Utilization of replication-competent XMRV reporter-viruses reveals severe viral restriction in primary human cells

Frequent infection of human cancer xenografts with murine endogenous retroviruses in vivo

Infection of human cancer xenografts in mice with murine leukemia viruses (MLVs) is a long-standing observation, but the likelihood of infection in vivo and its biological consequences are poorly understood. We therefore conducted a prospective study in commonly used xenograft recipient strains. From BALB/c nude mice engrafted with MCF7 human mammary carcinoma cells, we isolated a virus that was virtually identical to Bxv1, a locus encoding replication-competent xenotropic MLV (XMLV). XMLV was detected in 9/17 (53%) independently isolated explants. XMLV was not found in primary leukemias or in THP1 leukemia cells grown in Bxv1-negative NSG (NOD/SCID/γCnull) mice, although MCF7 explants harbored replication-defective MLV proviruses. To assess the significance of infection for xenograft behavior in vivo, we examined changes in growth and global transcription in MCF7 and the highly susceptible Raji Burkitt lymphoma cell line chronically infected with XMLV. Raji cells showed a stronger transcriptional response that included up-regulation of chemokines and effectors of innate antiviral immunity. In conclusion, the risk of de novo XMLV infection of xenografts is high in Bxv1 positive mice, while infection can have positive or negative effects on xenograft growth potential with significant consequences for interpretation of many xenograft studies.

Biochemical properties of the xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus integrase

Xenotropic Murine Leukemia Virus-related Virus (XMRV) is a new gammaretrovirus generated by genetic recombination between two murine endogenous retroviruses, PreXMRV1 and PreXMRV2, during passaging of human prostate cancer xenografts in laboratory mice. XMRV is representative of an early founder virus that jumps species from mouse to human cell lines. Relatively little information is available concerning the XMRV integrase (IN), an enzyme that catalyzes a key stage in the retroviral cycle, and whose sequence is conserved among replication competent retroviruses emerging from recombination between the murine endogenous PreXMRV-1 and PreXMRV-2 genomes. Previous studies have shown that IN inhibitors efficiently block XMRV multiplication in cells. We thus aimed at characterizing the biochemical properties and sensitivity of the XMRV IN to the raltegravir, dolutegravir, 118-D-24 and elvitegravir inhibitors in vitro. We report for the first time the purification and enzymatic characterization of recombinant XMRV IN. This IN, produced in Escherichia coli and purified under native conditions, is optimally active over a pH range of 7-8.5, in the presence of Mg(2+) (15 mM and 30 mM for 3'-processing and strand transfer, respectively) and is poorly sensitive to the addition of dithiothreitol. Raltegravir was shown to be a very potent inhibitor (IC50 ∼ 30 nM) whereas dolutegravir and elvitegravir were less effective (IC50 ∼ 230 nM and 650 nM, respectively). The 118-D-24 drug had no impact on XMRV IN activity. Interestingly, the substrate specificity of XMRV IN seems to be less marked compared to HIV-1 IN since XMRV IN is able to process various donor substrates that share little homology. Finally, our analysis revealed some original properties of the XMRV IN such as its relatively low sequence specificity.

XMRV low level of expression in human cells delays superinfection interference and allows proviral copies to accumulate

Xenotropic Murine leukemia virus-Related Virus (XMRV) directly arose from genetic recombinations between two endogenous murine retroviruses that occurred during human xenografts in laboratory mice. Studies on XMRV could thus bring clues on how a new retrovirus could circumvent barrier species. We observed that XMRV exhibits a weak promoter activity in human cells, similar to the transcription level of a Tat-defective HIV-1. Despite this low fitness, XMRV can efficiently propagate through the huge accumulation of viral copies (≈40 copies per cell) that compensates for the low expression level of individual proviruses. We further demonstrate that there is an inverse relationship between the maximum number of viral copies per infected cell and the level of viral expression, which is explained by viral envelope interference mechanisms. Low viral expression compensation by viral copy accumulation through delayed interference could a priori contribute to the propagation of others viruses following species jumps.

Prevention of contamination by xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus: susceptibility to alcohol-based disinfectants and environmental stability

Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) represents a novel γ-retrovirus that is capable of infecting human cells and has been classified as a biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) organism. Hence, XMRV represents a potential risk for personnel in laboratories worldwide. Here, we measured the stability of XMRV and its susceptibility to alcohol-based disinfectants. To this end, we exposed an infectious XMRV reporter virus encoding a secretable luciferase to different temperatures, pH values, and disinfectants and infected XMRV-permissive Raji B cells to measure residual viral infectivity. We found that 1 min treatment of XMRV particles at 60°C is sufficient to reduce infectivity by 99.9%. XMRV infectivity was maximal at a neutral pH but was reduced by 86% at pH 4 and 99.9% at pH 10. The common hand and surface disinfectants ethanol and isopropanol as well as the cell fixation reagent paraformaldehyde abrogated XMRV infectivity entirely, as indicated by a reduction of infectivity exceeding 99.99%. Our findings provide evidence of specific means to inactivate XMRV. Their application will help to prevent unintended XMRV contamination of cell cultures in laboratories and minimize the risk for laboratory personnel and health care workers to become infected with this biosafety level 2 organism.