from PML patients often have distinct changes within the major capsid protein. This paper shows that that these mutations result in abolished engagement of the carbohydrate receptor motif necessary for infection. Viruses with PML-associated mutations are not infectious in glial cells, suggesting that they may play an alternative role in PML. Interesting stuff, suggesting that interaction with cell surface receptors is an important determinant of tissue tropism and JC virus pathogenesis for PML, even though the best defence remains a healthy immune system.

Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy-Associated Mutations in the JC Polyomavirus Capsid Disrupt Lactoseries Tetrasaccharide c Binding. (2013) mBio 4(3): e00247-13 doi: 10.1128/mBio.00247-13
The human JC polyomavirus (JCPyV) is the causative agent of the fatal, demyelinating disease progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). The Mad-1 prototype strain of JCPyV uses the glycan lactoseries tetrasaccharide c (LSTc) and serotonin receptor 5-HT2A to attach to and enter into host cells, respectively. Specific residues in the viral capsid protein VP1 are responsible for direct interactions with the α2,6-linked sialic acid of LSTc. Viral isolates from individuals with PML often contain mutations in the sialic acid-binding pocket of VP1 that are hypothesized to arise from positive selection. We reconstituted these mutations in the Mad-1 strain of JCPyV and found that they were not capable of growth. The mutations were then introduced into recombinant VP1 and reconstituted as pentamers in order to conduct binding studies and structural analyses. VP1 pentamers carrying PML-associated mutations were not capable of binding to permissive cells. High-resolution structure determination revealed that these pentamers are well folded but no longer bind to LSTc due to steric clashes in the sialic acid-binding site. Reconstitution of the mutations into JCPyV pseudoviruses allowed us to directly quantify the infectivity of the mutants in several cell lines. The JCPyV pseudoviruses with PML-associated mutations were not infectious, nor were they able to engage sialic acid as measured by hemagglutination of human red blood cells. These results demonstrate that viruses from PML patients with single point mutations in VP1 disrupt binding to sialic acid motifs and render these viruses noninfectious.

When a virus infects a plant, a slient war rages, fought with RNA weapons.

Multiple and complex layers of defense help plants to combat pathogens. A first line of defense relies on the detection, via dedicated host-encoded receptors, of signature molecules (so called pathogen-associated molecular patterns, PAMPs) produced by pathogens. In turn, this PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI) may be itself antagonized by adapted pathogens that have evolved virulence effectors to target key PTI components. Host plants react to PTI suppression by producing disease resistance (R) proteins that recognize virulence effectors and activate highly specific resistance called Effector Triggered Immunity (ETI). It has been noted that RNA silencing, a sequence-specific antiviral defense response based on the production of virus-derived 21–24 nt small RNAs on the one hand, and its suppression by virulence effectors, called viral suppressors of RNA silencing (VSRs) on the other, are conceptually similar to PTI. A new paper in PLOS Pathogens supports this hypothesis by showing that extreme resistance is indeed activated following detection, in specific host species, of the VSR activity of a viral virulence effector. The ensuing antiviral immunity displays many characteristics of ETI, suggesting that one or several R proteins must sense the integrity of the host silencing machinery.

Extreme Resistance as a Host Counter-counter Defense against Viral Suppression of RNA Silencing. (2013) PLoS Pathog 9(6): e1003435. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1003435
RNA silencing mediated by small RNAs (sRNAs) is a conserved regulatory process with key antiviral and antimicrobial roles in eukaryotes. A widespread counter-defensive strategy of viruses against RNA silencing is to deploy viral suppressors of RNA silencing (VSRs), epitomized by the P19 protein of tombusviruses, which sequesters sRNAs and compromises their downstream action. Here, we provide evidence that specific Nicotiana species are able to sense and, in turn, antagonize the effects of P19 by activating a highly potent immune response that protects tissues against Tomato bushy stunt virus infection. This immunity is salicylate- and ethylene-dependent, and occurs without microscopic cell death, providing an example of “extreme resistance” (ER). We show that the capacity of P19 to bind sRNA, which is mandatory for its VSR function, is also necessary to induce ER, and that effects downstream of P19-sRNA complex formation are the likely determinants of the induced resistance. Accordingly, VSRs unrelated to P19 that also bind sRNA compromise the onset of P19-elicited defense, but do not alter a resistance phenotype conferred by a viral protein without VSR activity. These results show that plants have evolved specific responses against the damages incurred by VSRs to the cellular silencing machinery, a likely necessary step in the never-ending molecular arms race opposing pathogens to their hosts.

A nice short article by John Coffin looking at pathogen-host co-evolution.

Virions at the Gates: Receptors and the Host–Virus Arms Race. (2013) PLoS Biol 11(5): e1001574. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001574
All viruses need to bind to specific receptor molecules on the surface of target cells to initiate infection. Virus–receptor binding is highly specific, and this specificity determines both the species and the cell type that can be infected by a given virus. In some well-studied cases, the virus-binding region on the receptor has been found to be unrelated to the receptor’s normal cellular function. Resistance to virus infection can thus evolve by selection of mutations that alter amino acids in the binding region with minimal effect on normal function. This sort of positive selection can be used to infer the history of the host–virus “arms race” during their coevolution. In a new study, Demogines et al. use a combination of phylogenetic, structural, and virological analysis to infer the history and significance of positive selection on the transferrin receptor TfR1, a housekeeping protein required for iron uptake and the cell surface receptor for at least three different types of virus. The authors show that only two parts of the rodent TfR1 molecule have been subject to positive selection and that these correspond to the binding sites for two of these viruses—the mouse mammary tumor virus (a retrovirus) and Machupo virus (an arenavirus). They confirmed this result by introducing the inferred binding site mutations into the wild-type protein and testing for receptor function. Related arenaviruses are beginning to spread in human populations in South America as the cause of often fatal hemorrhagic fevers, and, although Demogines et al. could find no evidence of TfR1 mutations in this region that might have been selected as a consequence of human infection, the authors identified one such mutation in Asian populations that affects infection with these viruses.

Hmm, this sounds like a good exam question for next year’s paper. I wonder if any of my students read this blog? ;-)

The modulation of apoptosis by oncogenic viruses. (2013) Virology Journal, 10: 182 doi:10.1186/1743-422X-10-182
Transforming viruses can change a normal cell into a cancer cell during their normal life cycle. Persistent infections with these viruses have been recognized to cause some types of cancer. These viruses have been implicated in the modulation of various biological processes, such as proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. The study of infections caused by oncogenic viruses had helped in our understanding of several mechanisms that regulate cell growth, as well as the molecular alterations leading to cancer. Therefore, transforming viruses provide models of study that have enabled the advances in cancer research. Viruses with transforming abilities, include different members of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) family, Hepatitis C virus (HCV), Human T-cell Leukemia virus (HTLV-1), Epstein Barr virus (EBV) and Kaposi’s Sarcoma Herpesvirus (KSHV).Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is a tightly regulated process that plays an important role in development and homeostasis. Additionally, it functions as an antiviral defense mechanism. The deregulation of apoptosis has been implicated in the etiology of diverse diseases, including cancer. Oncogenic viruses employ different mechanisms to inhibit the apoptotic process, allowing the propagation of infected and damaged cells. During this process, some viral proteins are able to evade the immune system, while others can directly interact with the caspases involved in apoptotic signaling. In some instances, viral proteins can also promote apoptosis, which may be necessary for an accurate regulation of the initial stages of infection.

See: 10 things you should know about novel coronavirus (nCoV)

I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the last week marking exam essays about papillomaviruses, so it’s good to relax by reading a few recent journal articles about …. papillomaviruses ;-)

Animal papillomaviruses. Virology. 24 May 2013 pii: S0042-6822(13)00266-3. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2013.05.007
We provide an overview of the host range, taxonomic classification and genomic diversity of animal papillomaviruses. The complete genomes of 112 non-human papillomavirus types, recovered from 54 different host species, are currently available in GenBank. The recent characterizations of reptilian papillomaviruses extend the host range of the Papillomaviridae to include all amniotes. Although the genetically diverse papillomaviruses have a highly conserved genomic lay-out, deviations from this prototypic genome organization are observed in several animal papillomaviruses, and only the core ORFs E1, E2, L2 and L1 are present in all characterized papillomavirus genomes. The discovery of papilloma-polyoma hybrids BPCV1 and BPCV2, containing a papillomaviral late region but an early region encoding typical polyomaviral nonstructural proteins, and the detection of recombination breakpoints between the early and late coding regions of cetacean papillomaviruses, could indicate that early and late gene cassettes of papillomaviruses are relatively independent entities that can be interchanged by recombination.

Papillomavirus E6 oncoproteins. 24 May 2013 Virology pii: S0042-6822(13)00248-1. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2013.04.026
Papillomaviruses induce benign and malignant epithelial tumors, and the viral E6 oncoprotein is essential for full transformation. E6 contributes to transformation by associating with cellular proteins, docking on specific acidic LXXLL peptide motifs found on these proteins. This review examines insights from recent studies of human and animal E6 proteins that determine the three-dimensional structure of E6 when bound to acidic LXXLL peptides. The structure of E6 is related to recent advances in the purification and identification of E6 associated protein complexes. These E6 protein-complexes, together with other proteins that bind to E6, alter a broad array of biological outcomes including modulation of cell survival, cellular transcription, host cell differentiation, growth factor dependence, DNA damage responses, and cell cycle progression.

The eradication of HIV-1 from infected individuals is prevented by the persistence of the virus in a stable reservoir of latently infected CD4+ T cells. Latently infected cells can be found in all HIV-1 infected individuals at a very low frequency and allow the virus to persist despite antiretroviral therapy for the lifetime of an infected patient. Current efforts are focused on identifying small molecules or immune strategies to eliminate these latently infected cells. To assess the efficacy of these elimination strategies in HIV-1 infected patients, we must be able to measure the size of the remaining latent reservoir. While a previous assay can measure the size of this latent reservoir, it is too laborious and costly to be utilized in large-scale HIV-1 eradication trials. A new paper in PLoS Pathogens describes a rapid assay to measure the size of the HIV-1 latent reservoir more amenable to eradication trials.

Rapid Quantification of the Latent Reservoir for HIV-1 Using a Viral Outgrowth Assay. (2013) PLoS Pathog 9(5): e1003398. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1003398
HIV-1 persists in infected individuals in a stable pool of resting CD4+ T cells as a latent but replication-competent provirus. This latent reservoir is the major barrier to the eradication of HIV-1. Clinical trials are currently underway investigating the effects of latency-disrupting compounds on the persistence of the latent reservoir in infected individuals. To accurately assess the effects of such compounds, accurate assays to measure the frequency of latently infected cells are essential. The development of a simpler assay for the latent reservoir has been identified as a major AIDS research priority. We report here the development and validation of a rapid viral outgrowth assay that quantifies the frequency of cells that can release replication-competent virus following cellular activation. This new assay utilizes bead and column-based purification of resting CD4+ T cells from the peripheral blood of HIV-1 infected patients rather than cell sorting to obtain comparable resting CD4+ T cell purity. This new assay also utilizes the MOLT-4/CCR5 cell line for viral expansion, producing statistically comparable measurements of the frequency of latent HIV-1 infection. Finally, this new assay employs a novel quantitative RT-PCR specific for polyadenylated HIV-1 RNA for virus detection, which we demonstrate is a more sensitive and cost-effective method to detect HIV-1 replication than expensive commercial ELISA detection methods. The reductions in both labor and cost make this assay suitable for quantifying the frequency of latently infected cells in clinical trials of HIV-1 eradication strategies.

My final year students will tell you – I’m obsessed with Mimivirus. It’s true – to me these giant viruses are one of the most fascinating areas of microbiology right now, at the convergence of living cells and subcellular infectious agents.

With a particle size comparable to that of small bacteria and a 1.2 Mbp double-strand DNA genome that carries more than 1000 open reading frames, the amoeba-infecting Mimivirus, along with other recently identified members of the Mimiviridae family, are the largest and most complex viruses yet identified. The Mimivirus particle includes an internal membrane that underlies an icosahedral capsid. The assembly mechanism of internal membrane during Mimivirus infection remains unclear, as is the case for other viruses containing internal membranes. By using diverse imaging techniques, this article shows that membrane biogenesis is an elaborate process that occurs at the periphery of viral factories generated at the host cytoplasm. This multistage process, which includes the formation of open membrane sheets, enables efficient and continuous assembly of multiple Mimivirus progeny. The membrane biogenesis process suggested here provides novel insights into the assembly of internal viral membranes in general.

Membrane Assembly during the Infection Cycle of the Giant Mimivirus. (2013) PLoS Pathog 9(5): e1003367. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1003367
Although extensively studied, the structure, cellular origin and assembly mechanism of internal membranes during viral infection remain unclear. By combining diverse imaging techniques, including the novel Scanning-Transmission Electron Microscopy tomography, we elucidate the structural stages of membrane biogenesis during the assembly of the giant DNA virus Mimivirus. We show that this elaborate multistage process occurs at a well-defined zone localized at the periphery of large viral factories that are generated in the host cytoplasm. Membrane biogenesis is initiated by fusion of multiple vesicles, ~70 nm in diameter, that apparently derive from the host ER network and enable continuous supply of lipid components to the membrane-assembly zone. The resulting multivesicular bodies subsequently rupture to form large open single-layered membrane sheets from which viral membranes are generated. Membrane generation is accompanied by the assembly of icosahedral viral capsids in a process involving the hypothetical major capsid protein L425 that acts as a scaffolding protein. The assembly model proposed here reveals how multiple Mimivirus progeny can be continuously and efficiently generated and underscores the similarity between the infection cycles of Mimivirus and Vaccinia virus. Moreover, the membrane biogenesis process indicated by our findings provides new insights into the pathways that might mediate assembly of internal viral membranes in general.

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a worldwide health problem, and it has become one of the major causes of end-stage liver disease, including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In the past decade, the crucial role of HBV in hepatocarcinogenesis has been well established, but the mechanisms underlying how HBV induces malignant transformation of hepatocytes remains unclear. HBV X (HBx) is a 154-amino-acid (154-aa) multifunctional protein that has roles in gene transcription, cell proliferation, and apoptosis. For a long time, HBx has been suspected of playing positive roles in hepatocarcinogenesis, possibly by affecting viral replication and viral proliferation directly or indirectly.

In an attempt to fully understand the role of environmental factors on HBx protein in regulating HBV transcription and replication, researchers used two different cell culture systems in vitro and an immunocompetent HBV replication mouse model in vivo. Moreover, we sought to verify roles of the transcriptional transactivation regions in the C-terminal transactivation domain of HBx in modulating the levels of HBV transcription and replication under physiological conditions in vivo.

HBx was found to be required for wild-type levels of HBV replication in HepG2 cells, but was not essential for the establishment of HBV replication in Huh7 cells, indicating that the effects of HBx on HBV replication and transcription vary depending on the experimental system. No wonder there is confusion about the role(s) of the X protein. In contrast to in vivo experiments, HBx has an important role in stimulating HBV transcription and replication in hepatocytes in vivo. The transcriptional transactivation function of HBx may be crucial for its stimulatory effect on HBV transcription and replication.

Role and Functional Domain of Hepatitis B Virus X Protein in Regulating HBV Transcription and Replication in Vitro and in Vivo. Viruses 2013, 5(5), 1261-1271; doi:10.3390/v5051261
The role of hepatitis B virus (HBV) X protein (HBx) in the regulation of HBV replication remains controversial. In the present study, the role of HBx in regulating HBV replication was initially investigated in both HepG2 and Huh7 in vitro cell lines with a transient transfection system. Next, the regions of HBx responsible for transcriptional transactivation and promotion of HBV replication were mapped in an HBV replication mouse model by in vivo transfection of a series of HBx expression plasmids. In an in vitro setting, HBx deficiency had little effect on HBV replication in Huh7 cells, but impaired HBV replication in HepG2 cells. In an in vivo setting, HBx had a strong enhancing effect on HBV transcription and replication. For the C-terminal two-thirds of the protein (amino acids [aa] 51 to 154) was required for this function of HBx, and the regions spanning aa 52 to 72 and 88 to 154 were found to be important for the stimulatory function of HBx on HBV replication. In conclusion, the role of HBx in HBV replication regulation is affected by host cell type, and HBx has an important role in stimulating HBV transcription and replication in hepatocytes in vivo. Further, the transcriptional transactivation function of HBx may be crucial for its stimulatory effect on HBV transcription and replication.