The vaccinia virus double-stranded RNA binding protein E3 has been demonstrated to inhibit the expression of cytokines, including beta interferon (IFN-␤) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-␣). However, few details regarding the molecular mechanisms of this inhibition have been described. Using real-time PCR arrays, we found that E3 suppressed the induction of a diverse array of cytokines representing members of the IFN, interleukin (IL), TNF, and transforming growth factor cytokine families. We discovered that the factor(s) responsible for the induction of IL-6, TNF-␣, and inhibin beta A (INHBA) was associated with the early and late phases of virus infection. In contrast, the factor(s) which regulates IFN-␤ induction was associated with the late phase of replication. We have found that expression of these cytokines can be induced by transfection of cells with RNA isolated from vaccinia virus-infected cells. Moreover, we provide evidence that E3 antagonizes both PKR-dependent and PKR-independent pathways to regulate cytokine expression. PKR-dependent activation of p38 and NF-B was required for vaccinia virus-induced INHBA expression, whereas induction of TNF-␣ required only PKR-dependent NF-B activation. In contrast, induction of IL-6 and IFN-␤ was largely PKR independent. IL-6 induction is regulated by NF-B, while IFN-␤ induction is mediated by IFN-␤ promoter stimulator 1 and IFN regulatory factor 3/NF-B. Collectively, these results indicate that E3 suppresses distinct but interlinked host signaling pathways to inhibit the expression of a diverse array of cytokines.

Abstract. Seneca Valley virus (SVV), a member of the Picornaviridae family, was implicated in a suspicious vesicular disease discovered in pigs from Canada in 2007. Because any outbreak of vesicular disease in pigs is assumed to be foot-andmouth disease (FMD) until confirmed otherwise, a test for diagnosing the presence of SVV would be a very useful tool. To develop the diagnostic tests for SVV infection, 5 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were produced from mice immunized with binary ethylenimine (BEI)-inactivated SVV. Using a dot blot assay, the reactivity of the mAbs was confirmed to be specific for SVV, not reacting with any of the other vesicular disease viruses tested. The mAbs demonstrated reactivity with SVV antigen in infected cells by an immunohistochemistry assay. An SVV-specific competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) was developed using BEI-inactivated SVV antigen and a mAb for serodiagnosis. The cELISA results were compared to the indirect isotype (immunoglobulin [Ig]M and IgG) ELISA and the virus neutralization test. All SVV experimentally inoculated pigs exhibited a positive SVV-specific antibody response at 6 days postinoculation, and the sera remained positive until the end of the experiment on day 57 (>40% inhibition) using the cELISA. The cELISA reflected the profile of the indirect ELISA for both IgM and IgG. This panel of SVV-specific mAbs is valuable for the identification of SVV antigen and the serological detection of SVV-specific antibodies.

A missense mutation, S85C, in the MATR3 gene is a genetic cause for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). It is unclear how the S85C mutation affects MATR3 function and contributes to disease. Here, we develop a mouse model that harbors the S85C mutation in the endogenous Matr3 locus using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. MATR3 S85C knock-in mice recapitulate behavioral and neuropathological features of early-stage ALS including motor impairment, muscle atrophy, neuromuscular junction defects, Purkinje cell degeneration and neuroinflammation in the cerebellum and spinal cord. Our neuropathology data reveals a loss of MATR3 S85C protein in the cell bodies of Purkinje cells and motor neurons, suggesting that a decrease in functional MATR3 levels or loss of MATR3 function contributes to neuronal defects. Our findings demonstrate that the MATR3 S85C mouse model mimics aspects of early-stage ALS and would be a promising tool for future basic and preclinical research.

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Poxviruses are important human and animal pathogens that have evolved elaborate strategies for antagonizing host innate and adaptive immunity. The E3 protein of vaccinia virus, the prototypic member of the orthopoxviruses, functions as an inhibitor of innate immune signaling and is essential for vaccinia virus replication in vivo and in many human cell culture systems. However, the function of orthologues of E3 expressed by poxviruses of other genera with different host specificity remains largely unknown. In the present study, we characterized the E3 orthologues from sheeppox virus, yaba monkey tumor virus, swinepox virus, and myxoma virus for their ability to modulate protein kinase R (PKR) function, cytokine responses and virus pathogenicity. We found that the E3 orthologues of myxoma virus and swinepox virus could suppress PKR activation and interferon (IFN)-induced antiviral activities and restore the host range function of E3 in HeLa cells. In contrast, the E3 orthologues from sheeppox virus and yaba monkey tumor virus were unable to inhibit PKR activation. While the sheeppox orthologue was unable to restore the host range function of E3, the yaba monkey tumor virus orthologue partially restored E3-deficient vaccinia virus replication in HeLa cells, correlated with its ability to suppress IFN-induced antiviral activities. Moreover, poxvirus E3 orthologues show varying ability to inhibit the induction of antiviral and proinflammatory cytokines. Despite these in vitro results, none of the E3 orthologues tested was capable of restoring pathogenicity to E3-deficient vaccinia virus in vivo.

Pyruvate kinase (PKLR) is a critical erythrocyte enzyme that is required for glycolysis and production of ATP. We have shown that Pklr deficiency in mice reduces the severity (reduced parasitemia, increased survival) of blood stage malaria induced by infection with Plasmodium chabaudi AS. Likewise, studies in human erythrocytes infected ex vivo with P. falciparum show that presence of host PK-deficiency alleles reduces infection phenotypes. We have characterized the genetic diversity of the PKLR gene, including haplotype structure and presence of rare coding variants in two populations from malaria endemic areas of Thailand and Senegal. We investigated the effect of PKLR genotypes on rich longitudinal datasets including haematological and malaria-associated phenotypes. A coding and possibly damaging variant (R41Q) was identified in the Thai population with a minor allele frequency of ~4.7%. Arginine 41 (R41) is highly conserved in the pyruvate kinase family and its substitution to Glutamine (R41Q) affects protein stability. Heterozygosity for R41Q is shown to be associated with a significant reduction in the number of attacks with Plasmodium falciparum, while correlating with an increased number of Plasmodium vivax infections. These results strongly suggest that PKLR protein variants may affect the frequency, and the intensity of malaria episodes induced by different Plasmodium parasites in humans living in areas of endemic malaria.

Infectious diseases are responsible for over 25% of deaths globally, but many more individuals are exposed to deadly pathogens. The outcome of infection results from a set of diverse factors including pathogen virulence factors, the environment, and the genetic make-up of the host. The completion of the human reference genome sequence in 2004 along with technological advances have tremendously accelerated and renovated the tools to study the genetic etiology of infectious diseases in humans and its best characterized mammalian model, the mouse. Advancements in mouse genomic resources have accelerated genome-wide functional approaches, such as gene-driven and phenotype-driven mutagenesis, bringing to the fore the use of mouse models that reproduce accurately many aspects of the pathogenesis of human infectious diseases. Treatment with the mutagen N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) has become the most popular phenotype-driven approach. Our team and others have employed mouse ENU mutagenesis to identify host genes that directly impact susceptibility to pathogens of global significance. In this review, we first describe the strategies and tools used in mouse genetics to understand immunity to infection with special emphasis on chemical mutagenesis of the mouse germ-line together with current strategies to efficiently identify functional mutations using next generation sequencing. Then, we highlight illustrative examples of genes, proteins, and cellular signatures that have been revealed by ENU screens and have been shown to be involved in susceptibility or resistance to infectious diseases caused by parasites, bacteria, and viruses.

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