Search

The baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) is becoming the method of choice for expression of many eukaryotic proteins and protein complexes for biochemical, structural and pharmaceutical studies. Significant technological advancement has made generation of recombinant baculoviruses easy, efficient and user-friendly. However, there is a tremendous variability in the amount of proteins made using the BEVS, including different batches of virus made to express the same proteins. Yet, what influences the overall production of proteins or protein complexes remains largely unclear. Many downstream applications, particularly protein structure determination, require purification of large quantities of proteins in a repetitive manner, calling for a reliable experimental set-up to obtain proteins or protein complexes of interest consistently. During our investigation of optimizing the expression of the Mediator Head module, we discovered that the ‘initial infectivity’ was an excellent indicator of overall production of protein complexes. Further, we show that this initial infectivity can be mathematically described as a function of multiplicity of infection (MOI), correlating recombinant protein yield and virus titer. All these findings led us to develop the Titer Estimation for Quality Control (TEQC) method, which enables researchers to estimate initial infectivity, titer/MOI values in a simple and affordable way, and to use these values to quantitatively optimize protein expressions utilizing BEVS in a highly reproducible fashion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mixed infections of insect larvae with different baculoviruses are occasionally found. They are of interest from an evolutionary as well as from a practical point of view when baculoviruses are applied as biocontrol agents. Here, we report mixed-infection studies of neonate larvae of the common cutworm, Agrotis segetum, with two baculoviruses, Agrotis segetum nucleopolyhedrovirus B (AgseNPV-B) and Agrotis segetum granulovirus (AgseGV). By applying quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis, coinfections of individual larvae were demonstrated, and occlusion body (OB) production within singly infected and coinfected larvae was determined in individual larvae. Mixtures of viruses did not lead to changes in mortality rates compared with rates of singlevirus treatments, indicating an independent action within host larvae under our experimental conditions. AgseNPV-B-infected larvae showed an increase in OB production during 2 weeks of infection, whereas the number of AgseGV OBs did not change from the first week to the second week. Fewer OBs of both viruses were produced in coinfections than in singly infected larvae, suggesting a competition of the two viruses for larval resources. Hence, no functional or economic advantage could be inferred from larval mortality and OB production from mixed infections of A. segetum larvae with AgseNPV-B and AgseGV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Baculovirus is an efficient system for the gene expression that can be used for gene transfer to both insect and different vertebrate hosts. The nucleocapsid gene (N) of the infectious bronchitis virus was cloned in a baculovirus expression system for insect cell expression. Dual expression vectors containing IBV N and spike (S) proteins of the avian infectious bronchitis virus were engineered under the control of human and murine cytomegalovirus immediate-early enhancer/promoter elements in combination with the baculoviral polyhedrin and p10 promoters for simultaneous expression in both vertebrate and insect cells. Transduction of the N gene in the insect Sf9 cells revealed a high level of protein expression. The expressed protein, used in ELISA, effectively detected chicken anti-IBV antibodies with high specificity. Transduction of mammalian and avian cells with BacMam viruses revealed that dual expression cassettes yielded high levels of protein from both transcription units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: HzNV-1 is a non-occluded virus belongs to the family of the baculovirus. One of the first detectable transcripts expressed by HzNV-1 virus infection is a 6.2kb gene, hhi1, located in the HindIII-I fragment of the viral genome. Here we show that infection of baculovirus Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) could activate the expression of the hhi1 promoter. By using constructs containing progressive deletions of the upstream regulatory regions of the hhi1 gene, we demonstrated that the most highly activated area was located between nucleotides −62 to +277 of the hhi1 promoter. We subsequently searched the entire 130kb AcMNPV genome and identified two baculovirus genes, ie1 and p35, that their cooperation is required for the activation of the hhi1 promoter. Further, by taking advantages of a baculovirus DNA chip and low background baculovirus gene expressions in the mammalian cells, we went on to identify a specific set of baculoviral genes, including orf21 and orf25, that could be specifically activated by the combination of ie1 and p35 genes. We conclude that a unique cooperative mechanism of ie1 and p35 exists in the genome of AcMNPV, which can activate the expression of a specific set of AcMNPV and HzNV-1 promoters. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Human lactoferrin (hLf) is a multifunctional iron-binding glycoprotein. In this study, we amplified hLf cDNA by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction from normal human mammary gland. The nucleotide sequence of the hLf was identical to the known hLf. We constructed a recombinant virus, vBm-hLf, harboring the hLf gene and exploited the BmN cells as host to produce recombinant human lactoferrin (rhLf). It was found that a recombinant protein with a molecular mass of approximately 78 kDa was expressed. Approximately 13.5 μg rhLf was purified from 1–2 × 105 BmN cells infected by vBm-hLf and the rhLf proved to be biologically active. This method established in our study will pave the way for efficient production of rhLf for further application of this protein in the future. Edited by Zhi-Fang ZHANG [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Defensins are peptides that protect the host against microorganisms. Here we show that the θ-defensin retrocyclin 2 (RC2) inhibited influenza virus infection by blocking membrane fusion mediated by the viral hemagglutinin. RC2 was effective even after hemagglutinin attained a fusogenic conformation or had induced membrane hemifusion. RC2, a multivalent lectin, prevented hemagglutinin-mediated fusion by erecting a network of crosslinked and immobilized surface glycoproteins. RC2 also inhibited fusion mediated by Sindbis virus and baculovirus. Human β-defensin 3 and mannan-binding lectin also blocked viral fusion by creating a protective barricade of immobilized surface proteins. This general mechanism might explain the broad-spectrum antiviral activity of many multivalent lectins of the innate immune system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The single-stranded (ss) DNA-binding protein LEF-3 of Autographa californica multinucleocapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus promoted Mg2+-independent unwinding of DNA duplexes and annealing of complementary DNA strands. The unwinding and annealing activities of LEF-3 appeared to act in a competitive manner and were determined by the ratio of protein to DNA. At subsaturating and saturating concentrations, LEF-3 promoted annealing, whereas it promoted unwinding at oversaturation of DNA substrates. The LEF-3 binding to ssDNA and unwinding activity were sensitive to redox agents and were inhibited by oxidation of thiol groups in LEF-3 with 1,1′-azobis(N,N-dimethylformamide) (diamide) or by modification with the thiol-conjugating agent N-ethylmaleimide. Both oxidation and alkylation increased the dissociation constant of the interaction with model oligonucleotides indicating a decrease in an intrinsic affinity of LEF-3 for ssDNA. These results proved that free thiol groups are essential both for LEF-3 interaction with ssDNA and for DNA unwinding. In contrast, oxidation or modification of thiol groups stimulated the annealing activity of LEF-3 partially due to suppression of its unwinding activity. Treatment of LEF-3 with the reducing agent dithiothreitol inhibited annealing, indicating association of this activity with the oxidized protein. Thus, the balance between annealing and unwinding activities of LEF-3 was determined by the redox state of protein with the oxidized state favoring annealing and the reduced state favoring unwinding. An LEF-3 mutant in which the conservative cysteine Cys214 was replaced with serine showed both a decreased binding to DNA and a reduced unwinding activity, thus indicating that this residue might participate in the regulation of LEF-3 activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary. We describe, for the first time, the generation of a viral DNA chip for simultaneous expression measurements of nearly all known open reading frames (ORFs) in the best-studied members of the family Baculoviridae, Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) and Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV). In this study, a viral DNA chip (Ac-BmNPV chip) was fabricated and used to characterize the viral gene expression profile for AcMNPV in different cell types. The viral chip is composed of microarrays of viral DNA prepared by robotic deposition of PCR-amplified viral DNA fragments on glass for ORFs in the NPV genome. Viral gene expression was monitored by hybridization to the DNA fragment microarrays with fluorescently labeled cDNAs prepared from infected Spodoptera frugiperda, Sf9 cells and Trichoplusia ni, TnHigh-Five cells, the latter a major producer of baculovirus and recombinant proteins. A comparison of expression profiles of known ORFs in AcMNPV elucidated six genes (ORF150, p10, pk2, and three late gene expression factor genes lef-3, p35 and lef-6) the expression of each of which was regulated differently in the two cell lines. Most of these genes are known to be closely involved in the viral life cycle such as in DNA replication, late gene expression and the release of polyhedra from infected cells. These results imply that the differential expression of these viral genes accounts for the differences in viral replication between these two cell lines. Thus, these fabricated microarrays of NPV DNA which allow a rapid analysis of gene expression at the viral genome level should greatly speed the functional analysis of large genomes of NPV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long interspersed elements (LINEs) are ubiquitous genomic elements in higher eukaryotes. Here we develop a novel assay to analyze in vivo LINE retrotransposition using the telomeric repeat-specific elements SART1 and TRAS1. We demonstrate by PCR that silkworm SART1, which is expressed from a recombinant baculovirus, transposes in Sf9 cells into the chromosomal (TTAGG)n sequences, at the same specific nucleotide position as in the silkworm genome. Thus authentic retrotransposition by complete reverse transcription of the entire RNA transcription unit and occasional 5' truncation is observed. The retrotransposition requires conserved domains in both open reading frames (ORFs), including the ORF1 cysteine-histidine motifs. In contrast to human L1, recognition of the 3' untranslated region sequence is crucial for SART1 retrotransposition, which results in efficient trans-complementation. Swapping the endonuclease domain from TRAS1 into SART1 converts insertion specificity to that of TRAS1. Thus the primary determinant of in vivo target selection is the endonuclease domain, suggesting that modified LINEs could be used as gene therapy vectors, which deliver only genes of interest but not retrotransposons themselves in trans to specific genomic locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses a baculovirus that infects caterpillars which may lead to the discovery of safe pesticides and the prevention of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Number of years that biotechnology companies and laboratories have been focusing on the baculovirus as a source of a powerful gene promoter used to boost the production of recombinant proteins;How the baculovirus can be altered for benevolent use; Peculiar polyhedra; Life cycle; Biopesticides; Gene cloning in baculovirus; Scaling-up army worms.

Clonal deletion in the thymus by apoptosis is involved in purging the immune system of self-reactive T lymphocytes (negative selection). Cysteine proteases (caspases) belonging to the CPP32 family are activated during this process. We have produced transgenic mice expressing baculovirus p35, a broad-range caspase inhibitor. Thymocytes from p35 transgenic mice were resistant in vitro to several apoptosis-inducing agents; this resistance correlated with the inhibition of CPP32-like activity. Negative selection in vivo of thymocytes triggered by two exogenous antigens, staphylococcal enterotoxin B superantigen and an antigenic peptide in the F5 T-cell receptor transgenic model, was specifically inhibited in p35 transgenic mice. Our results provide direct evidence for caspase involvement in negative selection during thymocyte development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gene encoding the γ-chain of the human Interleukin-2 receptor was expressed in lepidopteran insect cells using the baculovirus expression vector system. The corresponding gene was inserted under the polyhedrin promoter of the Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus and expressed in the Spodoptera frugiperda insect cell line Sf9 during viral infection. The recombinant receptor protein was identified by immunoblotting in cell lysates, prepared from insect cells infected with the recombinant virus. At 40 h post infection the corresponding protein was detected as two major bands with apparent molecular weights of 50-60kDa using a rabbit anti-human IL-2R γ-receptor specific antiserum. Metabolic labelling with [35S]-methionine and SDS-PAGE analysis of the recombinant baculovirus infected insect cells verified the immunoblotting data. The expressed IL-2Rγ- protein could also be determined on the surface of infected insect cells by flow cytometer analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]