Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.1.21 (thymidine kinase)
 7,561 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Bovine herpes mammillitis virus or bovine herpesvirus type 2 (BHV-2) causes ulcerative lesions on the teats and udders of infected cows. Since no commercial vaccine is available for this disease, we investigated certain experimental BHV-2 vaccines against this virus in infected guinea pigs. Vaginally infected guinea pigs get severe, self-limiting vaginal infections characterized by erythema and swelling and the production of measurable vaginal virus titers. Two vaccine approaches were investigated: vaccination with wild-type (WT) virus by the subcutaneous route, and vaccination either subcutaneously or intravaginally with a thymidine kinase (TK) deficient (TK-) virus. The TK- strain was prepared by passage of BHV-2 in the presence of the potent TK-dependent antiviral agent 1-(2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl)-5-methyluracil (FMAU). The antiviral activity of FMAU against the virus in plaque reduction assays changed from 0.05 to 2 microM at the same time that the TK activity of the mutant virus decrease to 7% of WT virus TK activity. Subcutaneous vaccination of guinea pigs with WT and TK- viruses did not induce vaginal infection. Primary vaginal infection (vaccination) with the TK- virus led to greatly reduced lesion severity compared to vaginal infection with the WT virus. However, the amount of vaginal virus titers recovered during these primary infections was similar for both TK- and WT viruses, indicating that both viruses had equal infecting potential. Thirty days after vaccination the animals were re-infected intravaginally with WT virus. The vaccinated animals showed dramatically reduced lesion severity and low recoverable virus titers compared to age-matched nonvaccinated animals.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
 ...
PMID:Vaccination against bovine herpes mammillitis virus infections in guinea pigs. 792 85

A retroviral vector carrying both positive (neo) and negative (herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase or HSV-tk) selection markers was constructed as a substrate for mutational assay in mammalian cells. Using a population of rat fibroblast cells carrying a single copy per cell of retroviral DNA randomly integrated in their chromosomes, we examined the cytotoxic and mutagenic activities of ultraviolet light (UV) at four wavelengths (254, 290, 300, and 320 nm). The action spectra for these activities are similar to some of the previously reported spectra for photochemical DNA modifications, erythema, cell killing, and mouse skin carcinogenesis, except at 290 and 320 nm. At 290 nm, no significant mutagenicity was observed. At 320 nm, both cytotoxic and mutagenic activities were 10 times higher than the values expected from the absorption spectrum for DNA and the action spectrum for bacterial inactivation and mutagenesis. Structural comparison of some of the HSV-tk mutants obtained after irradiation with 300 and 320 nm UV revealed partially different patterns of mutation specificity, suggesting the involvement of multiple molecular mechanisms in the genotoxicity associated with this range of UV.
 ...
PMID:Cytotoxicity and mutagenicity of UVB assessed using cultured rat fibroblast. 1070 53