Amount Of Genomic RNA Research Articles

Comparison of lentiviral vector titration methods

BackgroundLentiviral vectors are efficient vehicles for stable gene transfer in dividing and non-dividing cells. Several improvements in vector design to increase biosafety and transgene expression, have led to the approval of these vectors for use in clinical studies. Methods are required to analyze the quality of lentiviral vector production, the efficiency of gene transfer and the extent of therapeutic gene expression.ResultsWe compared lentiviral vector titration methods that measure pg p24/ml, RNA equivalents/ml, transducing units (TU/ml) or mRNA equivalents. The amount of genomic RNA in vector particles proves to be reliable to assess the production quality of vectors encoding non-fluorescent proteins. However, the RNA and p24 titers of concentrated vectors are rather poor in predicting transduction efficiency, due to the high variability of vector production based on transient transfection. Moreover, we demonstrate that transgenic mRNA levels correlate well with TU and can be used for functional titration of non-fluorescent transgenes.ConclusionThe different titration methods have specific advantages and disadvantages. Depending on the experimental set-up one titration method should be preferred over the others.

Restriction of a Sindbis virus mutant in BHK cells and relief of the restriction by the addition of adenosine.

SV(PZF) is a mutant of Sindbis virus (SV) which we selected on the basis of its ability to replicate in mosquito cells treated with pyrazofurin (PZF), a drug which inhibits pyrimidine nucleotide biosynthesis (Lin et al., 2000, Virology 272, 61-71). Three mutations, A6627U, A7543U, and C7593A, were identified in the nsP4 (the viral RNA polymerase) coding region, which were required for the PZF-resistant phenotype. We report here that SV(PZF) has a second phenotype. Its replication in BHK cells is severely restricted; yields of SV(PZF) from BHK cells are 100- to 1000-fold lower than the yields of standard SV (SV(STD)). However, addition of adenosine to the SV(PZF)-infected cultures completely relieves this restriction and results in yields comparable to those observed with SV(STD). Adenosine has no effect on the yield of SV(STD) from BHK cells. Synthesis of the viral structural proteins is markedly depressed in SV(PZF)-infected BHK cells, as is synthesis of the viral subgenomic (SG) RNA from which these proteins are translated. In contrast, normal amounts of genomic RNA are made. Experiments with mutagenized viruses indicated that the SV(PZF) mutation, C7593A, by itself, was sufficient to produce the restriction phenotype. However, this mutation not only changes Pro 609 of nsP4 to Thr, it also changes the nucleotide at the minus sign5 position of the SG promoter. To evaluate the relative contributions of the change in nsP4 and the change in the SG promoter to the restriction phenotype, we made use of double SG viruses, in which nsP4 and the promoter for the SG RNA which encodes the structural proteins can be changed independent of each other. Our results indicated that both the change in nsP4 and the change in the SG promoter were required to produce the full restriction phenotype. We suggest that the changes in nsP4 and the SG promoter destabilize the RNA initiation complex assembled at the SG promoter and that since ATP is the initiating nucleotide in the SG RNA transcript, the increased level of ATP resulting from the addition of adenosine is able to compensate for this destabilization and restore the synthesis of SG RNA to normal levels.

Inhibition of rous sarcoma virus assembly by treatment with 2′,5′ adenosine nucleotides

We have investigated the influence of 2′,5′ adenosine nucleotides on the replication and transformation of cells by Rous sarcoma virus (RSV). Treatment with the nucleotides ppp2′,5′A 4 and 2′,5′A 4 causes a striking reduction (50-fold) in the yield of infectious progeny virus, while ppp2′,5′A 2 and 2′,5′A 3 had virtually no effect. The reduction in infectivity seen with 2′,5′A 4 nucleotides is paralleled by a smaller but significant (three- to four-fold) reduction in the amount of particles released as measured by reverse transcriptase activity and levels of viral structural proteins. The reduced infectivity of released particles is not due to viral RNA being missing since the amount of genomic RNA in particles from 2′,5′A 4-treated cultures was likewise only reduced by a factor of 2–3. Pulse-chase radioactive label experiments showed that processing of both viral group-specific antigens ( gag) and viral envelope glycoprotein (env) gene products was completely normal in nucleotide-treated cultures, but that the rate of appearance of viral proteins in mature virus in the culture supernatants was reduced by a factor of about 3–4. Taken together, the data show that assembly of viral structural proteins into virions which can be released into the medium is slowed, and that assembly of virus particles with reduced infectivity follows upon nucleotide treatment. This inhibition of infectious virus production takes place without significant toxic effects on the cell; host protein synthesis is only 20% inhibited. There is also no significant effect on the secretory ability of the cells as measured by total protein release into the medium or release of fibronectin. The transformed cell phenotype was also subtly affected by 2′,5′A 4, but not by other oligomers. Plasminogen activator protease activity was sharply reduced upon treatment, while other typical features of RSV-transformed cells such as elevated hexose transport, and pp60 src -associated protein phosphokinase activity, were little affected.