Draft Genome Sequences of Eight Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus Strains.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is a geographically widespread RNA virus with a high degree of genomic diversity that complicates sequence-based diagnostics. Here, we sequenced eight CCHFV strains for improved assay design and deposition into FDA-ARGOS, the FDA's pathogen database for development and verification of next generation sequencing assays.

Rapid discovery and optimization of therapeutic antibodies against emerging infectious diseases.

Using a comprehensive set of discovery and optimization tools, antibodies were produced with the ability to neutralize SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) infection in Vero E6 cells and in animal models. These anti-SARS antibodies were discovered using a novel DNA display method, which can identify new antibodies within days. Once neutralizing antibodies were identified, a comprehensive and effective means of converting the mouse sequences to human frameworks was accomplished using HuFR (human framework reassembly) technology. The best variant (61G4) from this screen showed a 3.5-4-fold improvement in neutralization of SARS-CoV infection in vitro. Finally, using a complete site-saturation mutagenesis methodology focused on the CDR (complementarity determining regions), a single point mutation (51E7) was identified that improved the 80% plaque reduction neutralization of the virus by greater than 8-fold. These discovery and evolution strategies can be applied to any emerging pathogen or toxin where a causative agent is known.

Pathology of fatal West Nile virus infections in native and exotic birds during the 1999 outbreak in New York City, New York.

West Nile fever caused fatal disease in humans, horses, and birds in the northeastern United States during 1999. We studied birds from two wildlife facilities in New York City, New York, that died or were euthanatized and were suspected to have West Nile virus infections. Using standard histologic and ultrastructural methods, virus isolation, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization and reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, we identified West Nile virus as the cause of clinical disease, severe pathologic changes, and death in 27 birds representing eight orders and 14 species. Virus was detected in 23/26 brains (88%), 24/ 25 hearts (96%), 15/18 spleens (83%), 14/20 livers (70%), 20/20 kidneys (100%), 10/13 adrenals (77%), 13/ 14 intestines (93%), 10/12 pancreata (83%), 5/12 lungs (42%), and 4/8 ovaries (50%) by one or more methods. Cellular targets included neurons and glial cells in the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral ganglia; myocardial fibers; macrophages and blood monocytes; renal tubular epithelium; adrenal cortical cells; pancreatic acinar cells and islet cells; intestinal crypt epithelium; oocytes; and fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells. Purkinje cells were especially targeted, except in crows and magpies. Gross hemorrhage of the brain, splenomegaly, meningoencephalitis, and myocarditis were the most prominent lesions. Immunohistochemistry was an efficient and reliable method for identifying infected cases, but the polyclonal antibody cross-reacted with St. Louis encephalitis virus and other flaviviruses. In contrast, the in situ hybridization probe pWNV-E (WN-USAMRIID99) reacted only with West Nile virus. These methods should aid diagnosticians faced with the emergence of West Nile virus in the United States.

Growth and stability of a cholesterol-independent Semliki Forest virus mutant in mosquitoes.

Semliki Forest virus (SFV) is an enveloped alphavirus that is transmitted in the wild by mosquito vectors. In tissue culture cells, SFV requires cholesterol in the cell membrane both for virus membrane fusion and for the efficient exit of progeny virus from the cell. A previously isolated SFV mutant, srf-3, is strikingly less cholesterol-dependent for virus fusion, exit, and growth due to a single amino acid change in the E1 spike protein subunit, proline 226 to serine. Here we show that when mosquitoes were infected by intrathoracic injection at a range of virus multiplicities, the growth of srf-3 was significantly more rapid than that of wild-type virus, particularly at low multiplicity infection. The differential cholesterol requirements for wild-type and srf-3 infection were maintained during virus passage through mosquitoes. The presence or absence of cholesterol in the srf-3 virus membrane did not affect its infection properties in mosquitoes. Thus the srf-3 mutation causes a growth advantage in the tissues of the mosquito host.

Effects of La Crosse virus infection on pregnant domestic rabbits and mongolian gerbils.

The transplacental transmission of La Crosse virus (LACV) was evaluated in domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatis) as a potential mechanism for the maintenance of the virus. Rabbits were infected with LACV at different times of gestation by injection of viral suspensions or by exposure to LACV transovarially (TO) infected Aedes triseriatus. Pregnant gerbils were exposed between 16-24 days of gestation to LACV TO- infected Ae. triseriatus. Our results indicate that LACV can infect gerbils in utero. The LACV was isolated from the brain of suckling gerbils that died 3-5 days after birth from LACV-exposed mothers, representing the first evidence of LACV transplacental transmission. Microgliosis was found histologically in the cerebral cortex. In addition, LACV infection of both pregnant gerbils and rabbits resulted in in utero and neonatal mortality. La Crosse virus was not detected in surviving young of infected rabbits even after immunosuppression by administration of cyclophosphamide. Thus, there was no evidence of persistent infection of rabbits following in utero exposure. Surprisingly, some of the infected pregnant gerbils developed progressive paralysis 9-14-days postexposure, and LACV was isolated from the brains of these animals. Histopathologic studies of these tissue samples showed acute meningoencephalitis. The effects of natural LACV infection should be studied in pregnant amplifying hosts, such as chipmunks and squirrels, and in pregnant women.

Three-dimensional structure of a membrane-containing virus.

The structure of Sindbis virus was determined by electron cryomicroscopy. The virion contains two icosahedral shells of viral-encoded proteins separated by a membrane bilayer of cellular origin. The three-dimensional structure of the ice-embedded intact Sindbis virus, reconstructed from electron images, unambiguously shows that proteins in both shells are arranged with the same icosahedral lattice of triangulation number T = 4. These studies also provide structural evidence of contact between the glycoprotein and the nucleocapsid protein across the membrane bilayer. The structural organization of Sindbis virus has profound implications for the morphogenesis of the alphaviruses. The observed interactions confirm stoichiometric and specific protein associations that may be crucial for virion stability and predict a mechanism for assembly.

Sindbis virus pathogenesis: phenotypic reversion of an attenuated strain to virulence by second-site intragenic suppressor mutations.

Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) specific for the E2c neutralizing antigenic site on the Sindbis virus E2 glycoprotein define a pathogenesis domain that affects neonatal mouse virulence. Sequence analysis of E2c MAb escape mutants showed that the domain included E2 amino acids 62, 96 and 159. The pathogenesis domain is also influenced by changes at E2 position 114. Mutation of E2 residues Asn 62 to Asp or Lys 159 to Glu results in suppression of the attenuated phenotype conferred by a mutation from Ser to Arg at E2 position 114. Possible mechanisms of phenotypic suppression within the E2c pathogenesis domain were investigated by using site-directed mutagenesis to determine the effects of specific combinations of positively charged, negatively charged and uncharged amino acid substitutions at E2 positions 62, 114 and 159. Phenotypic reversion to virulence by second-site suppressor mutations at E2 amino acids 62 or 159 was not dependent on ionic interaction with the residue at E2 114. Rather, suppression appeared to be the result of independent virulence effects mediated by specific residues.

Directed mutagenesis of a Sindbis virus pathogenesis site.

The E2 glycoprotein gene of Sindbis virus contains three neutralizing antigenic sites, and examination of monoclonal antibody (MAb) escape mutants of one of these, the E2c site, has suggested an association of the E2c domain with determinants of virulence in neonatal mice. Codons associated with the E2c site, E2 62, 96, and 159, were subjected to site-directed mutagenesis generating a library of 25 viable virus mutants containing different amino acids at these loci. The mutants were assessed for their ability to bind E2a, E2b, and E2c MAbs in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, to induce fatal disease in neonatal mice following subcutaneous or intracranial inoculation and to compete with wild-type virus for binding to unfractionated neonatal mouse brain cells. None of the substitutions affected binding of E2a or E2b MAbs, and decreased binding to E2c MAbs was correlated with decreased virulence in neonatal mice. However, correlation of decreased virulence and binding to E2c MAbs with decreased competition for wild-type virus binding to mouse brain cells was not observed. The effect of mutation on E2c binding and virulence varied widely depending on the locus and the specific substitution, suggesting strategies for the molecular design of live virus vaccines which select both locus and codon to maximize attenuation and minimize the potential for reversion to virulence.

Specificity of molecular hybridization techniques for the detection of bluetongue virus serotypes in Culicoides variipennis.

Direct blot hybridization (DBH) and sandwich hybridization (SH) were evaluated for their ability to detect bluetongue virus (BTV) RNA in the biting midge Culicoides variipennis (Coquillett). Probes were derived from the L3 RNA segment of BTV, serotype 17. RNA of the five BTV serotypes occurring in the USA (BTV-2, BTV-10, BTV-11, BTV-13, and BTV-17) was extracted from pools of varying numbers of infected and uninfected biting midges and assayed by direct blot and sandwich hybridization tests. Direct blot hybridization using an RNA transcript probe or cDNA probe was a fast, efficient and sensitive technique, detecting as few as one midge infected with any BTV serotype in a pool of 50 or 100. Sandwich hybridization was able to detect the homologous serotype, BTV-17, in pools containing a single infected midge in a total of 50 or 100. However, detection of the heterologous serotypes, BTV-10, BTV-11, and BTV-13, was limited to pools containing 5 or more infected midges in a total of 50, and BTV-2 was undetectable by SH. Hybridization techniques provide an alternative to the conventional detection methods of inoculation of cell culture or embryonated chicken eggs for detection of BTV.

Conformational alteration of Sindbis virion glycoproteins induced by heat, reducing agents, or low pH.

Sindbis virions undergo a conformational rearrangement after attachment to cells but prior to entry, as detected by exposure of epitopes on virus-cell complexes which are not accessible to their cognate monoclonal antibodies on native virions (D. C. Flynn, W. J. Meyer, and R. E. Johnston, J. Virol. 64:3643-3653, 1990). The rearrangement did not appear to require transit of virions through a low-pH environment, and the altered virions participated in a productive infection. This naturally occurring structural alteration could be mimicked, although not precisely duplicated, by any of the three artificial treatments of purified virions in vitro: brief incubation at 51 degrees C, treatment with 1 to 5 mM dithiothreitol, or incubation of pH 5.8 to 6.0. Infectivity was maintained after all three treatments, suggesting that Sindbis virions are metastable and can exist in at least two infectious conformations. The integrity of external, neutralizing epitopes was maintained on cell-associated virions and in the altered conformations induced by heat and dithiothreitol, whereas these epitopes were unreactive under low-pH conditions that induced an analogous exposure of previously inaccessible epitopes. The pH at which the conformational change was induced and the pH at which virions could mediate cell-cell fusion from without were coordinately shifted when these two parameters were determined for another strain of Sindbis virus. This coordinate shift in pH optima suggests that the conformational change in virion structure observed at the cell surface may be causally related to fusion.

Infection of Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with dengue parent and progeny candidate vaccine viruses: a possible marker of human attenuation.

Dengue (DEN-1) and DEN-4 parent (P) and progeny candidate vaccine (CV) viruses were compared in their abilities to infect and to replicate in Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. The DEN CV clones were temperature sensitive (ts) and had small plaque morphology. The DEN-1 and DEN-4 CV viruses differed in their ability to infect, to replicate in, and to be transmitted by mosquitoes. The DEN-1 CV virus was not attenuated for the vector mosquitoes; oral infection rates with the CV virus were as high as or higher than the P virus, and the CV virus replicated efficiently in mosquitoes after oral infection. The DEN-4 CV virus was attenuated; it was less efficient than its P virus in infection and replication in mosquitoes. Thus, the ts phenotype and small plaque morphology are not reliable biological markers for prediction of vector attenuation. Similar results were reported by others for attenuation in man and monkeys. These studies with DEN-1 and DEN-4 viruses, and previously reported studies with DEN-2 virus and with DEN-3 virus suggest that vector and vertebrate host attenuation are genetically linked. Thus, vector attenuation may be a biological marker for human attenuation.

Detection of bluetongue virus RNA by in situ hybridization: comparison with virus isolation and antigen detection.

An in situ nucleic acid hybridization (ISH) technique was developed to detect bluetongue virus (BTV) RNA in cell culture. The sensitivity of the ISH technique was compared with virus isolation (VI) and antigen detection, using an indirect fluorescent-antibody (IFA) or an enzyme immunocytoassay (EICA) technique, for detection of 5 BTV serotypes indigenous to the United States. The VI was the most sensitive technique, detecting BTV early after infection of the cells. The IFA and EICA were of similar sensitivity; BTV antigen could be detected shortly after demonstration of virus by isolation. The sensitivity of ISH for detection of BTV-17 was equivalent to that of antigen detection. The ISH was not as sensitive as VI or antigen detection when assaying for the other BTV serotypes.

Detection of bluetongue virus serotype 17 in Culicoides variipennis by nucleic acid blot and sandwich hybridization techniques.

Molecular hybridization techniques were developed for the detection and surveillance of bluetongue virus (BTV) serotype 17 in the insect vector Culicoides variipennis, a biting midge. Radiolabeled RNA and cDNA probes were generated from sequences of the L3 segment of BTV serotype 17. These probes were used to detect BTV RNA in pools of infected C. variipennis by hybridizing the probes directly to analyte immobilized on nylon membranes or by using a nucleic acid sandwich hybridization test. Hybridization procedures were able to detect 1 infected C. variipennis in a pool of 50 and as little as 3.55 log10 50% tissue culture infective doses per ml of virus. These hybridization techniques provide an alternative to virus isolation for the surveillance of BTV in vector populations.

Dengue 3 virus infection of Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti: comparison of parent and progeny candidate vaccine viruses.

DEN-3 parent (strain CH53489) and progeny candidate vaccine (clone 24/28) viruses were compared in their abilities to interact with Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus. The parent and progeny virus were equivalent in their ability to infect, to replicate in, and to be transmitted by both species of mosquitoes. The candidate vaccine DEN-3 clone was temperature sensitive and had small plaque morphology. These phenotypic markers remained stable during mosquito passage. Thus, temperature sensitivity and small plaque morphology are not reliable biological markers for attenuation.

Detection of bluetongue virus antigens in Culicoides variipennis by enzyme immunoassay.

A solid-phase enzyme immunoassay (EIA) was developed to detect bluetongue (BT) virus antigens in infected cell cultures and in suspensions of infected Culicoides variipennis midges. The technique was equally sensitive for detecting the five U.S. BT virus serotypes (2, 10, 11, 13, and 17) in cell cultures. EIA reliably detected about 3.8 log10 median tissue culture infective doses per ml of BT virus in infected cell culture lysates. The EIA readily detected virus antigens in pools of midges infected with BT serotypes 2, 10, 11, 13, and 17 and contained 2.3 to 4.8 log10 median tissue culture infective doses per ml of BT virus. The technique was sensitive enough to detect a single infected midge in a pool with 99 noninfected midges. The EIA may be a sensitive and rapid alternative to virus isolation for surveillance of BT viruses in vector populations.

Titration of dengue viruses by immunofluorescence in microtiter plates.

A fast, reliable, and inexpensive method was developed for titration of dengue viruses in microtiter plates with an indirect fluorescent-antibody technique. No significant differences were found in median infectious dose endpoints of samples titrated in microtiter plates as compared with titrations in multichambered slides.