Search results for "EPA"
showing 10 items of 8995 documents
Single-chain antibodies against a plant viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase confer virus resistance.
2004
Crop loss due to viral diseases is still a major problem for agriculture today. We present a strategy to achieve virus resistance based on the expression of single-chain Fv fragments (scFvs) against a conserved domain in a plant viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), a key enzyme in virus replication. The selected scFvs inhibited complementary RNA synthesis of different plant virus RdRps in vitro and virus replication in planta. Moreover, the scFvs also bound to the RdRp of the distantly related hepatitis C virus. T(1) and T(2) progeny of transgenic lines of Nicotiana benthamiana expressing different scFvs either in the cytosol or in the endoplasmic reticulum showed varying degrees of r…
Biochemical and structural analysis of the NS5B RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of the hepatitis C virus.
2000
Hepatitis C virus (HCV), the major causative agent of chronic and sporadic non-A, non-B hepatitis worldwide, is a distinct member of the Flaviviridae virus family. These viruses have in common a plus-strand RNA genome that is replicated in the cytoplasm of the infected cell via minus-strand RNA intermediates. Owing to the lack of reliable cell culture systems and convenient animal models for HCV, the mechanisms governing RNA replication are not known. As a first step towards the development of appropriate in vitro systems, we expressed the NS5B RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) in insect cells, purified the protein to near homogeneity and studied its biochemical properties. It is a primer…
Modulation of Hepatitis C Virus NS5A Hyperphosphorylation by Nonstructural Proteins NS3, NS4A, and NS4B
1999
NS5A of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a highly phosphorylated protein involved in resistance against interferon and required most likely for replication of the viral genome. Phosphorylation of this protein is mediated by a cellular kinase(s) generating multiple proteins with different electrophoretic mobilities. In the case of the genotype 1b isolate HCV-J, in addition to the basal phosphorylated NS5A (designated pp56), a hyperphosphorylated form (pp58) was found on coexpression of NS4A (T. Kaneko, Y. Tanji, S. Satoh, M. Hijikata, S. Asabe, K. Kimura, and K. Shimotohno, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 205:320‐326, 1994). Using a comparative analysis of two full-length genomes of genotype 1b…
Functional properties of a monoclonal antibody inhibiting the hepatitis C virus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase.
2001
The hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), represented by nonstructural protein 5B (NS5B), has recently emerged as a promising target for antiviral intervention. Here, we describe the isolation, functional characterization, and molecular cloning of a monoclonal antibody (mAb) inhibiting the HCV RdRp. This mAb, designated 5B-12B7, binds with high affinity to a conformational epitope in the palm subdomain of the HCV RdRp and recognizes native NS5B expressed in the context of the entire HCV polyprotein or subgenomic replicons. Complete inhibition of RdRp activity in vitro was observed at equimolar concentrations of NS5B and mAb 5B-12B7, whereas RdRp activities of classica…
Enhancement of hepatitis C virus RNA replication by cell culture-adaptive mutations.
2001
ABSTRACT Studies of the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication cycle have been made possible with the development of subgenomic selectable RNAs that replicate autonomously in cultured cells. In these replicons the region encoding the HCV structural proteins was replaced by the neomycin phosphotransferase gene, allowing the selection of transfected cells that support high-level replication of these RNAs. Subsequent analyses revealed that, within selected cells, HCV RNAs had acquired adaptive mutations that increased the efficiency of colony formation by an unknown mechanism. Using a panel of replicons that differed in their degrees of cell culture adaptation, in this study we show that adaptive…
Viral and cellular determinants of hepatitis C virus RNA replication in cell culture.
2003
Studies on the replication of hepatitis C virus (HCV) have been facilitated by the development of selectable subgenomic replicons replicating in the human hepatoma cell line Huh-7 at a surprisingly high level. Analysis of the replicon population in selected cells revealed the occurrence of cell culture-adaptive mutations that enhance RNA replication substantially. To gain a better understanding of HCV cell culture adaptation, we characterized conserved mutations identified by sequence analysis of 26 independent replicon cell clones for their effect on RNA replication. Mutations enhancing replication were found in nearly every nonstructural (NS) protein, and they could be subdivided into at …
Biochemical properties of hepatitis C virus NS5B RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and identification of amino acid sequence motifs essential for enzymati…
1997
The NS5B protein of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) (S.-E. Behrens, L. Tomei, and R. De Francesco, EMBO J. 15:12-22, 1996) that is assumed to be required for replication of the viral genome. To further study the biochemical and structural properties of this enzyme, an NS5B-hexahistidine fusion protein was expressed with recombinant baculoviruses in insect cells and purified to near homogeneity. The enzyme was found to have a primer-dependent RdRp activity that was able to copy a complete in vitro-transcribed HCV genome in the absence of additional viral or cellular factors. Filter binding assays and competition experiments showed that the purified enzym…
In vitro studies on the activation of the hepatitis C virus NS3 proteinase by the NS4A cofactor.
1996
AbstractProteolytic processing of the nonstructural proteins of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is mediated by two viral proteinases: the NS2-3 proteinase cleaving at the NS2/3 junction and the NS3 serine-type proteinase responsible for processing at the NS3/4A, NS4A/B, NS4B/5A, and NS5A/B sites. Activity of the NS3 proteinase is modulated by NS4A. In the absence of this cofactor processing at the NS3-dependent sites does not occur or, in the case of the NS5A/B junction, is poor but increased when NS4A is present. Although recent studies demonstrated that proteinase activation requires direct interaction between NS3 and NS4A, the mechanism by which NS4A exerts the activation function is not kno…
Evaluation of HBs, HBc, and frCP virus-like particles for expression of human papillomavirus 16 E7 oncoprotein epitopes.
2002
<i>Objectives:</i> In an attempt to develop virus-like particles (VLPs) as experimental vaccine against human papilloma virus (HPV)-induced tumours, the HPV16 E7 oncoprotein epitopes spanning amino acid (aa) residues 35–98 were expressed on three proteins capable of VLP formation: hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface (HBs) and core (HBc) antigens, and RNA phage fr coats (frCP). <i>Methods:</i> The profile of immunoglobulin isotypes induced in Balb/C mice after immunization with purified chimeric proteins was studied. <i>Results:</i> The HBs*-E7(35–54) protein expressing E7 residues 35–54 between residues 139 and 142 of the HBs carrier formed HBs-like particles…
Kohti elävää kuvaa : visuaalinen ajattelu kertovan elokuvan näyttämöllepanon hahmotus- ja suunnitteluprosessissa
2011
Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan visuaalista ajattelua sekä sen merkitystä kertovan elokuvan näyttämöllepanon suunnittelu- ja hahmotusprosessissa. Visuaalisella ajattelulla käsitetään mielikuvat, visuaalisen havaitsemisen Rudolf Arnheimin teorian mukaan sekä visuaaliseen kerrontaan liittyvän luovan, produktiivisen ajattelun. Tutkimus on osa kognitiivista elokuvatutkimusta ja pohjaa vahvasti hahmopsykologiaan sekä Rudolf Arnheimin visuaalisen havaitsemisen teoriaan. Tutkimuksen alussa perehdytään hahmoteoriaan, jonka perusajatuksena on, että mieli hahmottaa kokonaisuuksia pikemminkin kuin osia, joista kokonaisuudet rakentuvat. Tutkimuksessa käydään läpi Rudolf Arnheimin havaitsemisen teoriaa sekä…