In vitro study on the antiviral activity of 9 extracts of traditional Chinese herbal medicine against the human respiratory syncytial virus

Objective:To study the in vitro virucidal activity of 9 extracts of traditional Chinese herbal medicine(the water extracts of Evodia lepta,Clausena lansium,Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum,Callicarpa nudiflora,Nauclea officinalis and Elaeagnus gonyanthes,the alcohol extracts of Nauclea officinalis,Elaeagnus gonyanthes and Zanthoxylumarmatum)on human respiratory syncytial virus(HRSV).Methods:The cytotoxic effect of the extracts on cells was evaluated by a cell viability assay using the CCK-8 method,a concentration of the extracts with cell viability greater than 50%was selected for the follow-up anti-HRSV effect assay,the 50%effective concentration(EC50)was assessed by an in vitro cell infection model.Results:The EC50s of the water extract from Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum,Callicarpa nudiflora and Elaeagnus gonyanthes were 0.05 mg/mL,0.03 mg/mL and 0.05 mg/mL,and the therapeutic index(TI)of them were 18.60,21.67 and 56.80 respectively.Conclusion:The water extracts of Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum,Callicarpa nudiflora and Elaeagnus gonyanthes possess the activity of anti-HRSV virus.

Genetic Characterization of Fusion Protein of Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus: Beijing

Objective Fusion protein is a subunit of the human respiratory syncytial virus(HRSV)and a potential vaccine candidate.Thus,a study on the genetic characteristics of F protein was considered important for further investigations in this field.The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and genetic diversity of the F gene of HRSV infections in hospitalized pediatric patients in Beijing with acute lower respiratory tract infections and to compare the circulating genotypes that are currently found worldwide.Methods HRSV particles were amplified by RT-PCR and the PCR products were purified for sequencing.Further analysis was carried out by Bioedit and MEGA 3.0 biological software programs.Results Seventy-six samples(23.1%)were positive for HRSV.The percentage of cases in patients younger than 1year was 84.21%.Among the six Beijing isolates,four belonged to subgroup A,whose respective F genes shared97.0%-97.4%nucleotide sequence identity and 92.1%-93.0%amino acid sequence identity.The other two isolates belonged to subgroup B.Here,97.3%and 98.2%sequence identity were found at nucleotide and amino acid levels,respectively.Conclusions Phylogenetic analysis of nucleotide sequences revealed that those four isolates within subgroup A were monophyletic and closely related to each other,but those two within subgroup B distributed in two distinct clusters.Subgroup A and B strains co-circulated,indicating that two different transmission chains occurred in Beijing from 2003-2004.

A multi-center study on Molecular Epidemiology of Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus from Children with Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in the Mainland of China between 2015 and 2019

Human respiratory syncytial virus(RSV) is a major pathogen of acute lower respiratory tract infection among young children. To investigate the prevalence and genetic characteristics of RSV in China, we performed a molecular epidemiological study during 2015–2019. A total of 964 RSV-positive specimens were identified from 5529 enrolled patients during a multi-center study. RSV subgroup A(RSV-A) was the predominant subgroup during this research period except in2016. Totally, 535 sequences of the second hypervariable region(HVR-2) of the G gene were obtained. Combined with182 Chinese sequences from GenBank, phylogenetic trees showed that 521 RSV-A sequences fell in genotypes ON1(512),NA1(6) and GA5(3), respectively;while 196 RSV-B sequences fell in BA9(193) and SAB4(3). ON1 and BA9 were the only genotypes after December 2015. Genotypes ON1 and BA9 can be separated into 10 and 7 lineages, respectively. The HVR-2 of genotype ON1 had six amino acid changes with a frequency more than 10%, while two substitutions H258 Q and H266 L were co-occurrences. The HVR-2 of genotype BA9 had nine amino acid substitutions with a frequency more than10%, while the sequences with T290 I and T312 I were all from 2018 to 2019. One N-glycosylation site at 237 was identified among ON1 sequences, while two N-glycosylation sites(296 and 310) were identified in the 60-nucleotide duplication region of BA9. To conclusion, ON1 and BA9 were the predominant genotypes in China during 2015–2019. For the genotypes ON1 and BA9, the G gene exhibited relatively high diversity and evolved continuously.

Evaluation of the Safety and Immune Efficacy of Recombinant Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus Strain Long Live Attenuated Vaccine Candidates

Human respiratory syncytial virus(RSV)infection is the leading cause of lower respiratory tract illness(LRTI),and no vaccine against LRTI has proven to be safe and effective in infants.Our study assessed attenuated recombinant RSVs as vaccine candidates to prevent RSV infection in mice.The constructed recombinant plasmids harbored(5′to 3′)a T7 promoter,hammerhead ribozyme,RSV Long strain antigenomic cDNA with cold-passaged(cp)mutations or cp combined with temperature-sensitive attenuated mutations from the A2 strain(A2cpts)or further combined with SH gene deletion(A2cptsΔSH),HDV ribozyme(δ),and a T7 terminator.These vectors were subsequently co-transfected with four helper plasmids encoding N,P,L,and M2-1 viral proteins into BHK/T7-9 cells,and the recovered viruses were then passaged in Vero cells.The rescued recombinant RSVs(rRSVs)were named rRSV-Long/A2cp,rRSV-Long/A2cpts,and rRSV-Long/A2cptsΔSH,respectively,and stably passaged in vitro,without reversion to wild type(wt)at sites containing introduced mutations or deletion.Although rRSV-Long/A2cpts and rRSV-Long/A2cptsΔSH displayed temperature-sensitive(ts)phenotype in vitro and in vivo,all rRSVs were significantly attenuated in vivo.Furthermore,BALB/c mice immunized with rRSVs produced Th1-biased immune response,resisted wtRSV infection,and were free from enhanced respiratory disease.We showed that the combination ofΔSH with attenuation(att)mutations of cpts contributed to improving att phenotype,efficacy,and gene stability of rRSV.By successfully introducing att mutations and SH gene deletion into the RSV Long parent and producing three rRSV strains,we have laid an important foundation for the development of RSV live attenuated vaccines.

An RNA polymerase I-driven human respiratory syncytial virus minigenome as a tool for quantifying virus titers and screening antiviral drug

Human respiratory syncytial virus（RSV） is an important pediatric pathogen of lower respiratory tract worldwide. No vaccines and antiviral drugs are available. Herein the use of an RNA polymerase I-driven RSV minigenome for analyzing RSV replication and screening anti-RSV drugs was investigated. The RNA polymerase I（Pol I） was used to transcribe RSV minigenome from the constructed plasmid, designated p HM-RSV-Gluc, of minigenome c DNA which comprised trailer region, gene start sequence（GS）, reverse complementary copy of Gaussia luciferase（Gluc） gene, gene end sequence（GE）, and leader region in the direction of 5＇–3＇end and was flanked by promoter and terminator of Pol I. The expression of Gluc was confirmed in p HM-RSV-Gluc transfected HEp-2 cells following RSV infection and had the characteristics of dose-dependent, which provided a rapid, sensitive, and quantitative method for quantifying virus titers and screening antiviral drugs.

A multi-center study on genetic variations in the fusion protein of respiratory syncytial virus from children with Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in China during 2017-2021

Respiratory syncytial virus(RSV)is a significant cause of acute lower respiratory tract infection(ALRTI)in children underfive years of age.Between 2017 and 2021,396 complete sequences of the RSV F gene were obtained from 500 RSV-positive throat swabs collected from ten hospitals across nine provinces in China.In addition,151 sequences from China were sourced from GenBank and GISAID,making a total of 549 RSV F gene sequences subjected to analysis.Phylogenetic and genetic diversity analyses revealed that the RSV F genes circulating in China from 2017 to 2021 have remained relatively conserved,although some amino acids(AAs)have undergone changes.AA mutations with frequencies10%were identified at six sites and the p27 region:V384I(site I),N276S(site II),R213S(siteØ),and K124N(p27)for RSV A;F45L(site I),M152I/L172Q/S173 L/I185V/K191R(site V),and R202Q/I206M/Q209R(siteØ)for RSV B.Comparing mutational frequencies in RSV-F before and after 2020 revealed minor changes for RSV A,while the K191R,I206M,and Q209R frequencies increased by over 10%in RSV B.Notably,the nirsevimab-resistant mutation,S211N in RSV B,increased in frequency from 0%to 1.15%.Both representative strains aligned with the predicted RSV-F structures of their respective prototypes exhibited similar conformations,with low root-mean-square deviation values.These results could provide foundational data from China for the development of RSV mAbs and vaccines.