Structure and variability of the UL149 open reading frame from low-passage clinical isolates of human cytomegalovirus

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), a ubiquitous herpesvirus, causes a lifelong subclinical infection in healthy adults but leads to significant morbidity and mortality in neonates and immunocompromised individuals. A region (referred to as UL/b') present in the Toledo strain of HCMV and low passage clinical isolates contains 19 additional genes, which are absent in the highly passage laboratory strain AD169. One of these genes, UL149 open reading frame, was amplified by PCR and sequenced from isolates obtained from infants with congenital HCMV infection, to determine whether genetic variation of this gene could influence the signs of the virus infection. The major finding is that the UL149 is a variable gene in all 26 clinical isolates, and the sequences from clinical isolates were classified into three major groups. It is concluded that the HCMV UL149 sequence is variable at the nucleotide level and it might play an important role in HCMV infection.     

Stability of human cytomegalovirus genotypes in persistently infected renal transplant recipients

Although most genes are highly conserved among strains of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), several are unusually variable. By analyzing the sequence of two variable genes (UL146 and UL74) amplified directly from whole blood DNA extracts, multiple HCMV strains were detected in blood samples from 5/11 virus-infected renal transplant patients. These five patients were seronegative prior to transplantation and their likely acquisition of the virus was via the donated organ; HCMV-positive immunocompetent donors may thus be capable of harboring and transmitting multiple virus genotypes. In sequential samples taken up to 140 days post transplant no mutations in either gene were detected from 9/10 patients, and in the remaining patient a single nucleotide change was detected in UL146, and none in UL74. All sequences grouped into previously defined genotypes, with the detection of multiple members of the UL74 group 5 genotype establishing this previously tentative genotype. Additionally, identical sequences were identified in viruses from different patients, including examples from geographically distinct regions. Thus, although UL146 and UL74 exhibit impressive variation among strains, their sequences are maintained stably within and between infected individuals, suggesting that sequence differences between genotypes may be driven by differing gene function.     

人巨细胞病毒UL136基因在临床低传代分离株中多态性分析

目的 研究人巨细胞病毒(human cytomegalovirus，HCMV)UL136基因在临床低传代分离株中的多态性，探讨其多态性与HCMV先天性感染不同致病性之间的关系。方法 对48株经荧光定量PCR方法检测HCMV DNA为阳性的临床低传代分离株进行HCMV ULl36全序列PCR扩增，对于扩增阳性的12株PCR产物进行ULl36基因全序列测定及结果分析。结果 48株临床低传代分离株ULl36 PCR扩增，12株阳性，阳性率25％，以HCMV Toledo株作为参考株，进行序列比较分析表明，12株临床分离株ULl36开放阅读框架(open reading frame，ORF)长度均与Toledo株相同，为723bp，编码241个氨基酸的蛋白。DNA序列变异均为碱基替换，不同临床分离株ULl36基因与Toledo株进行同源性比较，结果在核苷酸水平为97．7％～99．3％，氨基酸水平为96．6％～99．1％。ULl36编码蛋白的氨基酸变异率为0．83％～3．3％。二级结构预测分为两种构象。大多数HCMV ULl36蛋白翻译后修饰位点在所有分离株中均高度保守，仅几个位点在一些分离株中存在缺失或新增。Toledo株及12株临床分离株核苷酸及氨基酸序列系统进化树分析表明：45J最接近Toledo株。结论 12株临床低传代分离株HCMV ULl36基因DNA及其编码产物的氨基酸序列比较保守，但仍存在一定多态性。未发现不同临床分离株ULl36基因多态性与HCMV先天性感染的表现关系。     

A review of genetic differences between limited and extensively passaged human cytomegalovirus strains

The complete genetic content of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) has been difficult to determine, since most strains studied in the laboratory have been extensively passaged in human fibroblast cultures which can change the genetic content as well as the biological properties of the virus. Approximately 13 kb of novel DNA sequences located near the right edge of the unique long (UL) component of the genome has been discovered in Toledo, clinical isolates and certain stocks of Towne. This region of novel sequence, designated the UL/b' region, encodes several interesting proteins including vCXC-1, a potent IL-8 homologue, and UL144, a member of the TNF receptor family. This region is missing from the prototypic laboratory variants of Towne and AD169. In contrast to Toledo and other low passage isolates which have relatively small repeats bracketing the UL component, the Towne and AD169 laboratory variants contain large (>10 kb) b/b' repeats. The large size of these repeats in AD169 and Towne appear to have arisen as compensation for the loss of sequences from the UL/b' region that existed in less passaged variants of these strains. Consequently, many of the haploid genes at the left edge of the prototypic wild-type (wt) UL component are diploid in AD169 and Towne. We hypothesise that this plasticity of the genome at the right edge of the UL component results from extensive passage and adaptation to replication in fibroblasts in vitro. Further work will be required to understand the complete genetic content of wt HCMV.     

Human cytomegalovirus UL131A, UL130 and UL128 genes are highly conserved among field isolates

Summary. Coding sequences of the UL131A, UL130, and UL128 genes of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) were found to be highly conserved among 34 field isolates from pregnant women with primary HCMV infection and their fetuses or newborns, as well as from solid organ transplant recipients and patients with AIDS. No strain clustering was observed. In contrast, sequencing of UL55 (gB coding gene) allowed the 34 isolates to be clustered into 4 genotypes. The conservation of the UL131A-UL128 locus is consistent with the conclusion that the three encoded proteins are all essential for growth of HCMV in endothelial cells and virus transfer to leukocytes.     

Human cytomegalovirus antiviral drug resistance in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: current state of the art

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. The significant clinical impact of HCMV infection and progression to HCMV disease among allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients has been reduced by prophylactic, preemptive, and curative treatments using ganciclovir, valganciclovir, foscarnet, and cidofovir. Resistance to (val)ganciclovir results from mutations localized in HCMV UL97 gene (encoding the pUL97 phosphotransferase), UL54 gene (encoding the pUL54 DNA polymerase), or both genes, whereas foscarnet and cidofovir resistance results from mutations localized within UL54 gene only. This review is focused on HCMV antiviral drug resistance, including the functions of target genes of antivirals, the mechanisms of antiviral resistance, the different mutations in pUL97 and pUL54 that have been identified in either clinical isolates or laboratory strains, and their impact on HCMV susceptibility to antiviral drugs. It emphasizes the importance of proving that observed genetic changes confer resistance so they can be distinguished from polymorphisms. Because of the emergence of HCMV resistance to currently available drugs, novel drugs are urgently needed for the therapeutic management of HCMV‐resistant infections in hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Detection of HTLV-I and HTLV-II infection in Africans using type-specific envelope peptides

The influence of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) strain variation on neutralizing antibody titers was investigated in sequential sera obtained from 12 organ transplant recipients (11 renal transplant recipients, 1 liver transplant patient) suffering from primary or secondary HCMV infection. Cross-neutralization assays using either the international HCMV reference strain AD169 or individual clinical isolates from patients showed congruent results. Restriction enzyme analysis of the hypervariable α-sequence of the L-S junction of AD169 and HCMV isolates amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were carried out to confirm the expected strain differences. At least 6 groups of clinical strains were differentiated. The results of this study demonstrated that despite the strain heterogenicity of HCMV, the neutralization assay using AD169 permitted a reliable and quantitative serologic detection of neutralizing antibodies against HCMV. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Sequence variability of the human cytomegalovirus UL141 Open Reading Frame in clinical strains

Summary. Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) displays genetic polymorphisms. HCMV disease and tissue tropism may be related to specific genomic variability among strains. This work analyzed the genetic polymorphism of UL141 open reading frame (ORF), one of the genes in HCMV UL/b′ region, from 21 clinical strains. 8 previously published UL141 sequences in the GenBank were used for sequence comparison. Detailed sequence analysis showed that the UL141 gene was highly conserved at both the nucleotide and amino acid level. The coding regions were identical in size. The nucleotide and amino acid sequence identities among all strains were 96.9–100% and 97.6–100%, respectively.     

广州地区HCMV低传代临床病毒株UL143基因的多态性研究

目的研究广州地区人巨细胞病毒（HCMV）临床低传代分离株UL143基因的多态性。方法对3株经多重PCR鉴定的HCMV临床低传代分离株进行HCMV UL143基因全序列扩增，扩增产物克隆到pMD18-T载体上测序，并将其序列与GenBank中公布的其它临床分离株UL143基因一起进行分析。结果D3株UL143基因因碱基缺失形成多处终止密码无法产生有功能的蛋白；Toledo株UL143基因开放读码框由279个核苷酸组成．编码蛋白由92个氨基酸残基组成：其它临床分离株UL143基因开放读码框均由252个核苷酸组成。DNA序列比较保守，变异均为碱基替换。编码蛋白由83个氨基酸残基组成，氨基酸序列也很保守，不同临床分离株氨基酸变异率为1．2％-2．4％：HCMV UL143蛋白翻译后修饰位点在除Toledo株之外的所有分离株中均高度保守．没有缺失或新增；不同临床分离株UL143蛋白二级结构有所不同；除Toledo株外，其余分离株UL143蛋白的等电点均为8．75。结论临床低传代分离株HCMV UL143基因DNA及其编码产物的氨基酸序列极为保守。但仍存在一定多态性。     

Genotypic analysis of two hypervariable human cytomegalovirus genes

Most human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) genes are highly conserved in sequence among strains, but some exhibit a substantial degree of variation. Two of these genes are UL146, which encodes a CXC chemokine, and UL139, which is predicted to encode a membrane glycoprotein. The sequences of these genes were determined from a collection of 184 HCMV samples obtained from Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe, and North America. UL146 is hypervariable throughout, whereas variation in UL139 is concentrated in a sequence encoding a potentially highly glycosylated region. The UL146 sequences fell into 14 genotypes, as did all previously reported sequences. The UL139 sequences grouped into 8 genotypes, and all previously reported sequences fell into a subset of these. There were minor differences among continents in genotypic frequencies for UL146 and UL139, but no clear geographical separation, and identical nucleotide sequences were represented among communities distant from each other. The frequent detection of multiple genotypes indicated that mixed infections are common. For both genes, the degree of divergence was sufficient to preclude reliable sequence alignments between genotypes in the most variable regions, and the mode of evolution involved in generating the genotypes could not be discerned. Within genotypes, constraint appears to have been the predominant mode, and positive selection was detected marginally at best. No evidence was found for linkage disequilibrium. The emerging scenario is that the HCMV genotypes developed in early human populations (or even earlier), becoming established via founder or bottleneck effects, and have spread, recombined and mixed worldwide in more recent times.     

广州地区人巨细胞病毒临床低传代株UL136基因的序列特征及多态性

目的 研究广州地区新生儿感染人巨细胞病毒(HCMV)临床低传代株UL136基因的序列特征与基因多态性.方法 从10例广州感染新生儿体内分离获得2株(D2、D3)临床HCMV分离株,经多重PCR鉴定后进行UL136基因全序列扩增.PCR产物纯化后进行基因克隆,构建HCMV UL136-pMD18-T重组质粒.经基因测序及应用生物信息学分析方法 ,分析其核酸序列稳定性、编码蛋白质的二级结构与特征.结果 成功分离2株HCMV临床分离株,测序结果 显示,D2、D3及与GenBank中公布的11株临床分离株(4J、51C、39J、33J、63J、22M、10J、32C、29C、27C、Toledo)中,UL136序列高度保守.同源性分析显示在UL136全基因序列1019个核苷酸中,存在30个位点变异,所有的变异均为碱基替换,无插入及缺失突变.编码蛋白的氨基酸序列也高度保守,240个氨基酸残基中,不同临床分离株氨基酸变异率为1.6%～3.7%.不同分离株的UL136蛋白中参与形成二级结构的氨基酸数目及等电点不同.进化树分析结果 显示D2和D3均属于1a群.结论 广州地区临床低传代分离株HCMV UL136基因核苷酸序列及其氨基酸序列极为保守,但仍存在一定多态性.其基因的稳定性提示HCMV UL136开放阅读框(ORF)可能是一个具有重要功能的基因.其编码后修饰位点提示UL136可能与膜受体介导的细胞信号转导通路有关.     

人类巨细胞病毒UL144基因在临床低传代分离株中的多态性研究

目的：探讨人类巨细胞病毒（human cytomegalovirus,HCMV)UL144序列在临床患儿低传代分离株中的多态性及其与临床疾病的关系。方法：对65株HCMV临床低传代分离及7例同年龄组HCMV－DNA定量PCR方法检测阳性健康儿尿液进行HCMV-UL144 PCR扩增分析，对HCMV-UL144扩增阳性标本进行HMA－SSCP分析，并对其中32个阳性标本进行HCMV-UL144基因全序列测定及分析。结果：65株分离株中有55株UL144全序列引物PCR扩增为阳性，7份QPCR检测HCMV-DNA阳性健康儿尿液中5份UL144全序列PCR扩增为阳性，60份UL144扩增阳性标本HMA－SSCP（heteroduplex mobility assay and single-stranded conformation polymorphism)分析呈现3种典型带形，32例个测序标本序列呈现较高的多态性，差异多位于序列的前半部，种系发生图谱分析可大致分为3组，二级结构预测表现为6种类型，在重要的蛋白质功能的序列分布以Ⅰ型为主，黄患儿以Ⅲ型为主。32个HCMV-UL144序列已被GenBank收录，结论:HCMV-UL144广泛存在于临床低传代分离株中，序列呈序高度多态性，不同疾病类型的HCMV-UL144序列不同，提示UL144基因可能在HCMV致病上起一定的作用。     

Rapid detection by reverse hybridization of mutations in the UL97 gene of human cytomegalovirus conferring resistance to ganciclovir.

BACKGROUND OF STUDY: Diseases due to human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection constitute a major threat in marrow and solid organ transplant recipients. Ganciclovir (GCV) is widely used in prophylaxis and pre-emptive therapy of active HCMV infection. Resistance to ganciclovir (GCV) may arise at variable frequency under GCV therapy and is conferred by mutations (i) in the UL97 gene (codons 460, 520, and 591-607) encoding a phosphotransferase which is essential for monophosphorylation of GCV and, to a lesser extent, (ii) in the UL54 gene coding for the DNA polymerase of HCMV. OBJECTIVE: The purpose was to develop a rapid assay to screen for emerging GCV resistance mutations in the UL97 gene of HCMV whereby avoiding virus isolation and nucleotide sequencing procedures. STUDY DESIGN: A nested PCR (nPCR) amplifying UL97 codons 450-672 was developed. Nested amplicons were subsequently sequenced directly. Oligonucleotides for use in a reverse hybridization assay were designed to detect relevant non-synonymous mutations at codons UL97 460, 520, 603 and 607. Strain AD169 served as a wild-type control. RESULTS: UL97-specific nPCR amplicons were obtained from 18 EDTA blood samples of ten transplant recipients receiving GCV for more than 30 days. In three consecutive samples from a single patient a GCV resistance mutation at codon 603 (C-->W) was detected. In addition, two out of four cell culture-adapted HCMV isolates known to exhibit GCV resistance in vitro revealed mutations at codons 460 (M-->V) and 607 (C-->Y), respectively. By reverse hybridization a discrimination of single nucleotide changes at codons 460, 520, 603 and 607 was possible whereby matching exactly the results of the nucleotide sequence analysis for all 23 amplicons examined. CONCLUSIONS: Reverse hybridization appeared to be a rapid and convenient alternative to nucleotide sequencing when screening the UL97 gene of HCMV for selected markers of GCV resistance.     

Variability of UL18, UL40, UL111a and US3 immunomodulatory genes among human cytomegalovirus clinical isolates from renal transplant recipients.

BACKGROUND: Variability of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) genes counteracting immune responses is poorly investigated in non-cultured clinical strains. OBJECTIVES: In HCMV-infected renal graft recipients, we aimed to (i) investigate the variability of four HCMV immunomodulatory genes, without any culture-related viral selection, (ii) provide evolutionary sequence data, and (iii) study co-existing HCMV variants and their evolution. STUDY DESIGN: UL18, UL40, UL111a and US3 were sequenced in 31 blood samples from 17 patients (8 with sequential samples). Cloning of UL40 PCR products was performed in one donor-positive/recipient-positive (D+/R+) patient's samples. RESULTS: Each patient harboured a unique strain (combination of four genes), however single identical genes were demonstrated among various patients, suggesting recombination events. Sequencing showed in D+/R- recipients, either complete gene stability (four patients) or significant variability (one patient); in three D+/R+ patients, multiple gene variations, possibly linked to super- or co-infections. Cloning evidenced different variants at each time point with an increasing variability over time, illustrating possibly viral reactivations and the subsequent evolution of the variants mixture. CONCLUSION: A noticeable HCMV natural polymorphism was shown, with different evolutive patterns. Moreover, we described the co-evolution of variants mixtures in one patient. Consequences on HCMV infection and graft function deserve further studying.     

Molecular epidemiology of primary human cytomegalovirus infection in pregnant women and their families

The source of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection was investigated in 29 pregnant women with primary HCMV infection by comparing DNA sequences of UL146, UL144 and a portion of UL55 gene of HCMV strains circulating within each family. Thirteen families were identified in which the pregnant woman, the husband and/or a child were shedding HCMV. In three of these families, both the woman and the husband suffered from a concomitant primary HCMV infection. Phylogenetic analysis of UL146, UL144, and UL55 genes indicated that strains circulating within each family were identical, whereas strains from different families appeared to be distinct. However, identical UL146, UL144, and UL55 DNA sequences were observed sporadically among unrelated strains. A child rather than the husband was the virus source for the great majority of pregnant women. No association was observed between UL144 polymorphisms and intrauterine transmission.     

Nucleotide sequence comparisons between several strains and isolates of human cytomegalovirus reveal alternate start codon usage

Summary Mutations abound in all viral populations, which are thus rendered adaptable to changes in environmental conditions. Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is an important human pathogen for investigating nucleotide sequence variations because they can affect its potential to cause disease. We have determined part of the nucleotide sequence of the Toledo strain and compared it to the published sequences of the strains AD169, Toledo, and Towne and of three clinical isolates. Overall nucleotide sequence divergence between strains AD169 and Toledo amounts to roughly 2%, with considerable variations across the viral genome. In aligning the Toledo nucleotide sequences with those of the other strains and clinical isolates, numerous amino-terminal extensions of the known open reading frames (ORFs) have been noted. These extensions carry additional AUG or non-canonical CUG or GUG translational initiation codons. CUG and GUG have previously been shown to serve as translational start codons in prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems. Six of the more closely inspected extensions start with an AUG, 26 with a CUG, and 26 with a GUG. Some of these extended sequences might bestow altered biological properties upon HCMV proteins. These ORF extensions are common to the sequenced genomes of most of the HCMV strains or isolates. Supporting evidence for their functionality comes from studies on HCMV mRNAs that were isolated from HCMV-infected human cells. Several of these viral mRNA sequences carry the identified ORF extensions. Moreover, in the amino-terminal ORF extensions, codon usage in general resembles that in the main parts of several of the HCMV genes analyzed for this property.     

Full genome sequencing and analysis of human cytomegalovirus strain JHC isolated from a Korean patient

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a ubiquitous human pathogen and contains double stranded DNA genome with approximately 230 kbp. Because of its huge size, comparative genomic studies of HCMV genome have been limited. In this study it was attempted to obtain and analyze the full genome sequence from clinical isolate from Korea. The strain JHC was isolated from Korean patient undergoing bone marrow transplantation who exhibited resistance to ganciclovir treatment (Lee et al., 2005). The virus was plaque-purified, and the full genome sequence was determined by pyrosequencing technique. The JHC genome was found to contain 235,476 bp and 165 open reading frames (ORFs). Comparison with the full genome nucleotide sequences of 11 other HCMV strains suggest that JHC is not closely related with any other strains at genome level. As expected, JHC lacked IRL sequences found in lab-adapted AD169-varUK strain and this region was replaced by ORFs UL133-UL150 as in other clinical isolates. Two ORFs (UL1 and UL119) of the strain JHC were found to be truncated due to early stop codons, and RL6 contains an unusual start codon TTG. The strain JHC contains all the genetic information for micro RNAs known to be present in HCMV.