Preparation and application of a novel color-changing reverse-transgenic single-stage rabies virus

By rearranging and modifying the N gene of rabies virus, reducing toxicity and improving the efficiency of reverse transsynaptics, a new transformation of reverse transsingle-level rabies virus tracer tool was prepared, which solved the problems of high toxicity and low efficiency of existing tools and achieved more efficient neural circuit marking.

CN119753009APending Publication Date: 2025-04-04SHENZHEN UNIVERSITY OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY
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Patent Information

Application Number
CN202311257369.6
Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Applications(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2023-09-27
Publication Date
2025-04-04

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

The existing reverse cross-single-level synaptic tools have high toxicity and low cross-synaptic efficiency, resulting in only partial reverse labeling of upstream neural networks, making it difficult to analyze the complete structure of the neural circuit.

Method used

By rearranging and modifying the N gene sequence of rabies virus, the optiN gene is obtained, which reduces the viral toxicity and improves the efficiency of reverse cross-single-synaptics, and a new transformation of reverse cross-single-level rabies virus tracer tool is prepared.

Benefits of technology

It achieves lower toxicity and more efficient nerve cell infection, which can better mark brain neural circuits and improve the accuracy of neural circuit structure analysis.

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Abstract

The invention belongs to the field of biotechnology, and discloses the preparation and application of a novel color-changing reverse trans-monosynaptic rabies virus, and the method includes: using AscI and SacII to cut the pSADdeltaG-F3 vector, and inserting the sequence shown in SEQ ID NO.1 into the vector by homologous recombination; then using SwaI and ClaI to cut the plasmid, and inserting the sequence shown in SEQ ID NO.2 into the plasmid by homologous recombination to obtain the clone attSAD-mEos3.2; after the clone pN, pP, pG and pL are mixed and transfected into B7GG cells, EnvA cells are infected, and the cell culture medium supernatant is collected and purified. The recombinant rabies virus of the present invention can reduce the toxicity of rabies virus and improve the efficiency of reverse trans-monosynaptic, and has important practical significance and wide application value for carrying out basic research and applied research on rabies virus.
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Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the field of biotechnology, and in particular relates to the preparation and application of a novel color-changing reverse-trans single-stage rabies virus. Background Art

[0002] The human brain is one of the most complex systems in nature, and neural networks are the basis for the brain to function. The normal connection of neural networks enables the human body to produce normal physiological activities, such as cognition, learning, memory and fear; abnormal neural networks often lead to the emergence of neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, depression, etc., but there is no effective means to treat these neurological diseases. At present, normal physiological activities and pathogenic mechanisms are unclear, mainly due to the lack of information on brain neural network connections. Therefore, conducting research on brain neural circuits and drawing high-precision brain functional connection maps are of great significance for understanding human physiological activities and pathogenic mechanisms. In 2012, the Chinese Academy of Sciences launched the strategic leading scientific and technological project "Brain Functional Connection Map Research" and established the "Brain Science Excellence Innovation Center" in 2014. In 2013, the United States and the European Union have begun to implement the human brain map research program. The brain science research program is another challenging and great program after the Human Genome Project. The research results of this program will benefit mankind as much as the results of the Human Genome Project. Excellent neural circuit tracing tools play a very important role in the smooth implementation of this project.

[0003] Rabies virus belongs to the Lyssavirus genus of the Rhabdoviridae family. It can infect nerve cells and transport in neural networks. Its genome is a negative-strand RNA with a length of about 12 kb, encoding five proteins, namely N, P, M, G and L. Among them, the G protein is an outer membrane protein that is packaged into complete virus particles, but it has no effect on the replication of the virus. In 2007, Ian R. Wickersham used the rabies virus vaccine strain SAD B19 as the object, deleted the G gene, and inserted the EGFP gene into the position of the G gene to construct a visual recombinant rabies virus, and achieved in vivo labeling of neurons in the mouse brain. In 2015, Edward M. Callaway and Liqun Luo clearly pointed out that the output or input signals marked by the current neural circuit tracing tools only present a small part of the real connection. Although the rabies virus-based reverse cross-single-level synapse tool is recognized and widely used, due to the high toxicity and low cross-synaptic efficiency, only part of the upstream network is reversely labeled. Therefore, it is of great significance to establish a new attenuated, efficient, reverse transsynaptic rabies virus tracing tool. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of the shortcomings and deficiencies in the prior art, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a novel preparation and application of a color-changing reverse trans-monosynaptic rabies virus. The present invention first rearranges and modifies the rabies virus N gene sequence to obtain a novel rabies virus N gene, named optiN gene, which can reduce the toxicity of rabies virus and improve the efficiency of reverse trans-monosynaptic rabies virus, and its sequence is shown in SEQ ID NO.2, and then prepares a recombinant rabies virus expressing the novel rabies virus N gene.

[0005] The first aspect of the present invention provides a method for preparing a novel color-changing reverse-crossing single-stage rabies virus, comprising the following steps:

[0006] (1) Construction of clones: The pSADdeltaG-F3 vector was digested with AscI and SacII, and the sequence shown in SEQ ID NO.1 was inserted into the vector by homologous recombination to obtain a clone named SAD-mEos3.2; then the SAD-mEos3.2 plasmid was digested with SwaI and ClaI, and the sequence shown in SEQ ID NO.2 was inserted into the plasmid by homologous recombination to obtain a clone named attSAD-mEos3.2;

[0007] (2) Construction of recombinant rabies virus: The plasmid attSAD-mEos3.2 obtained in step (1) and auxiliary plasmids pN, pP, pG and pL were mixed and transfected into B7GG cells and then infected into EnvA cells. The cell culture medium supernatant was collected and purified to obtain a novel color-changing reverse trans-monochromic rabies virus.

[0008] The second aspect of the present invention provides a novel color-changing reverse-trans single-stage rabies virus prepared by the above-mentioned preparation method.

[0009] The third aspect of the present invention provides the use of the novel color-changing reverse-trans single-stage rabies virus in tracing the brain neural circuits of mammals.

[0010] The fourth aspect of the present invention provides the use of the novel color-changing reverse-trans single-stage rabies virus in studying the mechanism of drug inhibition of rabies virus.

[0011] The fifth aspect of the present invention provides the use of the novel color-changing reverse-crossing single-stage rabies virus in the development of rabies virus vaccine.

[0012] The sixth aspect of the present invention provides the use of the novel color-changing reverse-trans single-stage rabies virus in the establishment of an animal model of rabies virus infection.

[0013] The seventh aspect of the present invention provides the use of the novel color-changing reverse-trans single-stage rabies virus in the analysis of rabies virus replication and pathogenic mechanism.

[0014] The eighth aspect of the present invention provides the use of the novel color-changing reverse-crossing single-stage rabies virus in establishing a drug screening platform for rabies virus.

[0015] Due to the adoption of the above technical solution, the beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0016] (1) Analyzing the structure of neural circuits is the basis for conducting brain science research, and good tools for neural circuit labeling are of great significance for analyzing the structure of neural circuits. The optiN gene obtained by rearranging and modifying the rabies virus N gene sequence in the present invention can reduce the toxicity of rabies virus and improve the efficiency of rabies virus reverse transsynaptic. It can be used as a neural circuit labeling tool to facilitate related research.

[0017] (2) The present invention prepares a novel color-changing reverse trans-synaptic rabies virus tracing tool based on the optiN gene, which has low toxicity and can better help the rabies virus reverse transsynapse, facilitating related research.

[0018] (3) The present invention has important practical significance and broad application value for conducting basic research (such as pathogenic mechanism, replication mechanism, etc.) and applied research (such as neural circuit labeling, cell gene therapy, oncolytic virus, new vaccines and diagnostic reagents, etc.) on rabies virus. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0020] Figure 1 The figure is a schematic diagram of the construction of a novel color-changing reverse cross-single-stage rabies virus clone of the present invention, wherein A represents the backbone plasmid pSADdeltaG-F3, B represents the intermediate plasmid SAD-mEos3.2, C represents the target plasmid attSAD-mEos3.2 of the present invention, MCS represents the multiple cloning site, N, P, M and L represent the four proteins encoded by the rabies virus, respectively, mEos3.2 represents the color-changing fluorescent protein gene, and optiN is the rabies virus N gene after sequence rearrangement and modification.

[0021] Figure 2The figure is a schematic diagram of the packaging process of the novel color-changing reverse trans-single-stage rabies virus of the present invention, wherein plasmid A is the core plasmid, i.e., the target plasmid attSAD-mEos3.2 of the present invention, and plasmid B, plasmid C, plasmid D and plasmid E are respectively the auxiliary plasmids pN, pP, pG and pL for packaging rabies virus; the cells used for transfection are B7GG cells, and the cells used for infection are EnvA cells.

[0022] Figure 3 This is a display diagram of the color change effect of the new color-changing reverse-crossing single-stage rabies virus of the present invention before and after ultraviolet light irradiation, wherein A is the expression of fluorescent protein before ultraviolet light irradiation, and B is the expression of fluorescent protein after ultraviolet light irradiation.

[0023] Figure 4 This is a diagram showing the effect of reducing toxicity of the new color-changing reverse cross-single-stage rabies virus of the present invention, wherein A is the toxicity of the existing rabies virus after infecting cells, and B is the toxicity of the recombinant rabies virus constructed by the present invention after infecting cells.

[0024] Figure 5 The results are a comparison of the trans-synaptic efficiency of the novel color-changing reverse trans-single-stage rabies virus of the present invention and the trans-synaptic efficiency of the existing rabies virus. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] The embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the examples, and the described examples are only some examples of the present invention, rather than all examples. The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is actually only illustrative and is by no means intended to limit the present invention and its application or use. Based on the examples in the present invention, all other examples obtained by ordinary technicians in the field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0026] Unless otherwise specified, the instruments and materials used in the following examples are all routinely used in laboratories, and the technical solutions described are all routine techniques in the art.

[0027] Example 1: Obtaining the optiN gene sequence

[0028] The present invention is based on the whole genome sequence information GRCm38 of mice, and the method established by Coleman JR (Coleman JR et al., Science. 2008) is used to calculate the preference value of codon pairs. The so-called codon pair preference value refers to: in the long-term evolution process between the virus and the host (which has adapted to the host characteristics), the codon pairs of the genome encoding proteins have species-dependent preferences, such as the codon pair combinations of the amino acid pair AE are GCTGAA, GCTGAG, GCCGAA, GCCGAG, GCAGAA, GCAGAG, GCGGAA and GCGGAG, respectively. The usage frequencies of these codon pairs in different hosts vary greatly, that is, a certain codon pair has a preference in a certain species. Therefore, taking a certain species as the object, the protein expression level can be improved by using high-frequency codon pairs, thereby obtaining the whole gene codon pair preference value of mice. To address the bottleneck issues of high toxicity and low transsynaptic efficiency of rabies virus, which is widely used for reverse labeling of neural circuits, the rabies virus N gene was used as the object for sequence rearrangement and modification to obtain a new sequence, named optiN gene, whose sequence is shown in SEQ ID NO.2.

[0029] Example 2: Preparation of a novel color-changing reverse-transgenic single-stage rabies virus

[0030] 1. Construction of clones

[0031] The pSADdeltaG-F3 (Addgene #32634) vector was digested with AscI and SacII, and the sequence shown in SEQ ID NO.1 was inserted into the vector by homologous recombination to obtain a clone named SAD-mEos3.2; then the SAD-mEos3.2 plasmid was digested with SwaI and ClaI, and the sequence shown in SEQ ID NO.2 was inserted into the plasmid by homologous recombination to obtain a clone named attSAD-mEos3.2.

[0032] Primers for amplifying corresponding sequences: (a) Primers for amplifying SEQ ID NO.1 are SEQ ID NO.3 and SEQ ID NO.4, and the template is SEQ ID NO.1; (b) Primers for amplifying SEQ ID NO.2 are SEQ ID NO.5 and SEQ ID NO.6, and the template is SEQ ID NO.2.

[0033] The primers used in the PCR of the present invention were all synthesized by Sangon Biotechnology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., and the constructed clones were sequenced and verified by Sangon Biotechnology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

[0034] 2. Construction of recombinant rabies virus

[0035] (1) Preparation of recombinant rabies virus packaged by G

[0036] One day in advance, B7GG cells (Osakada F and Callaway EM. Nature Protocols. 2013.) were digested with trypsin (purchased from Thermo Fisher Scientific) and plated on a 15 cm culture dish for adherent culture. The cell confluence was about 80% during transfection. The five plasmids required for packaging rabies virus, namely core plasmid A (attSAD-mEos3.2 or SAD-mEos3.2, where SAD-mEos3.2 was used as a control experiment), pN plasmid B, pP plasmid C, pG plasmid D, and pL plasmid E (sources of pN, pP, pG, and pL refer to "Osakada F and Callaway EM. Nature Protocols. 2013"), were transfected into B7GG cells using transfection reagent lipo2000 (purchased from Thermo Fisher Scientific). After transfection, the culture supernatant was collected to obtain the recombinant rabies virus packaged by G protein. The packaging process is as follows: Figure 2 shown.

[0037] Next, the virus titer was determined by taking 15 μL of the collected supernatant and adding it to a 1.5 mL centrifuge tube, adding 135 μL of culture medium to 150 μL, and then diluting it by 10-fold dilution. 100 μL of the original solution and the diluted virus were taken to infect 293T cells (purchased from ATCC). Since the recombinant rabies virus can express color-changing fluorescent protein, the virus titer was calculated by recording the number of cells expressing color-changing fluorescent protein observed under a microscope.

[0038] (2) Preparation of recombinant rabies virus packaged by EnvA

[0039] One day in advance, the EnvA cells (Osakada F and Callaway EM. Nature Protocols. 2013.) were digested with trypsin and plated on a 15 cm culture dish for adherent culture. The cell confluence was about 90% during infection. The recombinant rabies virus packaged by G prepared in step (1) above was used to infect the cells expressing EnvA. After infection, the culture supernatant was collected to obtain the recombinant rabies virus packaged by EnvA. The packaging process is as follows: Figure 2 shown.

[0040] Next, the virus titer was determined by taking 15 μL of the collected supernatant and adding it to a 1.5 mL centrifuge tube, adding 135 μL of culture medium to 150 μL, and then diluting it by 10-fold dilution. 100 μL of the original solution and the diluted virus were taken to infect TVA800 cells (Osakada F and Callaway EM. Nature Protocols. 2013.). Since the recombinant rabies virus can express color-changing fluorescent protein, the virus titer was calculated by recording the number of cells expressing color-changing fluorescent protein observed under a microscope.

[0041] Example 3: Fluorescence color change test of novel color-changing reverse-crossing single-stage rabies virus

[0042] 100 μL of the recombinant rabies virus (attSAD-mEos3.2) expressing the color-changing fluorescent protein packaged by G in Example 2 of the present invention was taken to infect B7GG cells, and the expression of fluorescence was observed at different time points. When obvious green fluorescence was seen, the cells expressing the green fluorescent protein were irradiated with ultraviolet light under a microscope, and red fluorescence was observed. The observation results are as follows: Figure 3 As shown, green fluorescent protein signals can be seen after the recombinant rabies virus infects the cells, and red fluorescent protein signals can be seen after irradiation with ultraviolet light.

[0043] The results of this example show that the new color-changing reverse cross-single-stage rabies virus tracing tool prepared by the present invention can efficiently complete the color change, that is, from green to red, and has the ability to mark brain neural circuits.

[0044] Example 4: Toxicity testing of a novel color-changing reverse-crossing single-stage rabies virus

[0045] Take 0.15 μL of the recombinant rabies virus expressing the color-changing fluorescent protein packaged by G (i.e., attSAD-mEos3.2 and SAD-mEos3.2) in Example 2 of the present invention, and inject them into the ventral hippocampus of mice (purchased from Guangdong Weitong Lihua Experimental Animal Technology Co., Ltd.). After 21 days, anesthetize the animals, perfuse with 0.9% (V / V) saline, and then fix with 4% (V / V) paraformaldehyde. Take out the brain tissue and immerse it in 4% (V / V) paraformaldehyde solution. Then, place the brain tissue in 20% (V / V) sucrose solution for 1 day, and then place it in 30% (V / V) sucrose solution for 2 days; cut the bottom of the brain tissue flat, place it on a base, embed and freeze it for 1 hour, and then slice it; take the brain slices and observe them under a fluorescence microscope. The observation results are as follows: Figure 4 As shown, after the recombinant virus was injected into the mouse brain, the color-changing fluorescent protein signal was visible. Figure 4 The injection areas of A and 4B show that the recombinant virus can mediate the expression of foreign proteins in mouse brain neurons; Figure 4A has a smaller number of fluorescent cells, indicating that the rabies virus in the current field causes neuronal cell death due to its high toxicity; Figure 4 The number of fluorescent signals of B is obviously large, indicating that the toxicity of the recombinant rabies virus of the present invention is significantly reduced compared with the current existing technology.

[0046] The results of this example show that the new color-changing reverse cross-single-stage rabies virus tracing tool prepared by the present invention can infect nerve cells with lower toxicity and high efficiency, and has the ability to mark brain neural circuits.

[0047] Example 5: Transsynaptic testing of a novel color-changing reverse-transgenic monolayer rabies virus

[0048] 0.1 μL of recombinant adeno-associated virus expressing G and TVA (purchased from Wuhan Shumi Brain Science Technology Co., Ltd.) was injected into the ventral hippocampus of the mouse. 21 days after infection, 0.15 μL of the recombinant rabies virus expressing color-changing fluorescent protein packaged by EnvA in Example 2 of the present invention (i.e., attSAD-mEos3.2 and SAD-mEos3.2) was injected into the area where the recombinant adeno-associated virus had been injected. After 14 days, the animals were anesthetized, perfused with 0.9% (V / V) saline, and then fixed with 4% (V / V) paraformaldehyde. The brain tissue was taken out and immersed in 4% (V / V) paraformaldehyde solution, and then placed in 20% (V / V) sucrose solution for 1 day, and then placed in 30% (V / V) sucrose solution for 2 days; the bottom of the brain tissue was cut flat, placed on a base, embedded and frozen for 1 hour, and then sliced; after taking the brain slices, a fluorescence microscope was used to observe and count the fluorescent cells, thereby analyzing the transsynaptic efficiency. The results are as follows Figure 5 As shown, after the recombinant virus is injected into the mouse brain, the number of rabies viruses that cross synapses is significantly increased compared with the current prior art. The ordinate in the figure is the transsynaptic efficiency index, and it is found that the transsynaptic efficiency of the recombinant rabies virus of the present invention is significantly higher than that of the rabies virus in the current field.

[0049] The results of this example show that the new color-changing reverse cross-single-stage rabies virus tracing tool prepared by the present invention can be more efficiently transported in the neural network and has the ability to mark brain neural circuits.

[0050] The above contents are further detailed descriptions of the present application in combination with specific implementation methods, and it cannot be determined that the specific implementation of the present application is limited to these descriptions. For ordinary technicians in the technical field to which the present application belongs, several simple deductions or substitutions can be made without departing from the concept of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for preparing a novel color-changing reverse-crossing single-stage rabies virus, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: (1) Construction of clones: The pSADdeltaG-F3 vector was digested with AscI and SacII, and the sequence shown in SEQ ID NO.1 was inserted into the vector by homologous recombination to obtain a clone named SAD-mEos3.2; then the SAD-mEos3.2 plasmid was digested with SwaI and ClaI, and the sequence shown in SEQ ID NO.2 was inserted into the plasmid by homologous recombination to obtain a clone named attSAD-mEos3.2; (2) Construction of recombinant rabies virus: The plasmid attSAD-mEos3.2 obtained in step (1) and auxiliary plasmids pN, pP, pG and pL were mixed and transfected into B7GG cells and then infected into EnvA cells. The cell culture medium supernatant was collected and purified to obtain a novel color-changing reverse trans-monochromic rabies virus.

2. The novel color-changing reverse-trans single-stage rabies virus prepared by the preparation method of claim 1.

3. Use of the novel color-changing reverse-transgenic single-stage rabies virus according to claim 2 in tracing brain neural circuits in mammals.

4. Use of the novel color-changing reverse-trans-monochromic rabies virus according to claim 2 in studying the mechanism of drug inhibition of rabies virus.

5. Use of the novel color-changing reverse-trans-monochromic rabies virus according to claim 2 in the development of rabies virus vaccine.

6. Use of the novel color-changing reverse-trans single-stage rabies virus according to claim 2 in establishing an animal model of rabies virus infection.

7. Use of the novel color-changing reverse-trans-monochromic rabies virus according to claim 2 in the analysis of rabies virus replication and pathogenic mechanism.

8. Use of the novel color-changing reverse-trans-single-stage rabies virus according to claim 2 in establishing a drug screening platform for rabies virus.