The AIDS-causing lentiviruses HIV and SIV effectively evade host immunity, and once established, infections with these viruses are only rarely controlled by immunologic mechanisms1-3. However, the initial establishment of infection in the first few days after mucosal exposure, prior to viral dissemination and massive replication, may be more vulnerable to immune control4. Here, we report that SIV vaccines that include rhesus cytomegalovirus (RhCMV) vectors5 establish indefinitely persistent, high frequency, SIV-specific effector-memory T cell (TEM) responses at potential sites of SIV replication in rhesus macaques (RM) and stringently control highly pathogenic SIVmac239 infection early after mucosal challenge. Thirteen of 24 RM receiving either RhCMV vectors alone or RhCMV vectors followed by adenovirus 5 (Ad5) vectors (vs. 0 of 9 DNA/Ad5-vaccinated RM) manifested early complete control of SIV (undetectable plasma virus), and in 12/13 of these RM, we observed long-term (≥1 year) protection characterized by: 1) occasional blips of plasma viremia that ultimately waned; 2) predominantly undetectable cell-associated viral load in blood and lymph node mononuclear cells; 3) no depletion of effector site CD4+ memory T cells; 4) no induction or boosting of SIVenv-specific antibodies (Abs); and 5) induction and then loss of T cell responses to an SIV protein (vif) not included in the RhCMV vectors. Protection correlated with the magnitude of the peak SIV-specific CD8+ T cell responses in the vaccine phase, and occurred without anamnestic T cell responses. Remarkably, long-term RhCMV vector-associated SIV control was insensitive to either CD8+ or CD4+ lymphocyte depletion, and at necropsy, cell-associated SIV was only occasionally measurable at the limit of detection with ultrasensitive assays, observations suggesting the possibility of eventual viral clearance. Thus, persistent vectors such as CMV and their associated TEM responses might significantly contribute to an efficacious HIV/AIDS vaccine.

Microcin J25 (MccJ25) is the single representative of the immunity group J of the microcin group of peptide antibiotics produced by Enterobacteriaceae. It induces bacterial filamentation in susceptible cells in a non-SOSdependent pathway [R. A. Salomon and R. Farias (1992) J. Bacteriol. 174, 7428±7435]. MccJ25 was purified to homogeneity from the growth medium of a microcin-overproducing Escherichia coli strain by reverse-phase HPLC. Based on amino acid composition and absolute configuration determination, liquid secondary ion and electrospray mass spectrometry, extensive two-dimensional NMR, enzymatic and chemical degradations studies, the structure of MccJ25 was elucidated as a 21-residue peptide, cyclo(-Val 1 -Gly-Ile-Gly-Thr-Pro-Ile-Ser-Phe-Tyr-Gly-Gly-Gly-AlaGly-His-Val-Pro-Glu-Tyr-Phe 21 -). Although MccJ25 showed high resistance to most of endoproteases, linearization by thermolysin occurred from cleavage at the Phe 21 -Val 1 bond and led to a single peptide, MccJ25-L. While MccJ25 exhibited remarkable antibiotic activity towards Salmonella newport and several E. coli strains (minimal inhibitory concentrations ranging between 0.01 and 0.2 mg´mL ±1 ), the thermolysin-linearized microcin showed a dramatic decrease of the activity, indicating that the cyclic structure is essential for the MccJ25 biological properties. As MccJ25 is ribosomally synthesized as a larger peptide precursor endowed with an N-terminal extremity, the present study shows that removal of this extension and head±tail cyclization of the resulting propeptide are the only posttranslational modifications involved in the maturation of MccJ25, that appears as the first cyclic microcin.Keywords: antibiotic peptide; microcin; NMR.Microcins form a miscellaneous group of low molecular mass peptide antibiotics produced by diverse strains of Enterobacteriaceae, mostly Escherichia coli. They are mainly active against bacterial genera or species phylogenetically related to the producing strains [1,2]. Wild-type bacterial strains producing microcins are resistant to the microcin they produce, i.e. they are self-immune. This feature has been used to classify them into immunity groups [2], the number of which is growing [3,4]. Underlying this classification is the assumption that each immunity group represents a unique structure with an unique mode of action. Microcins, which are supposed to play a part in the stability of intestinal ecosystem [1,2,5,6], could be used as therapeutic agents or for the design of new useful drugs by means of DNA and protein engineering. To develop this research in a rational way, the knowledge of their chemical structures and of the enzymes involved in the biosyntheses appears to be required.Beside ColV, formerly classified as a colicin [7], the other best known microcins are MccB17 and MccC7. Their structures, modes of action and genes involved in their biosynthesis, export and immunity have been described. These microcins are plasmidencoded, ribosomally synthesized small peptides, whose production is induced when cells ...

DNA priming has previously been shown to elicit augmented immune responses when administered by electroporation (EP) or codelivered with a plasmid encoding interleukin-12 (pIL-12). We hypothesized that the efficacy of a DNA prime and recombinant adenovirus 5 boost vaccination regimen (DNA/rAd5) would be improved when incorporating these vaccination strategies into the DNA priming phase, as determined by pathogenic simian immunodeficiency virus SIVmac239 challenge outcome. The whole SIVmac239 proteome was delivered in 5 separate DNA plasmids (pDNA-SIV) by EP with or without pIL-12, followed by boosting 4 months later with corresponding rAd5-SIV vaccine vectors. Remarkably, after repeated low-dose SIVmac239 mucosal challenge, we demonstrate 2.6 and 4.4 log reductions of the median SIV peak and set point viral loads in rhesus macaques (RMs) that received pDNA-SIV by EP with pIL-12 compared to the median peak and set point viral loads in mock-immunized controls (P < 0.01). In 5 out of 6 infected RMs, strong suppression of viremia was observed, with intermittent "blips" in virus replication. In 2 RMs, we could not detect the presence of SIV RNA in tissue and lymph nodes, even after 13 viral challenges. RMs immunized without pIL-12 demonstrated a typical maximum of 1.5 log reduction in virus load. There was no significant difference in the overall magnitude of SIV-specific antibodies or CD8 T-cell responses between groups; however, pDNA delivery by EP with pIL-12 induced a greater magnitude of SIV-specific CD4 T cells that produced multiple cytokines. This vaccine strategy is relevant for existing vaccine candidates entering clinical evaluation, and this model may provide insights into control of retrovirus replication.

These data have confirmed that the in situ administration of G, M, and T induces postinfarct ventricular functional improvement and that GMT polycistronic vectors enhance the efficacy of this strategy.

The aerosol form of the bacterium Yersinia pestis causes the pneumonic plague, a rapidly fatal disease. At present, no plague vaccines are available for use in the United States. One candidate for the development of a subunit vaccine is the Y. pestis virulence (V) antigen, a protein that mediates the function of the Yersinia outer protein virulence factors and suppresses inflammatory responses in the host. On the basis of the knowledge that adenovirus (Ad) gene-transfer vectors act as adjuvants in eliciting host immunity against the transgene they carry, we tested the hypothesis that a single administration of a replication-defective Ad gene-transfer vector encoding the Y. pestis V antigen (AdsecV) could stimulate strong protective immune responses without a requirement for repeat administration. AdsecV elicited specific T cell responses and high IgG titers in serum within 2 weeks after a single intramuscular immunization. Importantly, the mice were protected from a lethal intranasal challenge of Y. pestis CO92 from 4 weeks up to 6 months after immunization with a single intramuscular dose of AdsecV. These observations suggest that an Ad gene-transfer vector expressing V antigen is a candidate for development of an effective anti-plague vaccine.

Objective The reprogramming of cardiac fibroblasts into induced cardiomyocyte-like cells improves ventricular function in myocardial infarction models. Only integrating persistent expression vectors have thus far been used to induce reprogramming, potentially limiting its clinical applicability. We therefore tested the reprogramming potential of nonintegrating, acute expression adenoviral (Ad) vectors. Methods Ad or lentivirus vectors encoding Gata4 (G), Mef2c (M), and Tbx5 (T) were validated in vitro. Sprague-Dawley rats then underwent coronary ligation and Ad-mediated administration of vascular endothelial growth factor to generate infarct prevascularization. Three weeks later, animals received Ad or lentivirus encoding G, M, or T (AdGMT or LentiGMT) or an equivalent dose of a null vector (n = 11, 10, and 10, respectively). Outcomes were analyzed by echocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging, and histology. Results Ad and lentivirus vectors provided equivalent G, M, and T expression in vitro. AdGMT and LentiGMT both likewise induced expression of the cardiomyocyte marker cardiac troponin T in approximately 6% of cardiac fibroblasts versus <1% cardiac troponin T expression in AdNull (adenoviral vector that does not encode a transgene)-treated cells. Infarcted myocardium that had been treated with AdGMT likewise demonstrated greater density of cells expressing the cardiomyocyte marker beta myosin heavy chain 7 compared with AdNull-treated animals. Echocardiography demonstrated that AdGMT and LentiGMT both increased ejection fraction compared with AdNull (AdGMT: 21% ± 3%, LentiGMT: 14% ± 5%, AdNull: −0.4% ± 2%; P < .05). Conclusions Ad vectors are at least as effective as lentiviral vectors in inducing cardiac fibroblast transdifferentiation into induced cardiomyocyte-like cells and improving cardiac function in postinfarct rat hearts. Short-term expression Ad vectors may represent an important means to induce cardiac cellular reprogramming in humans.

Microcin J25 is a 2,107-Da, plasmid-encoded, cyclopeptide antibiotic produced by Escherichia coli. We have isolated lacZ fusions to mcjA (encoding the 58-amino-acid microcin precursor) and mcjB and mcjC (which are required for microcin maturation), and the regulation of these fusions was used to identify factors that control the expression of these genes. The mcjA gene was found to be dramatically induced as cells entered the stationary phase. Expression of mcjA could be induced by resuspending uninduced exponential-phase cells in spent supernatant obtained from an early-stationary-phase culture. Induction of mcjA expression was not dependent on high cell density, pH changes, anaerobiosis, or the buildup of some inducer. A starvation for carbon and inorganic phosphate induced mcjA expression, while under nitrogen limitation there was no induction at all. These results taken together suggest that stationary-phase induction of mcjA is triggered by nutrient depletion. The mcjB and mcjC genes were also regulated by the growth phase of the culture, but in contrast to mcjA, they showed substantial expression already during exponential growth. Induction of the microcin genes was demonstrated to be independent of RpoS, the cyclic AMP-Crp complex, OmpR, and H-NS. Instead, we found that the growth-phase-dependent expression of mcjA, mcjB, and mcjC may be explained by the concerted action of the positively acting transition state regulators ppGpp, Lrp, and integration host factor. Measurements of microcin J25 production by strains defective in these global regulators showed a good correlation with the reduced expression of the fusions in such mutant backgrounds.

BackgroundThe prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) is increasing in the Middle East. However, the genetic risk factors for T2D in the Middle Eastern populations are not known, as the majority of studies of genetic risk for T2D are in Europeans and Asians.MethodsAll subjects were ≥3 generation Qataris. Cases with T2D (n = 1,124) and controls (n = 590) were randomly recruited and assigned to the 3 known Qatari genetic subpopulations [Bedouin (Q1), Persian/South Asian (Q2) and African (Q3)]. Subjects underwent genotyping for 37 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 29 genes known to be associated with T2D in Europeans and/or Asian populations, and an additional 27 tag SNPs related to these susceptibility loci. Pre-study power analysis suggested that with the known incidence of T2D in adult Qataris (22%), the study population size would be sufficient to detect significant differences if the SNPs were risk factors among Qataris, assuming that the odds ratio (OR) for T2D SNPs in Qatari’s is greater than or equal to the SNP with highest known OR in other populations.ResultsHaplotype analysis demonstrated that Qatari haplotypes in the region of known T2D risk alleles in Q1 and Q2 genetic subpopulations were similar to European haplotypes. After Benjamini-Hochberg adjustment for multiple testing, only two SNPs (rs7903146 and rs4506565), both associated with transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2), achieved statistical significance in the whole study population. When T2D subjects and control subjects were assigned to the known 3 Qatari subpopulations, and analyzed individually and with the Q1 and Q2 genetic subpopulations combined, one of these SNPs (rs4506565) was also significant in the admixed group. No other SNPs associated with T2D in all Qataris or individual genetic subpopulations.ConclusionsWith the caveats of the power analysis, the European/Asian T2D SNPs do not contribute significantly to the high prevalence of T2D in the Qatari population, suggesting that the genetic risks for T2D are likely different in Qataris compared to Europeans and Asians.