Matching Items (4)
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- All Subjects: Vaccinia Virus
- Creators: Jacobs, Bertram
Description
Recombinant protein expression is essential to biotechnology and molecular medicine, but facile methods for obtaining significant quantities of folded and functional protein in mammalian cell culture have been lacking. Here I describe a novel 37-nucleotide in vitro selected sequence that promotes unusually high transgene expression in a vaccinia driven cytoplasmic expression system. Vectors carrying this sequence in a monocistronic reporter plasmid produce >1,000-fold more protein than equivalent vectors with conventional vaccinia promoters. Initial mechanistic studies indicate that high protein expression results from dual activity that impacts both transcription and translation. I suggest that this motif represents a powerful new tool in vaccinia-based protein expression and vaccine development technology.
ContributorsFlores, Julia Anne (Author) / Chaput, John C (Thesis advisor) / Jacobs, Bertram (Committee member) / LaBaer, Joshua (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Programmed cell death plays an important role in a variety of processes that promote the survival of the host organism. Necroptosis, a form of programmed cell death, occurs through a signaling pathway involving the protein kinase RIPK3. In response to vaccinia virus infection, necroptosis acts through RIPK3 and the adaptor protein DAI to inhibit further viral replication in host cells. Stress granules are accumulations of mRNAs that have stalled in translation due to cellular stress. The toxin arsenite is a canonical inducer of stress granule formation and can cause necroptosis. By initiating necroptosis with arsenite and vaccinia virus, this research project investigated the roles of necroptosis proteins and their localizations into stress granules. The two aims of this research project were to determine if stress granules are important for arsenite-induced necroptosis, and whether the proteins DAI, RIPK3, MLKL, and G3BP localize into stress granules. The first aim was investigated by establishing a DAI and RIPK3 expression system in U2OS cells; arsenite was then used to treat the U2OS cells as well as U2OSΔG3BP cells, which are not able to form stress granules. The second aim was carried out by designing fluorescent tagging for the necroptosis proteins in order to visualize protein localization with fluorescent microscopy. The results showed that arsenite induces DAI-dependent necroptosis in U2OS cells and that this arsenite-induced necroptosis requires stress granules. In addition, it was determined that vaccinia virus induces DAI-dependent necroptosis that also requires stress granules. This project contributes to a greater understanding of the roles of DAI and RIPK3 in necroptosis, as well as the roles of stress granules in necroptosis, both of which are important in research regarding viral infection and cellular stress.
ContributorsGogerty, Carolina (Author) / Jacobs, Bertram (Thesis director) / Langland, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Jentarra, Garilyn (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor, Contributor) / School of Music (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Monkeypox virus (MPXV) is an orthopoxvirus that causes smallpox-like disease and has up to a 10% mortality rate, depending on the infectious strain. The global eradication of the smallpox virus has led to the decrease in smallpox vaccinations, which has led to a drastic increase in the number of human MPXV cases. MPXV has been named the most important orthopoxvirus to infect humans since the eradication of smallpox and has been the causative agent of the 2022 world-wide MPXV outbreak. Despite being highly pathogenic, MPXV contains a natural truncation at the N-terminus of its E3 homologue. Vaccinia virus (VACV) E3 protein has two domains: an N- terminus Z-form nucleic acid binding domain (Z-BD) and a C-terminus double stranded RNA binding domain (dsRBD). Both domains are required for pathogenesis, interferon (IFN) resistance, and protein kinase R (PKR) inhibition. The N-terminus is required for evasion of Z-DNA binding protein 1 (ZBP1)-dependent necroptosis. ZBP1 binding to Z- form deoxyribonucleic acid/ribonucleic acid (Z-DNA/RNA) leads to activation of receptor-interacting protein kinase 3 (RIPK3) leading to mixed lineage kinase domain- like (MLKL) phosphorylation, aggregation and cell death. This study investigated how different cell lines combat MPXV infection and how MPXV has evolved ways to circumvent the host response. MPXV is shown to inhibit necroptosis in L929 cells by degrading RIPK3 through the viral inducer of RIPK3 degradation (vIRD) and by inhibiting MLKL aggregation. Additionally, the data shows that IFN treatment efficiently inhibits MPXV replication in a ZBP1-, RIPK3-, and MLKL- dependent manner, but independent of necroptosis. Also, the data suggests that an IFN inducer with a pancaspase or proteasome inhibitor could potentially be a beneficial treatment against MPXV infections. Furthermore, it reveals a link between PKR and pathogen-induced necroptosis that has not been previously described.
ContributorsWilliams, Jacqueline (Author) / Jacobs, Bertram (Thesis advisor) / Langland, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Lake, Douglas (Committee member) / Varsani, Arvind (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Programmed cell death plays an important role in a variety of processes that promote the survival of the host organism. Necroptosis, a form of programmed cell death, occurs through a signaling pathway involving receptor-interacting serine-threonine protein kinase 3 (RIPK3). In response to vaccinia virus infection, necroptosis is induced through DNA-induced activator of interferon (DAI), which activates RIPK3, leading to death of the cell and thereby inhibiting further viral replication in host cells. DAI also localizes into stress granules, accumulations of mRNAs that have stalled in translation due to cellular stress. The toxin arsenite, a canonical inducer of stress granule formation, was used in this project to study necroptosis. By initiating necroptosis with arsenite and vaccinia virus, this research project investigated the roles of necroptosis proteins and their potential localization into stress granules. The two aims of this research project were to determine whether stress granules are important for arsenite- and virus-induced necroptosis, and whether the proteins DAI and RIPK3 localize into stress granules. The first aim was investigated by establishing a DAI and RIPK3 expression system in U2OS cells; arsenite treatment or vaccinia virus infection was then performed on the U2OS cells as well as on U2OSΔΔG3BP1/2 cells, which are not able to form stress granules. The second aim was carried out by designing fluorescent tagging for the necroptosis proteins in order to visualize protein localization with fluorescent microscopy. The results show that arsenite induces DAI-dependent necroptosis in U2OS cells and that this arsenite-induced necroptosis likely requires stress granules. In addition, the results show that vaccinia virus induces DAI-dependent necroptosis that also likely requires stress granules in U2OS cells. Furthermore, a fluorescent RIPK3 construct was created that will allowfor future studies on protein localization during necroptosis and can be used to answer questions regarding localization of necroptosis proteins into stress granules. This project therefore contributes to a greater understanding of the roles of DAI and RIPK3 in necroptosis, as well as the roles of stress granules in necroptosis, both of which are important in research regarding viral infection and cellular stress.
ContributorsGogerty, Carolina (Author) / Jacobs, Bertram (Thesis advisor) / Langland, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Jentarra, Garilyn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021