Retroviruses murine

PMEA and its congeners are more effective in vivo than could be predicted from their in vitro potency. While less potent as an antiretrovirus agent than AZT in vitro, PMEA proved clearly superior to AZT when the two drugs were compared for their effectiveness in vivo, in mice infected with murine Moloney sarcoma virus [51,52]. PMEA was also shown to be effective against various other retrovirus infections, including Friend leukemia virus (FLV), Rauscher leukemia virus (RLV), and LP-BM5 (murine AIDS) virus infection in mice, feline leukemia virus (FeLV) or feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection in cats, and SIV infection in macaque (rhesus) monkeys (for review, see Ref. 53). In the latter model [54], again PMEA proved far superior to AZT in suppressing several parameters of the disease. 

Wang, H., et al. Cell-surface receptor for ecotropic murine retroviruses is a basic amino-acid transporter. Nature 1991, 352, 729-731. 

Certain RNA viruses, particularly retroviruses, have also proven capable of inducing cancer. Retroviruses known to induce cancer in animals include Rous sarcoma virus, Kirsten murine... 

The most commonly employed (recombinant deficient) retrovirus used in this regard has been derived from the Maloney murine leukaemia virus (MoMuLV). 

Veyries, M. et al., Effects of morphine on the pathogenesis of murine Friend retrovirus infection. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., 272,498, 1985. 

Wang, Y. et al., Ethanol-induced modulation of cytokine production by splenocytes during murine retrovirus infection causing murine AIDS, Alcohol Clin. Exp. Res., 17, 1035, 1993. 

The antiretrovirus properties of NO were shown in mice infected with Friend leukemia virus, a murine retrovirus. NO produced by NO-generating compounds or activated macrophages inhibits viral replication in fibroblast cultures, and is involved in defens against this murine retrovirus in vivo [134]. It was also reported that NO donors can inhibit HIV-1 replication in human monocytes through induction ofiNOS [135],... 

Blasi, E., B. J. Mathieson, L. Varesio, J. L. Cleveland, P. A. Borchert, and U. R. Rapp. 1985. Selective immortalization of murine macrophages from fresh bone marrow by a raf/myc recombinant murine retrovirus. Nature 318(6047) 667-70. 

Iangdon, W. Y., et ah, v-cbl, an oncogene from a dual-recombinant murine retrovirus that induces early B-lineage lymphomas. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 1989, 86(4), 1168-72. 

Rohdewohld H., Weiher H., Reik W., Jaenisch R. and Breindl M. (1987) Retrovirus integration and chromatin structnre Moloney murine lenkemia proviral integration sites map near DNase Ehypersensitive sites. Journal of Virology 61, 336-343. 

Bonham, L., Wolgamot, G. and Miller, A. (1997) Molecular cloning of Mus dunni endogenous virus an unusual retrovirus in a new murine viral interference group with a wide host range. J Virol 71, 4663-4670. 

Masuda, M., Kakushima, N., Wilt, S., Ruscetti, S., Hoffman, P., Iwamoto, A. and Masuda, M. (1999) Analysis of receptor usage hy ecotropic murine retroviruses, using green fluorescent protein-tagged cationic amino acid transporters. J Vlron3, 8623-8629. 

Miller, A. and Chen, F. (1996) Retrovirus packaging cells based on lOAl murine leukemia virus for production of vectors that use multiple receptors for cell entry. J VlrollO, 5564-5571. 

Siess, D., Kozak, S. and Kabat, D. (1996) Exceptional fusogenicity of Chinese hamster ovary cells with murine retroviruses suggests roles for cellular factor(s) and receptor clusters in the membrane fusion process. J VirollO, 3432-3439. 

Certain RNA viruses, particularly retroviruses, have also proven capable of inducing cancer. Retroviruses known to induce cancer in animals include Rous sarcoma virus, Kirsten murine sarcoma virus, avian myelocytomatosis virus, as well as various murine leukaemia viruses. Thus far, the only well-characterized human RNA transforming virus is that of human T cell lymphocytotropic virus-1 (HTLV-1), which can induce adult T cell leukaemia/lymphoma (ATL). Identification of antigens uniquely associated with various tumour types, and identification of additional cancer-causing viruses, remain areas of very active research. 

More recently, various modifications have been introduced to this basic retroviral system. The inclusion of the 5 end of the gag gene is shown to enhance levels of vector production by up to 200-fold. Additionally, specific promoters have been introduced in order to attempt to control expression of the inserted gene. Most work has focused upon the use of tissue-specific promoters in an effort to limit expression of the desired gene to a specific tissue type. The most commonly employed (recombinant-deficient) retrovirus used in this regard has been derived from the Maloney murine leukaemia virus (MoMuLV). 

Dr. Alain Fisher and his research team have successfully treated two infants with XSCIDS, a severe form of SCIDS that occurs only in boys. These patients lack functional T cells and natural killer cells (NK) due to mutations in the % chain of the cytokine receptor family that recognizes interleukins (i.e., IL-2, -4, -7, -9, and -15). Ex vivo gene transfer was employed. The researchers delivered the wild-type sequence for the yc chain cytokine receptor subunit to hematopoietic stem cells isolated from these patients using a nonreplicating murine retrovirus [14,15]. 

Loya S, Hizi A. The interaction of illimaquinone, a selective inhibitor of the RNase H activity, with the reverse transcriptases of human immunodeficiency and murine leukemia retroviruses. J Biol Chem 1993 268 9323-9328. 

Tanaka, M., Iwamura, Y., Amanuma, H., Irie, Y., Watanabe, M., Watanabe, T., Uchiyama, Y. and Yasuraoka, K. (1989) Integration and expression of murine retrovirus-related sequences in schistosomes. Parasitology 99, 31-38. 

In an attempt to identify other DNA sequences that function similarly in nuclear import to the SV40 enhancer, we tested several unrelated viral promoters and enhancers that have been shown to drive substantial gene expression in vivo. The long terminal repeat (LTR) promoters from Rous Sarcoma and Moloney Murine Leukemia retroviruses were unable to cause the nuclear localization of pBR322 DNA. This is not surprising since it has been shown that these retroviruses can replicate only in cells that are... 

After obtaining pure total RNA from eukaryotic cells, the RNA needs to be rewritten into cDNA to serve as a template in PCR, as RNA cannot be amplified by PCR. The task of rewriting is accomplished with reverse transcriptase (RT), a viral enzyme used by retroviruses (whose name stems from harboring this enzyme and the ability to rewrite RNA into cDNA). The group of retroviruses has such members as the AIDS virus, Avian myeloblastosis virus, Murine leukemia virus (Frohmann, 1988 Kawasaki, 1988), and Adenovirus. Commonly employed reverse transcriptases stem from either the avian virus (AMV-RT) or the murine leukemia virus (MMLV, used in the Clontech RT-kit). 

Viruses. Rabbits have been induced to produce anti-RNP antibodies by immunization with the p30 gag protein, a protein of several mammalian C-type viruses (Ql). Blomberg et al. found an increased frequency of antibodies that were cross-reactive with baboon endogenous retrovirus and murine leukemia virus among 72 SLE patients compared with 88 controls (B17). Plotz found that autoantibodies in patients with lupus are antiidiotype antibodies to antiviral antibodies (P4). 

Irving, J. M., Chang, L. W., and Castillo, F. J. (1993). A reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assay for the detection and quantitation of murine retroviruses. Bio Technology 11, 1042-1046. 

Acute transforming retroviruses are a unique subset of retroviruses that have acquired the ability to produce cancer in rodents and avian species in a relatively short time period (several weeks). Examples of acute transforming retroviruses include the Rous sarcoma virus (RSV), which produces sarcomas in chickens, and the Harvey murine sarcoma virus (Ha-MSV), which produces sarcomas in rats and mice. Studies utilizing RSV provided the first evidence that cellular genes, now termed oncogenes, exist in vertebrate cells. 

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