Journal of Integrative Agriculture 2016, 15(0): 60345-7 Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect RESEARCH ARTICLE Establishment of an avian leukosis Virus subgroup A-resistant cell line FENG Min1, 2, 3, 4*, DAI Man-man1, 2, 3, 4*, LIAO Ming1, 2, 3, 4, CAO Wei-sheng1, 2, 3, 4 1 College of Veterinary Medicine, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, P.R.China National and Regional Joint Engineering Laboratory for Medicament of Zoonosis Prevention and Control, Guangzhou 510642, P.R.China 3 Key Laboratory of Veterinary Vaccine Innovation, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510642, P.R.China 4 Key Laboratory of Zoonosis Prevention and Control of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou 510642, P.R.China 2 Abstract Rapid diagnostic methods for classifying avian leukosis subgroups in the field were needed for routine, large-scale screening. As a first step in method development, we inserted the avian leukosis virus subgroup A (ALV-A) env gene into plasmid pcDNA3.1/Zeo (+) and used this construct to transfect DF-1 cells. Zeocin-resistant cells were obtained after 2 weeks of zeocin selection. Then, the cells were analyzed using PCR, immunofluorescence, and Western blot for expression of the envA-encoded envelope protein after 30 serial passages. The DF-1/A cell line was completely resistant to 104 TCID50 (50% tissue culture infective dose) ALV-A and was partially resistant to 105 TCID50 ALV-A viral particles. By comparing the DF-1/A and DF-1 cell lines, an ALV-A isolate was identified using a gag-specific ELISA for capsid protein p27. Thus, we established a DF-1/A cell line that was resistant to ALV-A infection. This cell line will be useful as a diagnostic tool. Keyword: avian leukosis virus subgroup A (ALV-A), env, DF-1/A cell line, diagnostic tool 1. Introduction Avian leukosis viruses (ALVs) cause a number of neoplastic diseases and reproduction problems in chickens. ALVs belongs to the family Retroviridae, subfamily Orthoretrovirinae, and genus Alpharetrovirus. Chicken ALVs are classified into A, B, C, D, E, and J subgroups based on their antibody cross neutralization patterns and host ranges (Payne and Received 13 April, 2016 Accepted 14 July, 2016 FENG Min, E-mail: hunanfengmin@163.com; Correspondence CAO Wei-sheng, Tel: +86-20-85282536, Fax: +86-20-85280234, E-mail: caoweish@scau.edu.cn * These authors contributed equally to this study. © 2016, CAAS. All rights reserved. Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi: 10.1016/S2095-3119(16)61453-3 Nair 2012). A new ALV subgroup has been recently identified in China in 2012 (Cui et al. 2014). Because there are no effective eradication programs for ALV infections in most chicken farms in China, ALV infections in chickens remain widespread. ALV strains have spread throughout China (Li Y et al. 2013), and the frequency of new strain emergence has required the development of faster detection tools to aid eradication programs. Therefore, diagnostic methods suitable for ALV eradication programs in China should be established. Retroviruses efficiently infect host cells via specific surface receptors that can interact with viral envelope glycoproteins (Coffin et al. 1997). The retroviral envelope protein can block superinfection of viruses in the same subgroup by saturating cell surface receptors (Hunt et al. 1999). Using this principle, a cell line (DF-1/J) has been established, which is able to resist infection by a diverse group of ALV-J isolates (Hunt et al. 1999). Previous experiments have *** et al. Journal of Integrative Agriculture 2016, 15(0): 60345-7 proven that animals and chicken germ line cells that express ALV-A envelope glycoproteins are resistant to superinfection by subgroup A retroviruses (Crittenden et al. 1989; Salter and Crittenden 1989, 1991). ALV-A strains were prevalent in the 1970s–1980s and caused decreased production traits including egg numbers, fertility, and hatchability in chickens (Payne and Nair 2012). Though ALV-A is not widespread in China today, it still can be isolated from many places and has been isolated from wild birds (Li D et al. 2013). There is a need for a method of subgrouping ALV isolates that is suitable for routine, large-scale screening of field samples. In this study, we expressed the ALV-A env gene in DF-1 cells to establish the DF-1/A cell line. DF-1/A cells were resistant to ALV-A infection. We used this new cell line to identify an ALV-A strain by comparing DF-1/A and DF-1 cells using ELISA and PCR. This study demonstrates that the DF-1/A cell line is useful for mass screening and analysis of ALV isolates in both experimental and industrial laboratory settings. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. Cell and virus The DF-1 fibroblastic cell line developed spontaneously from a high-density seeding of fibroblasts. This cell line was developed from 10-day-old Line 0 (EV-0) chick embryos and was known to be susceptible only to exogenous ALV (Himly et al. 1998). ALV-J strain CHN06 (Zhang et al. 2011), ALV-A strains RAV-1 and GD13-1, plasmid RCAS(A) as well as DF-1 cells were provided by the Key Laboratory of Veterinary Vaccine Development, Ministry of Agriculture of China. 2.2. Molecular biology methods The ALV-A env gene was amplified using PCR from plasmid RCAS (A) using the oligonucleotide primers F (CGCGGATCCGCCACCATGGAAGCCGTCATTAAGGCATTTCTGACTGGATACCCT) and R (AAGGAAAAAAGCGGCCGCTTATACTATTCTGCTT). The primers contained BamHI (underlined) and NOTI (double underline) restriction endonuclease sites for cloning into the plasmid vector pcDNA3.1/Zeo (+) (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA). Sequences surrounding the start codon (bold) were modified to conform to an optimal Kozak consensus sequence (italics) (Kozak 1991). The PCR amplifications were performed in 50 µL reaction volumes using 100 ng of plasmid RCAS(A), 1× TaKaRa LA Taq DNA polymerase, and 0.6 µmol L–1 primers. Amplification was carried out via incubation at 95°C for 5 min, then 30 cycles of 95°C for 30 s, 57°C for 30 s, 72°C for 2 min, with a final extension time of 8 min at 72°C. The amplified 3 product of 1 884 bp representing the coding sequence for the ALV-A env was gel-purified, digested with BamHI and NotI, and then cloned into pcDNA3.1/Zeo (+) using the BamHI and NotI sites in the vector. The identity of the insert in the pcDNA-env-A plasmid was confirmed via sequencing. Then, the purified pcDNA-env-A plasmid was transfected into DF-1 cells using Lipofectamine 3000 (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA) and 6-well plates. 48 h after the transfection, the cells were detached via 0.25% trypsin digestion and suspended in Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium (DMEM) containing 15% FBS (Gibco, Carlsbad, CA, USA) and 200 µg mL–1 of zeocin (Invitrogen). The cells were added at 500 μL aliquots per well to 24 well plates and incubated until the appearance of colonies. Single colonies appeared approximately 2 weeks later. These colonies were expanded by changing the growth medium every 3 to 4 days while maintaining zeocin (200 µg mL–1) selection. The selected cells were subcultured up to 30 times using the abovementioned procedure. The cells were named DF-1/A and have since been cultured in a medium without zeocin while maintaining envA expression. 2.3. Indirect immunofluorescence assay An indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) test was performed on DF-1/A cells using an ALV-A specific antibody (courtesy of the Avian Disease and Oncology Laboratory, East Lansing, MI, USA). Binding of the primary antibody was detected using FITC-labeled goat-anti-mouse IgG (Sigma-Aldrich, USA). 2.4. Analysis of env expressed in DF-1/A To validate env expression in DF-1/A cells, we used Western blot to compare DF-1/A with normal DF-1 cells. Total cellular proteins (20 μg) were subjected to SDS-PAGE and transferred to nitrocellulose membranes. The membranes were blocked with 5% skimmed milk for 2 h at 37°C and then incubated overnight at 4°C with a specific mouse anti-ALV-A specific antibody and a rabbit anti-actin antibody. The membranes were washed and incubated with a secondary horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-labelled goat anti-mouse IgG or with an anti-rabbit IgG (Zhongshan Goldenbridge, Beijing, China). The protein bands were detected using the ECL Plus kit (Beyotime Inst Biotech, Shanghai, China). Band densities were measured using the Image-Pro Plus 6.0 software (Media Cybernetics, USA) from images obtained using a CanoScan LiDE 100 scanner (Canon, Japan). 2.5. Determination of antiviral effect of DF-1/A cells DF-1/A cells and DF-1 cells infected with dilutions (100 to 4 *** et al. Journal of Integrative Agriculture 2016, 15(0): 60345-7 104) of ALV-J (CHN06) and ALV-A (RAV-1 and GD13-1) were diluted with DMEM. The viral dilutions (in triplicate) were inoculated into 1.7×105 cells mL–1 in 24-well plates. The cells were cultured in DMEM with 10% FBS at 37°C with 5% CO2 except when grown as a monolayer when 1% FBS was used. The supernatants from DF-1/A and DF-1, which were collected after freezing and thawing, were analyzed for p27 antigen ELISA (IDEXX, USA) detection after 6 days of culturing according to the manufacturer instructions. ELISA results are reported as s/p values according to the manufacturer protocol, where s/p=(Sample mean–Cell culture negative control mean)/(Kit positive control mean–Cell culture negative control mean). other hand, fluorescence in the DF-1 cells was completely absent (Fig. 3). To further confirm the IFA results, we generated protein lysates from confluent DA-1/A and DF-1 monolayers and subjected them to Western blot. A protein band with an expected molecular weight of ~90 kDa was detected in DF1/A but not in DF-1 lysates (Fig. 4). Altogether, these results indicate that DF-1/A cells express the env gene product. 3.2. Antiviral effects of DF-1/A cells Expression of a subgroup-specific env gene product on 2.6. Field ALV-A identification The isolated from the clinical plasma sample virus was inoculated into both DF-1/A and DF-1 cells, and p27 antigen ELISA (IDEXX, USA) was performed on the supernatants after 6 days of culturing. PCR tests were carried out with genomic DNA extracted from infected DF-1 cells using primers specific for ALV-A, B, and J, as previously described (Smith et al. 1998; Fenton et al. 2005; Silva et al. 2007). 2.7. DF-1/A cell line storage As previously described (Lai et al. 2011), PCR tests were performed using primers specific for ALV-A, B, J, and reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV) with genomic DNA extracted from DF-1/A cells to detect whether the DF-1/A cells were contaminated by virus. Then, DF-1/A cells were submitted to the China Center for Type Culture Collection (CCTCC). Fig. 1 Photomicrograph of a confluent DF-1/A monolayer (200× magnification). M DF-1 DF-1/A 3. Results 3.1. DF-1/A cell analysis Zeocin-resistant DF-1/A cells were routinely cultured in DMEM supplemented with 10% FBS, and their morphology was similar to the parental DF-1 cells (Fig. 1). Both types displayed a uniform, fibroblast-like morphology and formed monolayers on plastic tissue culture plates. To confirm that DFA-1/A cells had integrated the transfected env gene, we compared PCR products from DF-1 and DF-1/A cells using env-specific primers. The expected 1 884 bp fragment was observed with DNA from the DF-1/A cells but not from its parental counterpart (Fig. 2). If DF-1/A cells expressed a functional env gene, then the cloned gene product should have been detectable on the cell surface. We compared DF-1/A cells with DF-1 cells in an IFA using an ALV-A-specific antibody. DF-1/A cells displayed a positive, albeit weak, fluorescence (Fig. 3). On the bp 2 000 1 000 Fig. 2 Agarose gel analysis of env-specific PCR products that were amplified from DF-1 and DF-1/A cells, respectively. M, molecular size markers; bp, base pairs of designated size markers. *** et al. Journal of Integrative Agriculture 2016, 15(0): 60345-7 DF-1/A DF-1 Fig. 3 Indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) analysis of pcDNA-env-A expression in the DF-1/A cell line and its parental counterpart DF-1 cells (200× magnification). DF-1/A DF-1 env β-actin Fig. 4 Western blot analysis of the pcDNA-env-A envelope expression in the DF-1/A cell line and in its parental counterpart DF-1. β-actin was used as a loading control. the cell surface precludes infection by viruses of that same subgroup. To determine whether env expression acts as a surrogate for superinfection from the subgroup A virus, we experimentally infected DF-1/A cells with two subgroup A viruses (RAV-1 and GD13-1) and with the subgroup J virus 5 CHN06. Then, using ELISA, we measured p27 capsid protein levels in infected cells to determine whether the experimental virus set up a productive infection. All three viruses were equally capable of infecting DF-1 cells (Fig. 5). This result was expected because this cell line was free from avian retroviruses. In contrast, only the subgroup J strain CHN06 infected the DF-1/A cells. The two subgroup A viruses were almost completely blocked from infecting these cells (Fig. 5). Higher viral loads of 105 TCID50 virus particles resulted in measurable p27 levels in DF-1/A cells. However, these levels were at least 10-fold lower than that of the control and near the assay detection limits (Fig. 5). 3.3. Field ALV-A identification Next, the antiviral effects or resistance to subgroup A superinfection of the DF-1/A cell line were tested using a field virus sample. In the traditional p27 ELISA assay format, the clinical sample was not able to infect DF-1/A cells but was capable of infecting DF-1cells (Fig. 6). This result indicated that the field virus sample identity should be subgroup A. Next, we used ALV-A/B/J-specific PCR analysis to confirm this result. The 690-bp ALV-A-specific fragment was identified only in the field sample and in the positive control lanes (Fig. 7, lanes 1 and 3). The absence of ALV-J and ALV-B PCR products in lanes 4 and 7 indicated that the clinical sample contained only the subgroup A virus (Fig. 7). Fig. 5 p27-specific ELISA analysis of the antiviral effects of DF-1/A cells on virus superinfection. Cells were infected with the indicated virion concentrations that were predetermined using tissue culture infective dose (TCID50) values for titering virus stocks. Virus subgroup and name are listed above each graph. s/p, sample to positive ratio. 6 *** et al. Journal of Integrative Agriculture 2016, 15(0): 60345-7 3.4. DF-1/A cell line storage The ALV-A-resistant cell line DF-1/A was submitted to the China Center for Type Culture Collection (CCTCC) and was given a preservation number C2014180. Exogenous ALV and REV-specific PCR analyses confirmed that the DF-1/A cell line was not infected with the common field infectious neoplastic viruses (Fig. 8). 4. Discussion Retroviruses enter host cells via specific interactions between cell membrane receptors and the viral envelope protein, and ALV is not an exception. The envelope protein surface subunit (SU) initially binds to the cell surface receptors, and conformational changes of the envelope protein transmembrane (TM) subunit drives fusion of the viral and cellular membranes (Mothes et al. 2000). Different ALV subgroups use different receptors such as the low-density lipoprotein receptor (Tva encoded by tva gene), which mediates ALV-A infections (Bates et al. 1993, 1998). The receptors for all other major ALV subgroups (e.g., ALV-J, ALV-B/D, ALV-C, and ALV-E) have been identified (Brojatsch et al. 1996; Adkins et al. 1997; Elleder et al. 2005; Chai and Bates 2006). During the early stage of ALV entering into the host cell, ALV synthesizes envelope proteins that are transported to the cell membrane when virus finally exits post-replication. This saturates the corresponding receptors, which leads to the resistance to superinfection by another virus that uses the same cellular receptor (Hunt et al. 1999). We wanted to better understand whether an envelope protein singly expressed in a cell interfere with the entry of viruses encoding the same env gene product. This would amount to an artificial method of testing resistance to superinfection. We constructed a plasmid env expression vector. In addition, from ALV-A, we constructed a cell line with a stable M ALV-A – + 1 2 3 ALV-J – + 4 5 6 ALV-B – + 7 8 9 M bp 2 000 1 000 750 500 Fig. 6 p27-specific ELISA results of supernatants from DF-1/A and DF-1 cells after 6 days of incubation with a field sample of unknown virus subgroup. ALV-A DF-1/A – + ALV-B DF-1/A – Fig. 7 Classification of ALV types from a field sample using ALV-A, B, and J specific PCR. The samples are grouped in triplicate according to virus subtype-specific PCR primer pairs: lanes 1–3, ALV-A; lanes 4–6, ALV-J; lanes 7–9 ALV-B. Lanes 1, 4, 7, experimental sample genomic DNA; (–), no template control; (+), subgroup-specific plasmid DNA. + ALV-J DF-1/A – + REV DF-1/A – + bp 2 000 1 000 750 500 250 100 Fig. 8 ALV-A, B, J, and REV specific PCR analysis for the detection of exogenous viral infections of the DF-1/A cell line. Virus subgroup names at the top of the gel indicate plasmid DNA containing cloned genes of the specified virus. DF/A, DF-1/A cell line genomic DNA; M, molecular size standards in bp of the indicated gel marker bands; (–), no template control; (+), subgroup-specific plasmid DNA. *** et al. Journal of Integrative Agriculture 2016, 15(0): 60345-7 expression of envelope protein. Our IFA and Western blot results demonstrated that the envelope protein was successfully expressed and was functional, as confirmed by the antiviral tests. However, the green fluorescence and the envelope protein band were weak. The pcDNA3.1/Zeo (+) vector did not contain a chicken-specific promoter. Thus, the low envelope protein expression was most likely the result of decreased promoter activity. Additionally, this low expression most likely resulted in the ability of an increased viral load to infect the DF-1/A cells at 105 TCID50. The traditional methods of ALV subgroup classification include receptor interference and virus neutralization patterns (Vogt and Ishizaki 1965; Ishizaki and Vogt 1966). However, these tests rely on RSV pseudotypes and immune sera and are labor intensive, time-consuming, and are not suitable for routine diagnostic work (Vogt and Ishizaki 1966; Venugopal et al. 1998). Other methods that distinguish between different ALV subgroups using PCR, qRT-PCR, and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) have been reported, and each of these methods have their advantages and disadvantages (Zhang et al. 2010; Qin et al. 2013). For example, Hunt et al. (1999) established a DF-1/J cell line that was resistant to infection by a diverse group of ALV-J isolates and was a useful diagnostic tool. The DF-1 parental cell line used in our study was highly susceptible to ALV subgroups A and J. Because DF-1/A cells are resistant to ALV-A infection and remain ALV-J-susceptible suggests that ALV-A and ALV-J use different receptors for cell invasion. Our ALV-A-resistant cell line DF-1/A can also serve as a useful diagnostic tool and can provide a reliable and rapid method for screening large number of samples. Inoculation of DF-1/A and DF-1 cells with unknown subgroup field samples will explicitly identify ALV-A using the classical p27 ELISA. Samples containing only ALV-A will produce a negative p27 response infecting the DF-1/A cells and a positive p27 response using the DF-1. Mixed samples containing ALV-A and other ALV subgroups will be positive on both cell types. A special case is when a titer of the ALV-A in samples is >104 TCID50. Thus, there may be a weak positive p27 response using DF-1/A cells. This problem can be overcome by repeating the inoculation using the supernatant from the DF-1/A cells that gave a weak response. ALVs have been successfully eradicated from chicken breeding flocks in poultry industries of most developed countries, and the control and eradication of ALVs in China is now being carried out. Historically, some chicken breeds that possess genetic resistance to ALV-A through E have been found (Payne and Biggs 1965; Vogt and Ishizaki 1965; Crittenden et al. 1967). These chickens have been previously used as a source of selectively-resistant chick 7 embryo fibroblasts (CEF). However, these chicken breeds presently cannot be applied to production due to the possibility of resistance transfer to other breeds. Antiviral activity by blocking ALV receptors in vitro has been demonstrated in our study and by Hunt et al. (1999). We would like to determine whether chickens expressing a foreign env gene product would be resistant to virus. Our study provides a powerful theoretical basis for producing genetically modified (GM) chickens that can resist ALV infection. 5. Conclusion This study established an ALV-A resistant cell line. The DF1/A cell line can be used both as a diagnostic tool to easily and reliably classify viral isolates in field samples and as a tool to further investigate methods to resist ALV infections. 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