Looks Like Emory Found It~~~Good News!!!!!

[Navid]

http://www.plosone.org/article/info...onid=159E155669BA4FC9765C02D8E1CDCFD3.ambra01



PLoS ONE: Antibody Responses against Xenotropic Murine Leukemia Virus-Related Virus Envelope in a Mu
www.plosone.org

 

[Bevbh]

I do think this study is good news but from what I can understand of the article, they did not find XMRV in any patient populations. They created XMRV pseudoviruses and studied how mice reacted to them. It is pretty technical stuff, way over my head, but it sounds like standard retrovirus studying procedures so I think it is positive because it shows they are taking XMRV seriously. They kind of emphasized the prostate cancer aspects in the discussion of the background which is OK by me if it gets the thing studied. I didnt read enough to know if they considered this a step in creating a mouse model of prostate cancer but it was interesting that they said the antibody production went down after several weeks which is the same thing they saw in the monkeys given XMRV.

 

[Ernie]

It shows why they could be having trouble finding it in other studies with serology. This study said: "The relatively rapid diminution in antibody levels may in part explain the differing prevalences reported for XMRV in various prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome cohorts. And also said "the low level of immunogenicity observed in the present study may be characteristic of a natural XMRV infection in humans." Like the Rhesus study.

 

[taniaaust1]

Those first two links now dont work and I cant find it on PloS ONE.

 

[Navid]

try cutting and pasting 1st link into your browser.

sorry they do not work for you, both work for me.

mod: should title be edited? whatever u feel is more accurate.

 

[alex3619]

I still have not read the entire paper, but it looks like XMRV initially targets B cell capacity to make antibodies. This might be linked to the lack of mature B cells that the WPI have found. An interesting question is how far does this go - are antibody titres irrelevant in assessing infection levels in ME/CFS. For example, does EBV viral load not correlate with EBV antibody titres?

PS That question is largely rhetorical in case anyone is wondering.

 

[Enid]

Sounds great news in this line of research for us - all the more understanding too.

 

[ixchelkali]

How can they study a xenotropic murine virus-like virus in a mouse model?

Also, it says

Vaccine-induced XMRV Env antibody titers were transiently high, but their duration was short. The relatively rapid diminution in antibody levels may in part explain the differing prevalences reported for XMRV in various prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome cohorts. The low level of immunogenicity observed in the present study may be characteristic of a natural XMRV infection in humans.

I don't see how that accounts for the differing prevalence reports, when those reports weren't looking for antibodies, they were mostly PCR studies.

It's an interesting study, but I don't understand their conclusion. Or their mouse model.

 

[Gemini]

How can they study a xenotropic murine virus-like virus in a mouse model?

ix,

Mayo Clinic discovered a mouse strain that can be used as an XMRV model,
J Virology Feb 2011:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21084477

Suitable for XMRV pathogenesis, vaccine and drug development....

 

[Gemini]

"Abstract" of the Mayo Clinic XMRV mouse model article:


J Virol. 2011 Feb;85(3):1205-13. Epub 2010 Nov 17.
Early events in retrovirus XMRV infection of the wild-derived mouse Mus pahari.
Sakuma T, Tonne JM, Squillace KA, Ohmine S, Thatava T, Peng KW, Barry MA, Ikeda Y.

Department of Molecular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Guggenheim 18-11c, 200 First Street, SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.

Abstract
A novel gammaretrovirus, xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV), has been identified in patients with prostate cancer and in patients with chronic fatigue syndromes. Standard Mus musculus laboratory mice lack a functional XPR1 receptor for XMRV and are therefore not a suitable model for the virus. In contrast, Gairdner's shrew-mice (Mus pahari) do express functional XPR1. To determine whether Mus pahari could serve as a model for XMRV, primary Mus pahari fibroblasts and mice were infected with cell-free XMRV. Infection of cells in vitro resulted in XMRV Gag expression and the production of XMRV virions. After intraperitoneal injection of XMRV into Mus pahari mice, XMRV proviral DNA could be detected in spleen, blood, and brain. Intravenous administration of a green fluorescent protein (GFP) vector pseudotyped with XMRV produced GFP(+) CD4(+) T cells and CD19(+) B cells. Mice mounted adaptive immune responses against XMRV, as evidenced by the production of neutralizing and Env- and Gag-specific antibodies. Prominent G-to-A hypermutations were also found in viral genomes isolated from the spleen, suggesting intracellular restriction of XMRV infection by APOBEC3 in vivo. These data demonstrate infection of Mus pahari by XMRV, potential cell tropism of the virus, and immunological and intracellular restriction of virus infection in vivo. These data support the use of Mus pahari as a model for XMRV pathogenesis and as a platform for vaccine and drug development against this potential human pathogen.


My question is can this Mayo Clinic XMRV animal model be expanded to include, along with XMRV infection, co-infections(EBV, CMV, HHV-6, enteroviruses) and NK cell abnormalities seen in ME/CFS?