Major capsid protein gene sequence analysis of the Santee-Cooper ranaviruses DFV, GV6, and LMBV.

The Santee-Cooper ranaviruses doctor fish virus (DFV), guppy virus 6 (GV6), and largemouth bass virus (LMBV) are members of the genus Ranavirus within the family Iridoviridae. The major capsid protein (MCP) is a main structural protein of iridoviruses and supports the differentiation and classification of ranaviruses. Presently the complete sequence of the MCP gene is known for most ranaviruses with the exception of the Santee-Cooper ranaviruses. In the present study, the complete nucleotide sequence of the MCP gene of DFV, GV6, and LMBV was determined. DFV and GV6 are identical within the MCP gene sequence. The identity compared to the corresponding sequence in LMBV amounts to 99.21%. The MCP gene of DFV, GV6, and LMBV exhibits only approximately 78% identity compared to the respective gene of other ranaviruses. Based on the sequence data obtained in the present study, a Rana MCP polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and subsequent restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis were developed to identify and differentiate ranaviruses, including DFV, GV6, and LMBV.

Epidemiological aspects of viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus genotype II isolated from Baltic herring, Clupea harengus membras L.

This study was carried out to clarify the role of wild fish, especially Baltic herring, Clupea harengus membras L., in the epidemiology of viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV) in brackish water in Finland. Baltic herring with no visible signs of disease were collected from the Archipelago Sea, the Gulf of Bothnia and the eastern Gulf of Finland. In total, 7580 herring were examined by virus isolation as 758 pooled samples and 3029 wild salmonid broodfish as pooled samples during 2004-2006. VHSV was isolated from 51 pooled herring samples in bluegill fibroblast-2 cells, but not in epithelioma papulosum cyprini cells. The majority of isolations were from the coastal archipelago and from fish caught during the spawning season. Based on glycoprotein (G) gene sequences, the virus was classified as a member of genotype II of VHSV. Pairwise comparisons of the G gene regions of herring isolates revealed that all the isolates were closely related, with 98.8-100% nucleotide homology. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that they were closely related to the strains isolated previously from herring and sprat, Sprattus sprattus (L.), in Gotland and to the VHSV isolates from European river lamprey, Lampetra fluviatilis (L.), in the rivers that flow into the Bothnian Bay. The infection in Baltic herring is likely to be independent of the VHSV Id epidemic in farmed rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum).

Ranavirus phylogeny and differentiation based on major capsid protein, DNA polymerase and neurofilament triplet H1-like protein genes.

In this study, we developed new methods for differentiation of ranaviruses based on polymerase chain reaction and restriction enzyme analysis of DNA polymerase and neurofilament triplet H1-like (NF-H1) protein gene. Using these methods, we were able to differentiate the 6 known ranaviruses--Bohle iridovirus (BIV), European catfish virus (ECV), epizootic haematopoietic necrosis virus (EHNV), European sheatfish virus (ESV), frog virus 3 (FV3) and Singapore grouper iridovirus (SGIV)--with 3 less characterised virus isolates: short-finned eel ranavirus (SERV), Rana esculenta virus Italy 282/I02 (REV 282/I02) and pike-perch iridovirus (PPIV). Doctor fish virus (DFV) and guppy virus 6 (GV6) were distinguished as a group from the other viruses. In addition, all 11 isolates were analysed and compared based on nucleotide sequences from 3 different genomic regions: major capsid protein (MCP), DNA polymerase and NF-H1. The partial DNA polymerase gene was sequenced from all analysed viruses. The complete sequence of the MCP and a fragment of the NF-H1 gene were obtained from BIV, ECV, EHNV, ESV, FV3, PPIV, REV 282/I02 and SERV. With the exception of GV6, DFV and SGIV, the sequence analyses showed only a few variations within the analysed viruses. The sequence data suggest that PPIV, REV 282/I02 and SERV are new members of the genus Ranavirus. The methods developed in this study provide tools to differentiate between closely related ranaviruses of different host and geographical origin.

Isolation of an iridovirus from pike-perch Stizostedion lucioperca.

We have isolated a large virus from pike-perch Stizostedion lucioperca fingerlings with no signs of disease. The biochemical structural, and serological properties of this newly isolated virus suggest that it belongs to the family Iridoviridae. The virus multiplied and was cytopathogenic in several cultured fish cell lines. The virus has a DNA-containing genome and is assembled in the cytoplasm. When viewed in electron micrographs, the assembly sites showed a paracrystalline array of hexagonal nucleocapsids. The ultrastructure of the pike-perch virus resembled that of previously isolated fish iridoviruses. It is an enveloped icosahedral DNA virus. The diameter of the nucleocapsid in thin sections was 127 +/- 3 nm; in negatively stained preparates the size of the enveloped virus varied from 147 to 187 nm. In immunofluorescence the virus was stained by rabbit antisera against EHN (epizootic haematopoietic necrosis) virus, sheatfish iridovirus and cod iridovirus. The pathogenicity of the virus isolate was studied by inoculation into juvenile rainbow trout Oncorhyncus mykiss. Experimental infection under aquarium conditions suggested that the virus is apothogenic to rainbow trout. The infective virus could be recovered from the viscera of inoculated fish during the first week post-infection, after which the proportion of virus-positive fish declined over time. A small proportion of the fish still carried the virus 24 d post-inoculation.

Interferons and retinoids enhance and dexamethasone suppresses urokinase-mediated plasminogen activation in promyelocytic leukemia cells.

All-trans retinoic acid (RA) has been successfully used in the treatment of patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). It induces differentiation of APL cells and reduces the bleeding tendency in APL patients. It has been proposed that plasminogen activation could affect the fibrinolytic balance in patients with leukemia. In our earlier study we found that treatment of APL cells with RA results in changes in urokinase (uPA) production. As interferons (IFNs) and dexamethasone can be used together with RA in the treatment of patients with APL, we have now studied the effects of RA together with IFNs and dexamethasone on the plasminogen activation cascade of these cells, including measurement of plasmin generation and uPA receptor (uPAR), using enzyme immunoassays, fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis and RNA extraction with Northern blotting. Our main results were: (1) plasmin was formed on the surface of APL cells; (2) RA stimulated transiently plasmin generation and increased uPAR mRNA level; (3) IFNs alpha and gamma potentiated RA in its effects on uPA and plasmin activities and on uPAR level; (4) dexamethasone suppressed totally the effect of RA on uPA induction and plasminogen activation; and (5) IFNs and dexamethasone alone did not have potent effects on plasminogen activation. These results may assist in the design of therapy for APL patients.

Activation of interleukin-1 beta gene expression during retinoic acid-induced granulocytic differentiation of promyeloid leukemia cells.

We have examined the expression of the interleukin 1 beta (IL-1 beta) gene during the granulocytic differentiation of two promyeloid leukemia cell lines, HL-60 and NB4. HL-60 is known to differentiate along the granulocytic pathway after treatment with 13-trans-retinoic acid (13-trans-RA), whereas treatment with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) leads to development of mature macrophages. NB4 cells are derived from the bone marrow of an acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) patient in relapse, have a translocated RA receptor-alpha, and are converted into nondividing granulocytes by 13-trans-RA treatment. When HL-60 or NB4 were cultured in the presence of 13-trans-RA, IL-1 beta mRNA and protein levels were increased. In the more mature THP-1 cells which are induced to macrophage-like cells by 13-trans-RA treatment, RA was unable to induce any IL-1 beta expression, implying that the effect of 13-trans-RA is associated with granulocytic differentiation. Moreover, PMA and 13-trans-RA had a strong synergistic effect in the induction of IL-1 beta gene expression. Nuclear run-off analysis indicated that the increased IL-1 beta gene expression was due to an enhanced rate of transcription. When the cells were transfected with an IL-1 beta-X-CAT reporter plasmid containing the -2982/-2748 promoter segment of the IL-1 beta gene conferring responsiveness to PMA, both NB4 and HL-60 cells responded with increased CAT activity when stimulated with 13-trans-RA alone. In contrast to PMA, 13-trans-RA was unable to increase AP-1 enhancer activity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Induction of differentiation of promyelocytic NB4 cells by retinoic acid is associated with rapid increase in urokinase activity subsequently downregulated by production of inhibitors.

13-trans retinoic acid (13-trans RA) is an effective inducer of differentiation of acute promyelocytic (APL) cells both in vivo and in vitro. It is used in the induction of remission of patients with APL. We found, by using the promyelocytic NB4 cell line established from a patient with APL, that the induction of differentiation with RA was accompanied by modulation of the plasminogen activation system. The expression of urokinase (uPA) activity was rapidly increased in the growth medium and at the surface of cells treated with RA. The high uPA activity was counteracted both in the growth medium and at the cell surface by an increased plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI) production and reduction of uPA synthesis. The expression of uPA receptor and PAI-2 were stimulated and persisted at 48 hours from RA addition. The simultaneous induction of CD11b suggests that differentiation results in increased production of both. APL patients often encounter episodes of disseminated intravascular coagulation that are associated with secondary fibrinolytic events. Our results suggest that downregulation of uPA activity results in the decrease of plasmin on the surface of the differentiated cells, which may reduce the occurrence of fibrinolytic episodes of patients with APL.

Distribution and lateral mobility of the urokinase-receptor complex at the cell surface.

Pro-urokinase (pro-uPA) and activated uPA are confined to focal adhesions and cell-cell contacts. We studied the distribution of the uPA receptor (uPAR) on human fibroblasts (HES) and rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) cells by immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy. Two monoclonal antibodies (MAb) utilized were against uPAR: MAb R4, which reacts with occupied and unoccupied uPAR, was concentrated at focal adhesions; MAb R3 reacting with unoccupied receptor stained cell surfaces diffusely. MAb R4 stained cell-cell contacts, tips of microspikes, and co-localized with vinculin. Of the matrix and integrin components tested, alpha v beta 3 integrin was found at focal adhesions but more centrally than uPAR. Since uPAR is anchored to the plasma membrane through a GPI lipid, we studied its mobility by antibody-induced clustering. This revealed that unoccupied uPAR was relatively mobile; MAb R3 redistributed it to clusters. In contrast, uPAR R4 and uPA antibodies at the focal contact sites remained mostly within focal contacts. Addition of exogenous uPA resulted in loss of R3 staining and increase of uPA in focal adhesions. These results suggest that occupancy of the receptor with uPA is associated with localization to cell contact sites and restricted lateral mobility.

Abundant urokinase activity on the surface of mononuclear cells from blood and bone marrow of acute leukemia patients.

We have examined the mononuclear cell fraction from 35 individuals, 18 with hematologic malignancies and 17 healthy controls for the presence of cell surface-associated plasminogen activator (PA) activity. PA activity was found on the cell surface of 10 out of 12 samples from patients with acute leukemia. In addition to active urokinase (uPA) found on the cell surface in four out of five acute myeloid leukemia patients, tissue-type PA activity was detected in the same samples (3 of 5). Two out of four samples from acute lymphoid leukemia displayed only uPA activity and three out of three samples from biphenotypic leukemia were also clearly uPA-positive. Plasmin activity was not detected in any of the samples. PA activity was not found on the surface of mononuclear cells from either patients with chronic lymphoid leukemia or healthy controls and, in this respect, the cell surface-bound uPA activity behaved as a marker for acute leukemia. The finding of PA activity on the cell surface in acute leukemia suggests that there may be continuous generation of plasmin with consequent consumption of plasma plasmin inhibitors.

Persistence of plasmin-mediated pro-urokinase activation on the surface of human monocytoid leukemia cells in vitro.

Human leukemia cell lines, unlike those from adherent tumors, have been shown to continuously activate the pro-urokinase (pro-u-PA) they produce. In the present study we found that, in normal cell-culture conditions in 10% FCS the plasminogen activation cascade works continuously on monocytoid leukemia cells, which expressed plasmin activity and active u-PA on their cell surface. This plasmin catalyzed the conversion of the produced pro-u-PA to active 2-chain urokinase (tcu-PA), and was derived from bovine serum plasminogen by the activity of cell-bound tcu-PA. Plasmin generation was abolished and pro-u-PA accumulated in cell cultures that were grown for several days, either in the presence of serum thoroughly depleted of plasminogen, or in the presence of 1 mM tranexamic acid. Plasmin generated on the cell surface was found to be present in 2 enzymatically active fragments, of M(r) 85,000 and M(r) 50,000, which were slowly released into the growth medium. These fragments could activate pro-u-PA in serum-free growth medium. Most of the bound plasmin could be washed off cells with 10 mM tranexamic acid, but complete removal of plasmin from the cell surface required washing of the cells with acid-glycine pH 3.0.

Urokinase binding to laminin-nidogen. Structural requirements and interactions with heparin.

Recently we have shown that heparin and related sulfated polyanions are low-affinity ligands of the kringle domain in the amino-terminal region (ATF) of human urokinase (u-PA), and proposed that this may facilitate loading of u-PA onto its receptor at the focal contacts between adherent cells and their matrix. We have now tested other components of the cell matrix (fibronectin, vitronectin, thrombospondin and laminin-nidogen) for u-PA binding, and found that laminin-nidogen is also a ligand of the u-PA ATF. Direct binding assays and competition binding assays with defined fragments of laminin-nidogen showed that there are u-PA binding sites in fragment E4 of laminin as well as in nidogen. The long-arm terminal domain of laminin (fragment E3), which contains a heparin-binding site, competed for binding of u-PA to immobilised heparin. However nidogen, which does not bind to heparin, also inhibited binding of u-PA to heparin, and this effect was also observed with recombinant nidogen and with a fragment of nidogen lacking the carboxy-terminal domain. Direct binding assays confirmed that u-PA binds to nidogen through a site in the u-PA ATF. We conclude that u-PA binds to laminin-nidogen by interactions involving the ATF region of u-PA, the E4 domain of laminin and the rod or amino-terminal regions of nidogen. Since nidogen is suggested to be an important bridging molecule in the maintenance of the supramolecular organization in basement membranes, the presence of a binding site for u-PA in nidogen indicates a role for plasminogen activation in basement membrane remodelling.

Heparin binding to the urokinase kringle domain.

The binding of urokinase to immobilized heparin and dextran sulfate was studied using activity assays of the bound urokinase. The markedly higher binding observed with high M(r) urokinase compared to low M(r) urokinase indicated a role for the amino-terminal fragment (ATF). This was confirmed by the use of inactive truncated urokinase and monoclonal antibodies specific for the ATF in competition assays of urokinase binding. Antibody competition assays suggested a site in the kringle domain, and a synthetic decapeptide Arg-52-Trp-62 from the kringle sequence (kringle numbering convention) was competitive in assays of urokinase binding to dextran sulfate and heparin. Heparin binding to the urokinase kringle was unambiguously demonstrated via 1H NMR spectroscopy at 500 MHz. Effective equilibrium association constants (K(a)*) were determined for the interaction of isolated kringle fragment and low M(r) heparin at pH 7.2. The binding was strong in salt-free 2H2O (K(a)* approximately 57 mM-1) and remained significant in 0.15 M NaCl (K(a)* approximately 12 mM-1), supporting a potential physiological role for the interaction. This is the first demonstration of a function for the kringle domain of urokinase, and it suggests that while the classical kringle structure has specificity for lysine binding, there may also exist a class of kringles with affinity for polyanion binding.

Alpha 2-macroglobulin restricts plasminogen activation to the surface of RC2A leukemia cells.

Human RC2A myelomonocytic leukemia cells are able to activate the prourokinase (pro-u-PA) they secrete so that active u-PA is present both in serum-free conditioned medium from these cells, as well as on the cell surface. When the cells are grown in serum-containing medium, no u-PA activity can be found in the medium but active u-PA is found bound to the cell surface where it can generate bound plasmin. This distribution of u-PA activity was shown to be, first, the net result of slow inactivation of free active u-PA by serum inhibitor(s) and simultaneous rapid uptake of u-PA onto the cell surface. Binding to cells was at least six times faster than inactivation by 10% serum. The principal serum inhibitor of u-PA was identified as alpha 2-macroglobulin (alpha 2M), and prior inactivation of u-PA by purified human alpha 2M was also shown to prevent uptake of u-PA activity onto cells. Second, although endogenous u-PA could form covalent complexes with purified alpha 2M in the culture medium of RC2A cells, covalent alpha 2M complexes were not formed by u-PA on the cell surface; the u-PA taken up in this compartment was protected against alpha 2M inhibition. u-PA anchored to plastic surfaces via monoclonal antibodies to the amino-terminal region of u-PA was also protected against alpha 2M, suggesting that the protection of cell surface u-PA results from a steric effect. These results provide evidence as to how the active u-PA produced by leukemia cells can contribute to proteolytic activity on their cell surface in the presence of serum inhibitors.

Stimulation of cell surface plasminogen activation by heparin and related polyionic substances.

The functional operation of the cell surface pro-u-PA and plasminogen activating system has previously been shown to depend on the assembly of u-PA receptors, plasminogen binding sites, and their respective ligands at the focal adhesions of cell extensions. We now show that additional factors operate that affect the persistence of functional activity and that evidently involve charge interactions mediated by polyanions, such as those found in the cell surface proteoglycans. Heparin-like compounds and protamine were identified as fast-acting stimulators of cell surface plasminogen activation. Heparin stabilized surface u-PA activity during plasminogen activation, and we propose that a heparin binding site exists in the kringle structure of u-PA. Heparin at 40 micrograms/ml could reduce u-PA loss to only 20% compared with 60% on control cells activating plasminogen. Protamine (25 micrograms/ml) exerted a strong stimulatory effect on the level of generated bound plasmin and notably prolonged the persistence of this activity, so that 100 minutes after addition of plasminogen the level of plasmin on protamine-treated cells was five times higher than on control-treated cells. The effect of protamine on plasmin clearance suggests that an unknown plasmin inhibitor may be produced by rhabdomyosarcoma cells, whose action is accelerated by endogenous polyanions, in an analogous manner to thrombin inactivation by antithrombin III and protease nexin on endothelial cells and fibroblasts, respectively. The stimulatory effects of heparin and protamine do not affect the inactivation of cell surface u-PA by recombinant PAI-2.

Prourokinase activation on the surface of human rhabdomyosarcoma cells: localization and inactivation of newly formed urokinase-type plasminogen activator by recombinant class 2 plasminogen activator inhibitor.

Recombinant class 2 plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-2) was used in an approach to probe the formation and location of enzymatically active urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA) sites on the surface of cultured human rhabdomyosarcoma cells (RD cells). Activation of pro-u-PA on the cell surface and consequent binding of PAI-2 was dependent on the addition of native plasminogen to serum cultures of the cells. Inhibition of the enzyme activity of surface-bound u-PA by the added PAI-2 resulted in a 79% reduction in the capacity of the RD cells to generate cell surface-associated plasmin activity from bound plasminogen. Under these conditions, the PAI-2 probe was localized at focal adhesions of RD cells, where it colocalized with both extracellular u-PA and intracellular vinculin antigens in double immunofluorescence labeling. Specificity of the probe's interaction with cell surface-bound u-PA was confirmed by blocking with a monoclonal antibody to human u-PA, which could also inhibit the formation of bound plasmin activity. These results showed the assembly of the plasmin-generating system at focal adhesions and the accessibility of bound u-PA on which it depends to added PAI-2. Therefore, PAI-2 has the potential both to localize at sites of tumor expression of functionally active u-PA and simultaneously to inhibit cell surface plasminogen activation.