Transcriptome Analysis of an Aedes albopictus Cell Line Single- and Dual-Infected with Lammi Virus and WNV.

Understanding the flavivirus infection process in mosquito hosts is important and fundamental in the search for novel control strategies that target the mosquitoes' ability to carry and transmit pathogenic arboviruses. A group of viruses known as insect-specific viruses (ISVs) has been shown to interfere with the infection and replication of a secondary arbovirus infection in mosquitoes and mosquito-derived cell lines. However, the molecular mechanisms behind this interference are unknown. Therefore, in the present study, we infected the Aedes albopictus cell line U4.4 with either the West Nile virus (WNV), the insect-specific Lammi virus (LamV) or an infection scheme whereby cells were pre-infected with LamV 24 h prior to WNV challenge. The qPCR analysis showed that the dual-infected U4.4 cells had a reduced number of WNV RNA copies compared to WNV-only infected cells. The transcriptome profiles of the different infection groups showed a variety of genes with altered expression. WNV-infected cells had an up-regulation of a broad range of immune-related genes, while in LamV-infected cells, many genes related to stress, such as different heat-shock proteins, were up-regulated. The transcriptome profile of the dual-infected cells was a mix of up- and down-regulated genes triggered by both viruses. Furthermore, we observed an up-regulation of signal peptidase complex (SPC) proteins in all infection groups. These SPC proteins have shown importance for flavivirus assembly and secretion and could be potential targets for gene modification in strategies for the interruption of flavivirus transmission by mosquitoes.

Small RNA Response to Infection of the Insect-Specific Lammi Virus and Hanko Virus in an Aedes albopictus Cell Line.

RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated antiviral immunity is believed to be the primary defense against viral infection in mosquitoes. The production of virus-specific small RNA has been demonstrated in mosquitoes and mosquito-derived cell lines for viruses in all of the major arbovirus families. However, many if not all mosquitoes are infected with a group of viruses known as insect-specific viruses (ISVs), and little is known about the mosquito immune response to this group of viruses. Therefore, in this study, we sequenced small RNA from an Aedes albopictus-derived cell line infected with either Lammi virus (LamV) or Hanko virus (HakV). These viruses belong to two distinct phylogenetic groups of insect-specific flaviviruses (ISFVs). The results revealed that both viruses elicited a strong virus-derived small interfering RNA (vsiRNA) response that increased over time and that targeted the whole viral genome, with a few predominant hotspots observed. Furthermore, only the LamV-infected cells produced virus-derived Piwi-like RNAs (vpiRNAs); however, they were mainly derived from the antisense genome and did not show the typical ping-pong signatures. HakV, which is more distantly related to the dual-host flaviviruses than LamV, may lack certain unknown sequence elements or structures required for vpiRNA production. Our findings increase the understanding of mosquito innate immunity and ISFVs' effects on their host.

Mast Cells Limit Ear Swelling Independently of the Chymase Mouse Mast Cell Protease 4 in an MC903-Induced Atopic Dermatitis-Like Mouse Model.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a complex, often lifelong allergic disease with severe pruritus affecting around 10% of both humans and dogs. To investigate the role of mast cells (MCs) and MC-specific proteases on the immunopathogenesis of AD, a vitamin D3-analog (MC903) was used to induce clinical AD-like symptoms in c-kit-dependent MC-deficient Wsh-/- and the MC protease-deficient mMCP-4-/-, mMCP-6-/-, and CPA3-/- mouse strains. MC903-treatment on the ear lobe increased clinical scores and ear-thickening, along with increased MC and granulocyte infiltration and activity, as well as increased levels of interleukin 33 (IL-33) locally and thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) both locally and systemically. The MC-deficient Wsh-/- mice showed significantly increased clinical score and ear thickening albeit having lower ear tissue levels of IL-33 and TSLP as well as lower serum levels of TSLP as compared to the WT mice. In contrast, although having significantly increased IL-33 ear tissue levels the chymase-deficient mMCP-4-/- mice showed similar clinical score, ear thickening, and TSLP levels in ear tissue and serum as the WT mice, whereas mMCP-6 and CPA3 -deficient mice showed a slightly reduced ear thickening and granulocyte infiltration. Our results suggest that MCs promote and control the level of MC903-induced AD-like inflammation.

Viromics Reveal a Number of Novel RNA Viruses in Swedish Mosquitoes.

Metagenomic studies of mosquitoes have revealed that their virome is far more diverse and includes many more viruses than just the pathogenic arboviruses vectored by mosquitoes. In this study, the virome of 953 female mosquitoes collected in the summer of 2017, representing six mosquito species from two geographic locations in Mid-Eastern Sweden, were characterized. In addition, the near-complete genome of nine RNA viruses were characterized and phylogenetically analysed. These viruses showed association to the viral orders Bunyavirales, Picornavirales, Articulavirales, and Tymovirales, and to the realm Ribovira. Hence, through this study, we expand the knowledge of the virome composition of different mosquito species in Sweden. In addition, by providing viral reference genomes from wider geographic regions and different mosquito species, future in silico recognition and assembly of viral genomes in metagenomic datasets will be facilitated.

Insect-specific virus evolution and potential effects on vector competence.

The advancement in high-throughput sequencing technology and bioinformatics tools has spurred a new age of viral discovery. Arthropods is the largest group of animals and has shown to be a major reservoir of different viruses, including a group known as insect-specific viruses (ISVs). The majority of known ISVs have been isolated from mosquitoes and shown to belong to viral families associated with animal arbovirus pathogens, such as Flaviviridae, Togaviridae and Phenuiviridae. These insect-specific viruses have a strict tropism and are unable to replicate in vertebrate cells, these properties are interesting for many reasons. One is that these viruses could potentially be utilised as biocontrol agents using a similar strategy as for Wolbachia. Mosquitoes infected with the viral agent could have inferior vectorial capacity of arboviruses resulting in a decrease of circulating arboviruses of public health importance. Moreover, insect-specific viruses are thought to be ancestral to arboviruses and could be used to study the evolution of the switch from single-host to dual-host. In this review, we discuss new discoveries and hypothesis in the field of arboviruses and insect-specific viruses.

Novel Viruses Found in Antricola Ticks Collected in Bat Caves in the Western Amazonia of Brazil.

In this study, we describe the viral composition of adult Antricoladelacruzi ticks collected in a hot bat cave in the state of Rondônia, Western Amazonia, Brazil. A.delacruzi ticks, are special, compared to many other ticks, in that they feed on both bats (larval blood feeding) and bat guano (nymphal and adult feeding) instead of feeding exclusively on vertebrate hosts (blood feeding). Considering this unique life-cycle it is potentially possible that these ticks can pick up/be infected by viruses not only present in the blood of viremic bats but also by virus shed through the bat guano. The viral metagenomic investigation of adult ticks showed that single-stranded negative-sense RNA viruses were the dominant group of viruses identified in the investigated ticks. Out of these, members of the Nairoviridae family were in clear majority constituting 88% of all viral reads in the data set. Genetic and phylogenetic analyses indicate the presence of several different orthonairoviruses in the investigated ticks with only distant relationship to previously described ones. In addition, identification of viral sequences belonging to Orthomyxoviridae, Iflaviridae, Dicistroviridae, Polycipiviridae, Reoviridae and different unclassified RNA viruses showed the presence of viruses with low sequence similarity to previously described viruses.

DNA-launched RNA replicon vaccines induce potent anti-Ebolavirus immune responses that can be further improved by a recombinant MVA boost.

There are currently no licensed therapeutic treatment or preventive vaccines against Ebolavirus disease, and the 2013-2016 West African outbreak of Ebolavirus disease spread rapidly and resulted in almost 30,000 cases and more than 11,000 deaths. However, the devastating outbreak has spurred the development of novel Ebolavirus vaccines. Here, we demonstrate that alphavirus-based DNA-launched self-replicating RNA replicon vaccines (DREP) encoding either the glycoprotein (GP) gene or co-expressing the GP and VP40 genes of Sudan or Zaire Ebolavirus are immunogenic in mice inducing both binding and neutralizing antibodies as well as CD8 T cell responses. In addition, antibodies were cross-reactive against another Ebolavirus, although the specificity was higher for the vaccination antigen. DREP vaccines were more immunogenic than recombinant MVA vaccines expressing the same Ebolavirus antigens. However, a DREP prime followed by an MVA boost immunization regimen improved vaccine immunogenicity as compared to DREP and MVA homologous prime-boost immunizations. Moreover, we show that a bivalent approach targeting both Sudan and Zaire Ebolavirus can be employed without significant loss of immunity. This opens for further investigation of a pan-Ebolavirus or even a pan-filovirus vaccine.