Complete study demonstrating the absence of rhabdovirus in a distinct Sf9 cell line.

A putative novel rhabdovirus (SfRV) was previously identified in a Spodoptera frugiperda cell line (Sf9 cells [ATCC CRL-1711 lot 58078522]) by next generation sequencing and extensive bioinformatic analysis. We performed an extensive analysis of our Sf9 cell bank (ATCC CRL-1711 lot 5814 [Sf9L5814]) to determine whether this virus was already present in cells obtained from ATCC in 1987. Inverse PCR of DNA isolated from Sf9 L5814 cellular DNA revealed integration of SfRV sequences in the cellular genome. RT-PCR of total RNA showed a deletion of 320 nucleotides in the SfRV RNA that includes the transcriptional motifs for genes X and L. Concentrated cell culture supernatant was analyzed by sucrose density gradient centrifugation and revealed a single band at a density of 1.14 g/ml. This fraction was further analysed by electron microscopy and showed amorphous and particulate debris that did not resemble a rhabdovirus in morphology or size. SDS-PAGE analysis confirmed that the protein composition did not contain the typical five rhabdovirus structural proteins and LC-MS/MS analysis revealed primarily of exosomal marker proteins, the SfRV N protein, and truncated forms of SfRV N, P, and G proteins. The SfRV L gene fragment RNA sequence was recovered from the supernatant after ultracentrifugation of the 1.14 g/ml fraction treated with diethyl ether suggesting that the SfRV L gene fragment sequence is not associated with a diethyl ether resistant nucleocapsid. Interestingly, the 1.14 g/ml fraction was able to transfer baculovirus DNA into Sf9L5814 cells, consistent with the presence of functional exosomes. Our results demonstrate the absence of viral particles in ATCC CRL-1711 lot 5814 Sf9 cells in contrast to a previous study that suggested the presence of infectious rhabdoviral particles in Sf9 cells from a different lot. This study highlights how cell lines with different lineages may present different virosomes and therefore no general conclusions can be drawn across Sf9 cells from different laboratories.

The baculovirus expression vector system: A commercial manufacturing platform for viral vaccines and gene therapy vectors.

The baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) platform has become an established manufacturing platform for the production of viral vaccines and gene therapy vectors. Nine BEVS-derived products have been approved - four for human use (Cervarix(®), Provenge(®), Glybera(®) and Flublok(®)) and five for veterinary use (Porcilis(®) Pesti, BAYOVAC CSF E2(®), Circumvent(®) PCV, Ingelvac CircoFLEX(®) and Porcilis(®) PCV). The BEVS platform offers many advantages, including manufacturing speed, flexible product design, inherent safety and scalability. This combination of features and product approvals has previously attracted interest from academic researchers, and more recently from industry leaders, to utilize BEVS to develop next generation vaccines, vectors for gene therapy, and other biopharmaceutical complex proteins. In this review, we explore the BEVS platform, detailing how it works, platform features and limitations and important considerations for manufacturing and regulatory approval. To underscore the growth in opportunities for BEVS-derived products, we discuss the latest product developments in the gene therapy and influenza vaccine fields that follow in the wake of the recent product approvals of Glybera(®) and Flublok(®), respectively. We anticipate that the utility of the platform will expand even further as new BEVS-derived products attain licensure. Finally, we touch on some of the areas where new BEVS-derived products are likely to emerge.

Pandemic influenza vaccine: characterization of A/California/07/2009 (H1N1) recombinant hemagglutinin protein and insights into H1N1 antigen stability.

BACKGROUND: The recent H1N1 influenza pandemic illustrated the shortcomings of the vaccine manufacturing process. The A/California/07/2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza vaccine or A(H1N1)pdm09 was available late and in short supply as a result of delays in production caused by low yields and poor antigen stability. Recombinant technology offers the opportunity to shorten manufacturing time. A trivalent recombinant hemagglutinin (rHA) vaccine candidate for seasonal influenza produced using the baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) was shown to be as effective and safe as egg-derived trivalent inactivated vaccine (TIV) in human clinical studies. In this study, we describe the characterization of the A/California/07/2009 rHA protein and compare the H1N1 pandemic rHA to other seasonal rHA proteins. RESULTS: Our data show that, like other rHA proteins, purified A/California/07/2009 rHA forms multimeric rosette-like particles of 20-40 nm that are biologically active and immunogenic in mice as assayed by hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) antibody titers. However, proteolytic digest analysis revealed that A/California/07/2009 rHA is more susceptible to proteolytic degradation than rHA proteins derived from other seasonal influenza viruses. We identified a specific proteolytic site conserved across multiple hemagglutinin (HA) proteins that is likely more accessible in A/California/07/2009 HA, possibly as a result of differences in its protein structure, and may contribute to lower antigen stability. CONCLUSION: We conclude that, similar to the recombinant seasonal influenza vaccine, recombinant A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccine is likely to perform comparably to licensed A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccines and could offer manufacturing advantages.

Desumoylation of the endoplasmic reticulum membrane VAP family protein Scs2 by Ulp1 and SUMO regulation of the inositol synthesis pathway.

Posttranslational protein modification by the ubiquitin-like SUMO protein is critical to eukaryotic cell regulation, but much remains unknown regarding its operation and substrates. Here we report that specific mutations in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ulp1 SUMO protease, including its coiled-coil (CC) domain, lead to the accumulation of distinct sumoylated proteins in vivo. A prominent ~50-kDa sumoylated protein accumulates in a Ulp1 CC mutant. The protein was identified as Scs2, an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane protein that regulates phosphatidylinositol synthesis and lipid trafficking. Mutation of lysine 180 of Scs2 abolishes its sumoylation. Notably, impairment of either cellular sumoylation or cellular desumoylation mechanisms inhibits cell growth in the absence of inositol and exacerbates the inositol auxotrophy caused by deletion of SCS2. Mutants lacking the Ulp2 SUMO protease are the most severely affected, and this defect was traced to the mutants' impaired ability to induce transcription of INO1, which encodes the rate-limiting enzyme of inositol biosynthesis. Conversely, inositol starvation induces a striking change in the profiles of total cellular SUMO conjugates. These results provide the first evidence of cross-regulation between the SUMO and inositol pathways, including the sumoylation of an ER membrane protein central to phospholipid synthesis and phosphoinositide signaling.

Ulp2 and the DNA damage response: desumoylation enables safe passage through mitosis.

The DNA damage checkpoint is a crucial defense mechanism used by cells to withstand DNA damage. Activation of the checkpoint halts the cell cycle at metaphase and allows time for DNA repair prior to cell division. Much effort has been placed on identifying the proteins involved in checkpoint activation and how they elicit the damage response, whereas much less is known about how the checkpoint is silenced and cell division resumes. We recently reported that Ulp2, a SUMO protease, is required for cell division following termination of the DNA damage checkpoint in budding yeast. Here we discuss potential mechanisms by which Ulp2 enables the successful completion of mitosis following DNA damage. We also suggest candidate Ulp2 substrates whose desumoylation may be necessary for cell cycle restart. Finally, given the requirement of Ulp2 for survival in the presence of various metaphase-arresting agents, we suggest that the necessity for Ulp2 following checkpoint termination may not be specific to the DNA-damage response, but rather may indicate a broader role for desumoylation following prolonged metaphase arrest.

The Ulp2 SUMO protease is required for cell division following termination of the DNA damage checkpoint.

Eukaryotic genome integrity is maintained via a DNA damage checkpoint that recognizes DNA damage and halts the cell cycle at metaphase, allowing time for repair. Checkpoint signaling is eventually terminated so that the cell cycle can resume. How cells restart cell division following checkpoint termination is poorly understood. Here we show that the SUMO protease Ulp2 is required for resumption of cell division following DNA damage-induced arrest in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, although it is not required for DNA double-strand break repair. The Rad53 branch of the checkpoint pathway generates a signal countered by Ulp2 activity following DNA damage. Interestingly, unlike previously characterized adaptation mutants, ulp2Delta mutants do not show persistent Rad53 phosphorylation following DNA damage, suggesting checkpoint signaling has been terminated and no longer asserts an arrest in these cells. Using Cdc14 localization as a cell cycle indicator, we show that nearly half of cells lacking Ulp2 can escape a checkpoint-induced metaphase arrest despite their inability to divide again. Moreover, half of permanently arrested ulp2Delta cells show evidence of an aberrant mitotic spindle, suggesting that Ulp2 is required for proper spindle dynamics during cell cycle resumption following a DNA damage-induced cell cycle arrest.

A nuclear envelope protein linking nuclear pore basket assembly, SUMO protease regulation, and mRNA surveillance.

The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is both the major conduit for nucleocytoplasmic trafficking and a platform for organizing macromolecules at the nuclear envelope. We report that yeast Esc1, a non-NPC nuclear envelope protein, is required both for proper assembly of the nuclear basket, a structure extending into the nucleus from the NPC, and for normal NPC localization of the Ulp1 SUMO protease. In esc1Delta cells, Ulp1 and nuclear basket components Nup60 and Mlp1 no longer distribute broadly around the nuclear periphery, but co-localize in a small number of dense-staining perinuclear foci. Loss of Esc1 (or Nup60) alters SUMO conjugate accumulation and enhances ulp1 mutant defects. Similar to previous findings with Mlp1, both Esc1 and Ulp1 help retain unspliced pre-mRNAs in the nucleus. Therefore, these proteins are essential for proper nuclear basket function, which includes mRNA surveillance and regulation of SUMO protein dynamics. The results raise the possibility that NPC-localized protein desumoylation may be a key regulatory event preventing inappropriate pre-mRNA export.

Modification of proteins by ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like proteins.

Following the discovery of protein modification by the small, highly conserved ubiquitin polypeptide, a number of distinct ubiquitin-like proteins (Ubls) have been found to function as protein modifiers as well. These Ubls, which include SUMO, ISG15, Nedd8, and Atg8, function as critical regulators of many cellular processes, including transcription, DNA repair, signal transduction, autophagy, and cell-cycle control. A growing body of data also implicates the dysregulation of Ubl-substrate modification and mutations in the Ubl-conjugation machinery in the etiology and progression of a number of human diseases. The primary aim of this review is to summarize the latest developments in our understanding of the different Ubl-protein modification systems, including the shared and unique features of these related pathways.

The molecular mechanisms of classic Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Classic Hodgkin's lymphoma is characterized by the appearance of giant abnormal cells called Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells. HRS cells arise from germinal center B lymphocytes and in about 50 percent of patients, are infected with Epstein-Barr Virus. In addition, HRS cells show constitutive NF-kappaB activation and are resistant to apoptosis. This paper reviews several recent studies that for the first time implicate specific molecules in the pathogenesis of classic Hodgkin's lymphoma. Targeting these molecules could lead to the development of novel therapies for this disease.