H3N2亚型猪流感病毒M1基因克隆及表达特性分析

Cloning and characterization of M1 gene of H3N2 subtype swine influenza virus

摘要:

从H3N2亚型猪流感病毒感染的鸡胚尿囊液中提取病毒基因组RNA, 采用RT-PCR方法克隆M1全长基因, 将M1基因亚克隆至pET-28a(+)表达载体中, 构建重组表达质粒pET-28a-M1, 将该重组质粒转化大肠杆菌BL21并经IPTG诱导表达。诱导产物经SDS-PAGE电泳分析显示重组蛋白M1获得大量表达, 表达蛋白纯化后免疫Wistar大鼠制备多克隆抗体。Western blotting检测结果表明制备的抗M1蛋白多克隆抗体可以识别大肠杆菌表达的M1蛋白和病毒感染细胞的病毒M1蛋白。构建M1基因真核重组质粒p3xFLAG-CMV-7.1-M1并转染Vero细胞, Western blotting检测表明抗M1蛋白多克隆抗体可以识别在Vero细胞中得到表达的M1蛋白, 成功建立M1基因的真核表达系统。分析了病毒感染过程中M1蛋白的变化及其作为病毒复制指示分子的可能性。鼠源M1蛋白多克隆抗体的制备和M1基因真核重组表达质粒的构建, 为进一步研究猪流感病毒的复制机理以及M1蛋白在病毒复制过程中的生物学功能奠定了基础。

Abstract:

Influenza A virus matrix protein (M1) is encoded by a spliced mRNA derived from RNA segment 7 and plays an important role in the virus life cycle. In the present study, we extracted the viral genome RNAs from allantoic fluid of 9-day-old embryonated chicken eggs infected with swine influenza A virus (SIV) H3N2 subtype and amplified the SIV M1 gene by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction using the isloated viral genome RNAs as template. The amplified cDNA was cloned into an expression vector pET-28a (+) (designated pET-28a-M1) and confirmed by DNA sequencing analysis. We then transformed the plasmid pET-28a-M1 into Escherichia coli BL21 strain for heterologous expression. The expression of M1 was induced by 1mM isopropyl-b-D-thiogalactopyranoside. SDS-PAGE analysis of the induced bacterial cells revealed that the recombinant M1 protein was expressed in high yield level. Next, we purified the expressed recombinant M1 using Ni2+ affinity chromatography and immunized Wistar rat with the purified M1 protein for producing polyclonal antibodies specific for M1. Western blotting analysis showed that the produced antibodies were capable of reacting with M1 protein expressed in Escherichia coli as well as that synthesized in SIV-infected cells. We further cloned the amplified M1 cDNA into a eukaryotic expression plasmid p3xFLAG-CMV-7.1 to construct the recombinant plasmid p3xFLAG-CMV-M1 for expressing M1 in eukaryotic cells. Western blotting analysis revealed that the M1 protein was expressed in p3xFLAG-CMV-M1-transfected Vero cells and recognized by the produced anti-M1 antibodies. Using the produced anti-M1 antibodies, we analyzed the kinetics of M1 protein in the virus-infected cells during influenza virus infection and estimated the possibility of M1 as an indicator of influenza virus replication. The recombinant M1 protein, anti-M1 antibodies and recombinant expression plasmids would provide useful tools for studies of biological function of M1 protein and the basis of SIV replication.