Yíngyún Caì

Virus nomenclature below the species level: A standardized nomenclature for filovirus strains and variants rescued from cDNA

Specific alterations (mutations, deletions, insertions) of virus genomes are crucial for the functional characterization of their regulatory elements and their expression products, as well as a prerequisite for the creation of attenuated viruses that could serve as vaccine candidates. Virus genome tailoring can be performed either by using traditionally cloned genomes as starting materials, followed by site-directed mutagenesis, or by de novo synthesis of modified virus genomes or parts thereof. A systematic nomenclature for such recombinant viruses is necessary to set them apart from wild-type and laboratory-adapted viruses, and to improve communication and collaborations among researchers who may want to use recombinant viruses or create novel viruses based on them. A large group of filovirus experts has recently proposed nomenclatures for natural and laboratory animal-adapted filoviruses that aim to simplify the retrieval of sequence data from electronic databases. Here, this work is extended to include nomenclature for filoviruses obtained in the laboratory via reverse genetics systems. The previously developed template for natural filovirus genetic variant naming, (/)///-, is retained, but we propose to adapt the type of information added to each field for cDNA clone-derived filoviruses. For instance, the full-length designation of an Ebola virus Kikwit variant rescued from a plasmid developed at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could be akin to “Ebola virus H.sapiens-rec/COD/1995/Kikwit-abc1” (with the suffix “rec” identifying the recombinant nature of the virus and “abc1” being a placeholder for any meaningful isolate designator). Such a full-length designation should be used in databases and the methods section of publications. Shortened designations (such as “EBOV H.sap/COD/95/Kik-abc1”) and abbreviations (such as “EBOV/Kik-abc1”) could be used in the remainder of the text, depending on how critical it is to convey information contained in the full-length name. “EBOV” would suffice if only one EBOV strain/variant/isolate is addressed.

Virus nomenclature below the species level: a standardized nomenclature for laboratory animal-adapted strains and variants of viruses assigned to the family Filoviridae.

The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) organizes the classification of viruses into taxa, but is not responsible for the nomenclature for taxa members. International experts groups, such as the ICTV Study Groups, recommend the classification and naming of viruses and their strains, variants, and isolates. The ICTV Filoviridae Study Group has recently introduced an updated classification and nomenclature for filoviruses. Subsequently, and together with numerous other filovirus experts, a consistent nomenclature for their natural genetic variants and isolates was developed that aims at simplifying the retrieval of sequence data from electronic databases. This is a first important step toward a viral genome annotation standard as sought by the US National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Here, this work is extended to include filoviruses obtained in the laboratory by artificial selection through passage in laboratory hosts. The previously developed template for natural filovirus genetic variant naming ( ///-) is retained, but it is proposed to adapt the type of information added to each field for laboratory animal-adapted variants. For instance, the full-length designation of an Ebola virus Mayinga variant adapted at the State Research Center for Virology and Biotechnology “Vector” to cause disease in guinea pigs after seven passages would be akin to “Ebola virus VECTOR/C.porcellus-lab/COD/1976/Mayinga-GPA-P7”. As was proposed for the names of natural filovirus variants, we suggest using the full-length designation in databases, as well as in the method section of publications. Shortened designations (such as “EBOV VECTOR/C.por/COD/76/May-GPA-P7”) and abbreviations (such as “EBOV/May-GPA-P7”) could be used in the remainder of the text depending on how critical it is to convey information contained in the full-length name. “EBOV” would suffice if only one EBOV strain/variant/isolate is addressed.

Cell entry by a novel European filovirus requires host endosomal cysteine proteases and Niemann–Pick C1

Lloviu virus (LLOV), a phylogenetically divergent filovirus, is the proposed etiologic agent of die-offs of Schreiberss long-fingered bats (Miniopterus schreibersii) in western Europe. Studies of LLOV remain limited because the infectious agent has not yet been isolated. Here, we generated a recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus expressing the LLOV spike glycoprotein (GP) and used it to show that LLOV GP resembles other filovirus GP proteins in structure and function. LLOV GP must be cleaved by endosomal cysteine proteases during entry, but is much more protease-sensitive than EBOV GP. The EBOV/MARV receptor, Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1), is also required for LLOV entry, and its second luminal domain is recognized with high affinity by a cleaved form of LLOV GP, suggesting that receptor binding would not impose a barrier to LLOV infection of humans and non-human primates. The use of NPC1 as an intracellular entry receptor may be a universal property of filoviruses.

Nyamiviridae: Proposal for a new family in the order Mononegavirales

Nyamanini virus (NYMV) and Midway virus (MIDWV) are unclassified tick-borne agents that infect land birds and seabirds, respectively. The recent molecular characterization of both viruses confirmed their already known close serological relationship and revealed them to be nonsegmented, single- and negative-stranded RNA viruses that are clearly related to, but quite distinct from, members of the order Mononegavirales (bornaviruses, filoviruses, paramyxoviruses, and rhabdoviruses). A third agent, soybean cyst nematode virus 1 (SbCNV-1, previously named soybean cyst nematode nyavirus), was recently found to be an additional member of this new virus group. Here, we review the current knowledge about all three viruses and propose classifying them as members of a new mononegaviral family, Nyamiviridae.

Simian Hemorrhagic Fever Virus Cell Entry Is Dependent on CD163 and Uses a Clathrin-Mediated Endocytosis-Like Pathway

ABSTRACT Simian hemorrhagic fever virus (SHFV) causes a severe and almost uniformly fatal viral hemorrhagic fever in Asian macaques but is thought to be nonpathogenic for humans. To date, the SHFV life cycle is almost completely uncharacterized on the molecular level. Here, we describe the first steps of the SHFV life cycle. Our experiments indicate that SHFV enters target cells by low-pH-dependent endocytosis. Dynamin inhibitors, chlorpromazine, methyl-β-cyclodextrin, chloroquine, and concanamycin A dramatically reduced SHFV entry efficiency, whereas the macropinocytosis inhibitors EIPA, blebbistatin, and wortmannin and the caveolin-mediated endocytosis inhibitors nystatin and filipin III had no effect. Furthermore, overexpression and knockout study and electron microscopy results indicate that SHFV entry occurs by a dynamin-dependent clathrin-mediated endocytosis-like pathway. Experiments utilizing latrunculin B, cytochalasin B, and cytochalasin D indicate that SHFV does not hijack the actin polymerization pathway. Treatment of target cells with proteases (proteinase K, papain, α-chymotrypsin, and trypsin) abrogated entry, indicating that the SHFV cell surface receptor is a protein. Phospholipases A2 and D had no effect on SHFV entry. Finally, treatment of cells with antibodies targeting CD163, a cell surface molecule identified as an entry factor for the SHFV-related porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus, diminished SHFV replication, identifying CD163 as an important SHFV entry component. IMPORTANCE Simian hemorrhagic fever virus (SHFV) causes highly lethal disease in Asian macaques resembling human illness caused by Ebola or Lassa virus. However, little is known about SHFVs ecology and molecular biology and the mechanism by which it causes disease. The results of this study shed light on how SHFV enters its target cells. Using electron microscopy and inhibitors for various cellular pathways, we demonstrate that SHFV invades cells by low-pH-dependent, actin-independent endocytosis, likely with the help of a cellular surface protein.

Influenza A Virus Polymerase Is a Site for Adaptive Changes during Experimental Evolution in Bat Cells

ABSTRACT The recent identification of highly divergent influenza A viruses in bats revealed a new, geographically dispersed viral reservoir. To investigate the molecular mechanisms of host-restricted viral tropism and the potential for transmission of viruses between humans and bats, we exposed a panel of cell lines from bats of diverse species to a prototypical human-origin influenza A virus. All of the tested bat cell lines were susceptible to influenza A virus infection. Experimental evolution of human and avian-like viruses in bat cells resulted in efficient replication and created highly cytopathic variants. Deep sequencing of adapted human influenza A virus revealed a mutation in the PA polymerase subunit not previously described, M285K. Recombinant virus with the PA M285K mutation completely phenocopied the adapted virus. Adaptation of an avian virus-like virus resulted in the canonical PB2 E627K mutation that is required for efficient replication in other mammals. None of the adaptive mutations occurred in the gene for viral hemagglutinin, a gene that frequently acquires changes to recognize host-specific variations in sialic acid receptors. We showed that human influenza A virus uses canonical sialic acid receptors to infect bat cells, even though bat influenza A viruses do not appear to use these receptors for virus entry. Our results demonstrate that bats are unique hosts that select for both a novel mutation and a well-known adaptive mutation in the viral polymerase to support replication. IMPORTANCE Bats constitute well-known reservoirs for viruses that may be transferred into human populations, sometimes with fatal consequences. Influenza A viruses have recently been identified in bats, dramatically expanding the known host range of this virus. Here we investigated the replication of human influenza A virus in bat cell lines and the barriers that the virus faces in this new host. Human influenza A and B viruses infected cells from geographically and evolutionarily diverse New and Old World bats. Viruses mutated during infections in bat cells, resulting in increased replication and cytopathic effects. These mutations were mapped to the viral polymerase and shown to be solely responsible for adaptation to bat cells. Our data suggest that replication of human influenza A viruses in a nonnative host drives the evolution of new variants and may be an important source of genetic diversity.

CD26/DPP4 cell-surface expression in bat cells correlates with bat cell susceptibility to Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection and evolution of persistent infection.

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a recently isolated betacoronavirus identified as the etiologic agent of a frequently fatal disease in Western Asia, Middle East respiratory syndrome. Attempts to identify the natural reservoirs of MERS-CoV have focused in part on dromedaries. Bats are also suspected to be reservoirs based on frequent detection of other betacoronaviruses in these mammals. For this study, ten distinct cell lines derived from bats of divergent species were exposed to MERS-CoV. Plaque assays, immunofluorescence assays, and transmission electron microscopy confirmed that six bat cell lines can be productively infected. We found that the susceptibility or resistance of these bat cell lines directly correlates with the presence or absence of cell surface-expressed CD26/DPP4, the functional human receptor for MERS-CoV. Human anti-CD26/DPP4 antibodies inhibited infection of susceptible bat cells in a dose-dependent manner. Overexpression of human CD26/DPP4 receptor conferred MERS-CoV susceptibility to resistant bat cell lines. Finally, sequential passage of MERS-CoV in permissive bat cells established persistent infection with concomitant downregulation of CD26/DPP4 surface expression. Together, these results imply that bats indeed could be among the MERS-CoV host spectrum, and that cellular restriction of MERS-CoV is determined by CD26/DPP4 expression rather than by downstream restriction factors.

siRNA Screen Identifies Trafficking Host Factors that Modulate Alphavirus Infection

Little is known about the repertoire of cellular factors involved in the replication of pathogenic alphaviruses. To uncover molecular regulators of alphavirus infection, and to identify candidate drug targets, we performed a high-content imaging-based siRNA screen. We revealed an actin-remodeling pathway involving Rac1, PIP5K1- α, and Arp3, as essential for infection by pathogenic alphaviruses. Infection causes cellular actin rearrangements into large bundles of actin filaments termed actin foci. Actin foci are generated late in infection concomitantly with alphavirus envelope (E2) expression and are dependent on the activities of Rac1 and Arp3. E2 associates with actin in alphavirus-infected cells and co-localizes with Rac1–PIP5K1-α along actin filaments in the context of actin foci. Finally, Rac1, Arp3, and actin polymerization inhibitors interfere with E2 trafficking from the trans-Golgi network to the cell surface, suggesting a plausible model in which transport of E2 to the cell surface is mediated via Rac1- and Arp3-dependent actin remodeling.

Genome Sequences of Simian Hemorrhagic Fever Virus Variant NIH LVR42-0/M6941 Isolates (Arteriviridae: Arterivirus)

ABSTRACT Simian hemorrhagic fever virus (SHFV) variant NIH LVR42-0/M6941 is the only remaining SHFV in culture, and only a single genome sequence record exists in GenBank/RefSeq. We compared the genomic sequence of NIH LVR42-0/M6941 acquired from the ATCC in 2011 to NIH LVR42-0/M6941 genomes sequenced directly from nonhuman primates experimentally infected in 1989.

NONHUMAN TRANSFERRIN RECEPTOR 1 IS AN EFFICIENT CELL ENTRY RECEPTOR FOR OCOZOCOAUTLA DE ESPINOSA VIRUS

ABSTRACT Ocozocoautla de Espinosa virus (OCEV) is a novel, uncultured arenavirus. We found that the OCEV glycoprotein mediates entry into grivet and bat cells through transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) binding but that OCEV glycoprotein precursor (GPC)-pseudotyped retroviruses poorly entered 53 human cancer cell lines. Interestingly, OCEV and Tacaribe virus could use bat, but not human, TfR1. Replacing three human TfR1 amino acids with their bat ortholog counterparts transformed human TfR1 into an efficient OCEV and Tacaribe virus receptor.