Towards dynamic monitoring of cell cultures using high throughput sequencing.

We used a combination of DOP-PCR with high throughput sequencing (HTS) to study infected cell cultures over time to assess the feasibility of using this technique to provide a read-out other than cytopathic effect in cell culture infectivity assays. Because DOP-PCR primers feature a short constant sequence at their 3' terminus, the procedure yields a reproducible representational library of products from a given PCR template, including viral nucleic acids. Using SV40- and MVM-infected cultures harvested at different times, we show that the number of viral matches among DOP-PCR products parallels the quantity of virus as shown by real-time PCR, and further show that HTS analysis of specific DOP-PCR products that increase in quantity over time could be used to identify the infecting virus with a sensitivity similar to that of typical cell-culture assays that rely on cytopathic effect.

Evaluation of cells and biological reagents for adventitious agents using degenerate primer PCR and massively parallel sequencing.

We employed a massively parallel sequencing (MPS)-based approach to test reagents and model cell substrates including Chinese hamster ovary (CHO), Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK), African green monkey kidney (Vero), and High Five insect cell lines for adventitious agents. RNA and DNA were extracted either directly from the samples or from viral capsid-enriched preparations, and then subjected to MPS-based non-specific virus detection with degenerate oligonucleotide primer (DOP) PCR. MPS by 454, Illumina MiSeq, and Illumina HiSeq was compared on independent samples. Virus detection using these methods was reproducibly achieved. Unclassified sequences from CHO cells represented cellular sequences not yet submitted to the databases typically used for sequence identification. The sensitivity of MPS-based virus detection was consistent with theoretically expected limits based on dilution of virus in cellular nucleic acids. Capsid preparation increased the number of viral sequences detected. Potential viral sequences were detected in several samples; in each case, these sequences were either artifactual or (based on additional studies) shown not to be associated with replication-competent viruses. Virus-like sequences were more likely to be identified in BLAST searches using virus-specific databases that did not contain cellular sequences. Detected viral sequences included previously described retrovirus and retrovirus-like sequences in CHO, Vero, MDCK and High Five cells, and nodavirus and endogenous bracovirus sequences in High Five insect cells. Bovine viral diarrhea virus, bovine hokovirus, and porcine circovirus sequences were detected in some reagents. A recently described parvo-like virus present in some nucleic acid extraction resins was also identified in cells and extraction controls from some samples. The present study helps to illustrate the potential for MPS-based strategies in evaluating the presence of viral nucleic acids in various sample types, including cell culture substrates and vaccines.

Optimization of virus detection in cells using massively parallel sequencing.

Massively parallel sequencing (MPS)-based virus detection has potential regulatory applications. We studied the ability of one of these approaches, based on degenerate oligonucleotide primer (DOP)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR), to detect viral sequences in cell lines known to express viral genes or particles. DOP-PCR was highly sensitive for the detection of small quantities of isolated viral sequences. Detected viral sequences included nodavirus, bracovirus, and endogenous retroviruses in High Five cells, porcine circovirus type 1 and porcine endogenous retrovirus in PK15 cells, human T-cell leukemia virus 1 in MJ cells, human papillomavirus 18 in HeLa cells, human herpesvirus 8 in BCBL-1 cells, and Epstein-Barr Virus in Raji cells. Illumina sequencing (for which primers were most efficiently added using PCR) provided greater sensitivity for virus detection than Roche 454 sequencing. Analyzing nucleic acids extracted both directly from samples and from capsid-enriched preparations provided useful information. Although there are limitations of these methods, these results indicate significant promise for the combination of nonspecific PCR and MPS in identifying contaminants in clinical and biological samples, including cell lines and reagents used to produce vaccines and therapeutic products.

Discovery of a bovine enterovirus in alpaca.

A cytopathic virus was isolated using Madin-Darby bovine kidney (MDBK) cells from lung tissue of alpaca that died of a severe respiratory infection. To identify the virus, the infected cell culture supernatant was enriched for virus particles and a generic, PCR-based method was used to amplify potential viral sequences. Genomic sequence data of the alpaca isolate was obtained and compared with sequences of known viruses. The new alpaca virus sequence was most similar to recently designated Enterovirus species F, previously bovine enterovirus (BEVs), viruses that are globally prevalent in cattle, although they appear not to cause significant disease. Because bovine enteroviruses have not been previously reported in U.S. alpaca, we suspect that this type of infection is fairly rare, and in this case appeared not to spread beyond the original outbreak. The capsid sequence of the detected virus had greatest homology to Enterovirus F type 1 (indicating that the virus should be considered a member of serotype 1), but the virus had greater homology in 2A protease sequence to type 3, suggesting that it may have been a recombinant. Identifying pathogens that infect a new host species for the first time can be challenging. As the disease in a new host species may be quite different from that in the original or natural host, the pathogen may not be suspected based on the clinical presentation, delaying diagnosis. Although this virus replicated in MDBK cells, existing standard culture and molecular methods could not identify it. In this case, a highly sensitive generic PCR-based pathogen-detection method was used to identify this pathogen.

Molecular and infectivity studies of porcine circovirus in vaccines.

This report describes FDA's laboratory response to the 2010 reports that porcine circovirus type 1 (PCV-1) DNA was present in U.S.-licensed rotavirus vaccines and in cells used to produce inactivated poliovirus vaccines. In the present study, Rotarix® (GlaxoSmithKline, Rixenxart, Belgium) was found to contain full-length PCV-1 genomes that are particle-associated, and cell culture assays in swine testis (ST) and PCV-free porcine kidney (PK-15) cells confirmed that PCV-1 sequences in this vaccine represent infectious virus. RotaTeq® (Merck and Co., West Point, PA, USA) contained small PCV-1 and PCV-2 genome fragments, but did not contain detectable larger portions of (or full-length) PCV genomes, and cell culture assays did not amplify PCV from this vaccine. Inactivated poliovirus vaccine bulks (GlaxoSmithKline) were also negative for the presence of PCV by cell culture infectivity assay. In these vaccines, molecular characterization of PCV nucleic acids was useful for predicting the results of cell culture assays.

Expression and self-assembly of virus-like particles from two genotypes of marine vesiviruses and development of an ELISA for the detection of antibodies.

Sequences encoding the major and minor capsid proteins (VP1 and VP2) from two marine vesivirus isolates (Steller sea lion viruses V810 and V1415) were engineered for expression of virus-like particles (VLPs) in the baculovirus system. The resulting VLPs were morphologically similar to native vesivirus virions. Purified VLPs were probed in immunoblots with pooled antisera specific for nine San Miguel sea lion virus (SMSV) types, and a predominant protein of approximately 60kDa was detected. An enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of antibodies was developed in which the VLPs served as antigen. The VLPs were adsorbed to the wells of a microplate, and the specificity of the ELISA was established with hyperimmune sera raised against 24 serotypes of the genus Vesivirus. The ELISA was used to screen for the presence of vesivirus specific antibodies in the sera of free-ranging Steller sea lions. The ELISA results demonstrated that Steller sea lions that inhabit the Pacific Ocean waters of southeast Alaska are widely exposed to antigenically related marine vesiviruses, while no previous exposure could be demonstrated using VLP antigens in 17 Steller sea lions from the Aleutian Islands. The broad reactivity of these VLPs and their non-infectious nature will facilitate global sero-epidemiological studies aimed at determining the incidence and prevalence of marine vesiviruses in mammals that inhabit the Pacific and Atlantic oceans as well as susceptible terrestrial animals.

A capsid gene-based real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assay for the detection of marine vesiviruses in the Caliciviridae.

A real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rtRT-PCR) assay was developed for the identification of marine vesiviruses. The primers were designed to target a 176-nucleotide fragment within a highly conserved region of the San Miguel sea lion viruses (SMSVs) capsid gene. The assay detected viral RNA from nine marine vesivirus serotypes described previously, including two serotypes (SMSV-8 and -12) not identified with presently available molecular assays, a highly related bovine vesivirus strain (Bos-1), a mink vesivirus strain (MCV), and two novel genotypes isolated recently from Steller sea lions (SSL V810 and V1415). The real-time assay did not amplify sequences from the corresponding genomic regions of feline calicivirus (also in the genus Vesivirus) and representative members of the genus Norovirus. The rtRT-PCR assay described below may prove useful as a diagnostic tool for the detection of currently circulating, emerging and previously described marine vesiviruses in clinical samples, especially when large numbers are screened in surveillance studies of these restricted viruses.

Genomic characterization of novel marine vesiviruses from Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) from Alaska.

Marine vesiviruses were isolated in cell culture from oral and rectal swabs and vesicular fluid from Alaskan Steller sea lions (SSL; Eumetopias jubatus). Further characterization by RT-PCR, complete genomic sequencing, and phylogenetic analyses indicated that these viruses are most closely related to the marine vesiviruses, but are distinct viruses and represent two novel genotypes. The complete genome of these two SSL isolates was sequenced after cloning their viral cDNA. The genomes were found to be 8302 and 8305 nucleotides in length, organized in three open reading frames and contained 5' and 3' untranslated regions (UTR) of 19 and 180 nucleotides, respectively. The complete genomes of both SSL viruses were most closely related to each other and shared 83.0% nucleotide identity. Using the very limited number of complete genomic vesivirus sequences available in the NCBI database, these novel SSL vesiviruses seem most closely related to vesicular exanthema of swine virus-A48 and least related to rabbit vesivirus and walrus calicivirus. Specific antiserum against some evolutionary closer marine vesiviruses did not neutralize these isolates supporting the novel nature of these SSL viruses.