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Clinical Infectious Diseases : An... Jan 2015Some human poxvirus infections can be acquired through zoonotic transmission. We report a previously unknown poxvirus infection in 2 patients, 1 of whom was...
BACKGROUND
Some human poxvirus infections can be acquired through zoonotic transmission. We report a previously unknown poxvirus infection in 2 patients, 1 of whom was immunocompromised; both patients had known equine contact.
METHODS
The patients were interviewed and clinical information was abstracted from the patients' medical files. Biopsies of the skin lesions were collected from both patients for histopathology, immunohistochemistry, and transmission electron microscopy analysis. Oral and skin swabs were collected from animals with frequent contact with the patients, and environmental sampling including rodent trapping was performed on the farm where the immunosuppressed patient was employed. "Pan-pox and high Guanine-cytosine" polymerase chain reaction assays were performed on patient, animal, and environmental isolates. Amplicon sequences of the viral DNA were used for agent identification and phylogenetic analysis.
RESULTS
Specimens from both human cases revealed a novel poxvirus. The agent shares 88% similarity to viruses in the Parapoxvirus genus and 78% to those in the Molluscipoxvirus genus but is sufficiently divergent to resist classification as either. All animal and environmental specimens were negative for poxvirus and both patients had complete resolution of lesions.
CONCLUSIONS
This report serves as a reminder that poxviruses should be considered in cutaneous human infections, especially in individuals with known barnyard exposures. The clinical course of the patients was similar to that of parapoxvirus infections, and the source of this virus is currently unknown but is presumed to be zoonotic. This report also demonstrates the importance of a comprehensive approach to diagnosis of human infections caused by previously unknown pathogens.
Topics: Biopsy; DNA, Viral; Humans; Molecular Sequence Data; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Poxviridae; Poxviridae Infections; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Skin; United States
PubMed: 25301210
DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciu790 -
Journal of Virology Mar 2023Molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV) is a human-adapted poxvirus that causes a common and persistent yet mild infection characterized by distinct, contagious, papular skin...
Molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV) is a human-adapted poxvirus that causes a common and persistent yet mild infection characterized by distinct, contagious, papular skin lesions. These lesions are notable for having little or no inflammation associated with them and can persist for long periods without an effective clearance response from the host. Like all poxviruses, MCV encodes potent immunosuppressive proteins that perturb innate immune pathways involved in virus sensing, the interferon response, and inflammation, which collectively orchestrate antiviral immunity and clearance, with several of these pathways converging at common signaling nodes. One such node is the regulator of canonical nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) activation, NF-κB essential modulator (NEMO). Here, we report that the MCV protein MC008 specifically inhibits NF-κB through its interaction with NEMO, disrupting its early ubiquitin-mediated activation and subsequent downstream signaling. MC008 is the third NEMO-targeting inhibitor to be described in MCV to date, with each inhibiting NEMO activation in distinct ways, highlighting strong selective pressure to evolve multiple ways of disabling this key signaling protein. Inflammation lies at the heart of most human diseases. Understanding the pathways that drive this response is the key to new anti-inflammatory therapies. Viruses evolve to target inflammation; thus, understanding how they do this reveals how inflammation is controlled and, potentially, how to disable it when it drives disease. Molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV) has specifically evolved to infect humans and displays an unprecedented ability to suppress inflammation in our tissue. We have identified a novel inhibitor of human innate signaling from MCV, MC008, which targets NEMO, a core regulator of proinflammatory signaling. Furthermore, MC008 appears to inhibit early ubiquitination, thus interrupting later events in NEMO activation, thereby validating current models of IκB kinase (IKK) complex regulation.
Topics: Humans; NF-kappa B; Molluscum contagiosum virus; Viral Proteins; Signal Transduction; Ubiquitination; I-kappa B Kinase
PubMed: 36916940
DOI: 10.1128/jvi.00108-23 -
Italian Journal of Dermatology and... Jun 2021
Topics: Adjuvants, Immunologic; Echinacea; Humans; Molluscum Contagiosum; Molluscum contagiosum virus; Recurrence
PubMed: 33016668
DOI: 10.23736/S2784-8671.20.06644-4 -
The American Journal of Dermatopathology Aug 2015Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) carries a prognosis, which ranges from benign to potentially fatal. There is currently little framework to decipher metrics, which...
Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) carries a prognosis, which ranges from benign to potentially fatal. There is currently little framework to decipher metrics, which predict the benign versus aggressive nature of LCH. We wanted to determine whether molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV) DNA could be isolated from a cutaneous lesion, demonstrating Langerhans cell hyperplasia resembling LCH in a patient with both. Polymerase chain reaction on biopsy-proven MCV and the hyperplastic lesion has been performed. Two specific regions within the MCV genome were detected from both biopsies. The authors report our findings and suggest that some MCV can produce histological lesions resembling LCH, similar to the literature on scabies mimicking LCH. Efforts to find a reactive "driver" in LCH may significantly inform the clinical scenario.
Topics: Adolescent; Antigens, CD1; DNA, Viral; Histiocytosis, Langerhans-Cell; Humans; Hyperplasia; Langerhans Cells; Male; Molluscum Contagiosum; Molluscum contagiosum virus; S100 Proteins
PubMed: 25140667
DOI: 10.1097/DAD.0000000000000201 -
Journal of Virology Sep 2020Orthopoxviruses produce two antigenically distinct infectious enveloped virions termed intracellular mature virions and extracellular virions (EV). EV have an additional...
Orthopoxviruses produce two antigenically distinct infectious enveloped virions termed intracellular mature virions and extracellular virions (EV). EV have an additional membrane compared to intracellular mature virions due to a wrapping process at the -Golgi network and are required for cell-to-cell spread and pathogenesis. Specific to the EV membrane are a number of proteins highly conserved among orthopoxviruses, including F13, which is required for the efficient wrapping of intracellular mature virions to produce EV and which plays a role in EV entry. The distantly related molluscipoxvirus, molluscum contagiosum virus, is predicted to encode several vaccinia virus homologs of EV-specific proteins, including the homolog of F13L, MC021L. To study the function of MC021, we replaced the F13L open reading frame in vaccinia virus with an epitope-tagged version of MC021L. The resulting virus (vMC021L-HA) had a small-plaque phenotype compared to vF13L-HA but larger than vΔF13L. The localization of MC021-HA was markedly different from that of F13-HA in infected cells, but MC021-HA was still incorporated in the EV membrane. Similar to F13-HA, MC021-HA was capable of interacting with both A33 and B5. Although MC021-HA expression did not fully restore plaque size, vMC021L-HA produced amounts of EV similar to those produced by vF13L-HA, suggesting that MC021 retained some of the functionality of F13. Further analysis revealed that EV produced from vMC021L-HA exhibit a marked reduction in target cell binding and an increase in dissolution, both of which correlated with a small-plaque phenotype. The vaccinia virus extracellular virion protein F13 is required for the production and release of infectious extracellular virus, which in turn is essential for the subsequent spread and pathogenesis of orthopoxviruses. Molluscum contagiosum virus infects millions of people worldwide each year, but it is unknown whether EV are produced during infection for spread. Molluscum contagiosum virus contains a homolog of F13L termed MC021L. To study the potential function of this homolog during infection, we utilized vaccinia virus as a surrogate and showed that a vaccinia virus expressing MC021L-HA in place of F13L-HA exhibits a small-plaque phenotype but produces similar levels of EV. These results suggest that MC021-HA can compensate for the loss of F13-HA by facilitating wrapping to produce EV and further delineates the dual role of F13 during infection.
Topics: Cell Membrane; Genetic Complementation Test; HeLa Cells; Humans; Membrane Proteins; Molluscum contagiosum virus; Vaccinia virus; Viral Envelope Proteins; Virion
PubMed: 32727873
DOI: 10.1128/JVI.01496-20 -
Acta Dermato-venereologica Aug 2018
Topics: Adolescent; Dermoscopy; Female; Humans; Molluscum Contagiosum; Molluscum contagiosum virus; Sacrococcygeal Region; Skin
PubMed: 29701237
DOI: 10.2340/00015555-2955 -
Human Genomics Feb 2024Periodic bioinformatics-based screening of wastewater for assessing the diversity of potential human viral pathogens circulating in a given community may help to...
BACKGROUND
Periodic bioinformatics-based screening of wastewater for assessing the diversity of potential human viral pathogens circulating in a given community may help to identify novel or potentially emerging infectious diseases. Any identified contigs related to novel or emerging viruses should be confirmed with targeted wastewater and clinical testing.
RESULTS
During the COVID-19 pandemic, untreated wastewater samples were collected for a 1-year period from the Great Lakes Water Authority Wastewater Treatment Facility in Detroit, MI, USA, and viral population diversity from both centralized interceptor sites and localized neighborhood sewersheds was investigated. Clinical cases of the diseases caused by human viruses were tabulated and compared with data from viral wastewater monitoring. In addition to Betacoronavirus, comparison using assembled contigs against a custom Swiss-Prot human virus database indicated the potential prevalence of other pathogenic virus genera, including: Orthopoxvirus, Rhadinovirus, Parapoxvirus, Varicellovirus, Hepatovirus, Simplexvirus, Bocaparvovirus, Molluscipoxvirus, Parechovirus, Roseolovirus, Lymphocryptovirus, Alphavirus, Spumavirus, Lentivirus, Deltaretrovirus, Enterovirus, Kobuvirus, Gammaretrovirus, Cardiovirus, Erythroparvovirus, Salivirus, Rubivirus, Orthohepevirus, Cytomegalovirus, Norovirus, and Mamastrovirus. Four nearly complete genomes were recovered from the Astrovirus, Enterovirus, Norovirus and Betapolyomavirus genera and viral species were identified.
CONCLUSIONS
The presented findings in wastewater samples are primarily at the genus level and can serve as a preliminary "screening" tool that may serve as indication to initiate further testing for the confirmation of the presence of species that may be associated with human disease. Integrating innovative environmental microbiology technologies like metagenomic sequencing with viral epidemiology offers a significant opportunity to improve the monitoring of, and predictive intelligence for, pathogenic viruses, using wastewater.
Topics: Humans; Wastewater; Michigan; Pandemics; Viruses; Enterovirus; Virus Diseases
PubMed: 38321488
DOI: 10.1186/s40246-024-00581-0 -
Journal of Virology May 2016Molluscum contagiosum virus (MOCV), the only circulating human-specific poxvirus, has a worldwide distribution and causes benign skin lesions that may persist for months...
UNLABELLED
Molluscum contagiosum virus (MOCV), the only circulating human-specific poxvirus, has a worldwide distribution and causes benign skin lesions that may persist for months in young children and severe infections in immunosuppressed adults. Studies of MOCV are restricted by the lack of an efficient animal model or a cell culture replication system. We used next-generation sequencing to analyze and compare polyadenylated RNAs from abortive MOCV infections of several cell lines and a human skin lesion. Viral RNAs were detected for 14 days after MOCV infection of cultured cells; however, there was little change in the RNA species during this time and a similar pattern occurred in the presence of an inhibitor of protein synthesis, indicating a block preventing postreplicative gene expression. Moreover, a considerable number of MOCV RNAs mapped to homologs of orthopoxvirus early genes, but few did so to homologs of intermediate or late genes. The RNAs made during in vitro infections represent a subset of RNAs detected in human skin lesions which mapped to homologs of numerous postreplicative as well as early orthopoxvirus genes. Transfection experiments using fluorescent protein and luciferase reporters demonstrated that vaccinia virus recognized MOCV intermediate and late promoters, indicating similar gene regulation. The specific recognition of the intermediate promoter in MOCV-infected cells provided evidence for the synthesis of intermediate transcription factors, which are products of early genes, but not for late transcription factors. Transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) and reporter gene assays may be useful for testing engineered cell lines and conditions that ultimately could provide an in vitro replication system.
IMPORTANCE
The inability to propagate molluscum contagiosum virus, which causes benign skin lesions in young children and more extensive infections in immunosuppressed adults, has constrained our understanding of the biology of this human-specific virus. In the present study, we characterized the RNAs synthesized in abortively infected cultured cells and a human skin lesion by next-generation sequencing. These studies provided an initial transcription map of the MOCV genome, suggested temporal regulation of gene expression, and indicated that the in vitro replication block occurs prior to intermediate and late gene expression. RNA-seq and reporter assays, as described here, may help to further evaluate MOCV gene expression and define conditions that could enable MOCV replication in vitro.
Topics: Cell Line; Cells, Cultured; Computational Biology; Consensus Sequence; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; Gene Order; Genes, Viral; Genome, Viral; Humans; Molecular Sequence Annotation; Molluscum Contagiosum; Molluscum contagiosum virus; Promoter Regions, Genetic; RNA, Viral; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Transcriptome
PubMed: 26889040
DOI: 10.1128/JVI.02911-15 -
Virology Jul 1995The DNA-dependent RNA polymerase (DdRP) is an essential enzyme for transcription of molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV), a member of the family Poxviridae which replicates...
Identification and properties of the genes encoding the poly(A) polymerase and a small (22 kDa) and the largest subunit (147 kDa) of the DNA-dependent RNA polymerase of molluscum contagiosum virus.
The DNA-dependent RNA polymerase (DdRP) is an essential enzyme for transcription of molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV), a member of the family Poxviridae which replicates in the cytoplasm of the infected cell. Using PCR technology and oligonucleotide primers, corresponding to two conserved domains (RQP[T/S]LH and NADFDGDE) of known largest subunits of eucaryotic and procaryotic DNA-dependent RNA polymerases, the DdRP gene of the genome of molluscum contagiosum virus type 1 (MCV-1) was identified and characterized. The oligonucleotide primers were designed according to the coding usage statistics of known open reading frames of the viral genome. The gene for the largest subunit of DdRP was localized within the DNA sequences of a part of the BamHI DNA fragment A (BamHI/HindIII DNA fragment A8a; 13.5 kbp, 0.454 to 0.525 viral map units) of the MCV-1 genome. The DNA nucleotide sequence analysis of a part (6709 bp) of this DNA fragment revealed the presence of 12 open reading frames (ORFs). It was found that ORF-4 (nucleotide position (NP) 2586 to 6452) and ORF-1 (NP 1192 to 1752) encode two polypeptides comprising 1289 (147 kDa) and 187 (22 kDa) amino acid residues, respectively. The comparative analysis of the amino acid sequences of these ORFs to the amino acid sequences of two subunits (RPO1, 147 kDa and RPO6, 22 kDa) of the DdRP of vaccinia virus revealed high amino acid sequence identity/similarity of about 71.9/21.5% and 46.5/39.6%, respectively. In addition it was found that the putative gene position of ORF-11, which is located on the lower strand between the loci of the ORF-1 and ORF-4 (NP 4256 to 4657, 134 aa, 15 kDa), is similar to the genomic arrangement of the J5L protein of vaccinia virus and L5L of variola virus. The value of amino acid sequence identity/similarity between the product of ORF-11 and the corresponding gene of vaccinia virus (J5L) was found to be 43.2/28.8%. The analysis of the amino acid sequence deduced from ORF-3 (NP 261 to 1289, 343 aa, 40 kDa), which is located upstream from the locus of the RPO6 of the MCV-1 genome, showed significant identity/similarity (47.5/35.7%) to the amino acid sequence of the 40-kDa subunit of the poly(A) polymerase (PAP2) of vaccinia virus. The arrangement of the identified loci of the PAP2, RPO6, ORF-11, and RPO1 of the genome of MCV-1 shows that this particular genomic region of the mollucsum contagiosum virus and vaccina virus is colinear.
Topics: Amino Acid Sequence; Base Sequence; Cloning, Molecular; DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases; Genes, Viral; Molecular Sequence Data; Molluscum contagiosum virus; Open Reading Frames; Sequence Alignment; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
PubMed: 7618282
DOI: 10.1006/viro.1995.1364 -
PloS One 2014Molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV) is a significant but underreported skin pathogen for children and adults. Seroprevalence studies can help establish burden of disease....
Molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV) is a significant but underreported skin pathogen for children and adults. Seroprevalence studies can help establish burden of disease. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based studies have been published for Australian and Japanese populations and the results indicate seroprevalences between 6 and 22 percent in healthy individuals, respectively. To investigate seroprevalence in Europe, we have developed a recombinant ELISA using a truncated MCV virion surface protein MC084 (V123-R230) expressed in E. coli. The ELISA was found to be sensitive and specific, with low inter- and intra-assay variability. Sera from 289 German adults and children aged 0-40 years (median age 21 years) were analysed for antibodies against MC084 by direct binding ELISA. The overall seropositivity rate was found to be 14.8%. The seropositivity rate was low in children below the age of one (4.5%), peaked in children aged 2-10 years (25%), and fell again in older populations (11-40 years; 12.5%). Ten out of 33 healthy UK individuals (30.3%; median age 27 years) had detectable MC084 antibodies. MCV seroconversion was more common in dermatological and autoimmune disorders, than in immunocompromised patients or in patients with multiple sclerosis. Overall MCV seroprevalence is 2.1 fold higher in females than in males in a UK serum collection. German seroprevalences determined in the MC084 ELISA (14.8%) are at least three times higher than incidence of MC in a comparable Swiss population (4.9%). While results are not strictly comparable, this is lower than Australian seroprevalence in a virion based ELISA (n = 357; 23%; 1999), but higher than the seroprevalence reported in a Japanese study using an N-terminal truncation of MC133 (n = 108, 6%; 2000. We report the first large scale serological survey of MC in Europe (n = 393) and the first MCV ELISA based on viral antigen expressed in E. coli.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Antigens, Viral; Child; Child, Preschool; Cloning, Molecular; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Escherichia coli; Female; Germany; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Male; Middle Aged; Molluscum contagiosum virus; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Solubility; United Kingdom; Viral Proteins; Young Adult
PubMed: 24558417
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0088734