Nucleic Acids ResNucleic Acids ResnarnarNucleic Acids Research0305-10481362-4962Oxford University Press23254333356196610.1093/nar/gks986gks986RNAVaccinia and influenza A viruses select rather than adjust tRNAs to optimize
translationPavon-EternodMariana1DavidAlexandre1DittmarKimberly2BerglundPeter1PanTao2BenninkJack R.1YewdellJonathan W.1*1Laboratory of Viral Diseases, National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, MD 20892 and 2Department of Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA*To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +301
402 4602; Fax: +301 480 4802; Email: jyewdell@nih.gov
The authors wish it to be known that, in their opinion, the first two authors should be
regarded as joint First Authors.
22013181220121812201241319141921317201214920122092012Published by Oxford University Press 2012.2012This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
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Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) are central to protein synthesis and impact translational speed and
fidelity by their abundance. Here we examine the extent to which viruses manipulate tRNA
populations to favor translation of their own genes. We study two very different viruses:
influenza A virus (IAV), a medium-sized (13 kB genome) RNA virus; and vaccinia virus (VV),
a large (200 kB genome) DNA virus. We show that the total cellular tRNA population remains
unchanged following viral infection, whereas the polysome-associated tRNA population
changes dramatically in a virus-specific manner. The changes in polysome-associated tRNA
levels reflect the codon usage of viral genes, suggesting the existence of local tRNA
pools optimized for viral translation.
INTRODUCTION
Viruses are wholly dependent on the host translation machinery to synthesize their
proteins. Consequently, viral codon usage is thought to be under selective pressure to adapt
to the host cell transfer RNA (tRNA) pool. Since host codon usage generally reflects the
host tRNA pool (1,2), viral translation should be most efficient when viral codon
usage is similar to that of the host genes. In many cases, however, viral codon usage seems
poorly adapted to that of its host (3–5). For example, Influenza A viruses
(IAVs) have a GC-poor genome and favor A/U-ending codons (6,7). The reason for
this codon bias remains an open question, often approached from an evolutionary perspective.
Numerous studies have attributed codon usage bias to translational selection, mutational
bias and genetic drift (8–11). Matching viral and
host codon usage can enhance translation of viral proteins and increase immunogenicity
(12–17).
Host codon usage or tRNA gene copy numbers are frequently used as a proxy for cellular tRNA
levels. These proxies are typically highly inaccurate. tRNA levels fluctuate based on cell
type and environmental conditions. For example, a study of tissue-specific tRNA expression
revealed distinct widely divergent tRNA expression patterns in all tissues examined (18). Distinct tRNA expression patters have been
reported in many transformed cell types, including cells transformed by viruses (19–22).
Viruses display a tremendous interest in translation, rapidly altering a number of
translational components while shifting translation from host to viral mRNAs (23,24). We reported that infection of cultured human cells with adenovirus, vaccinia
virus (VV) or IAV alters tRNA acylation specificity, essentially altering the genetic code
(25). These findings prompt the question of
whether viruses also modulate tRNA populations to enhance viral protein synthesis.
To answer this question, here we use tRNA microarray technology to measure tRNA levels in
cells infected with two completely distinct viruses: IAV, a negative-strand RNA virus and
VV, a double-stranded DNA virus.
MATERIALS AND METHODSCells and infections
HeLa cells (American Type Culture Collection) were cultured in DMEM supplemented with
7.5% FBS.
IAV infection
HeLa cells were grown to 60–70% confluency and infected with the Influenza
A/Puerto Rico/8/34 strain at a multiplicity of 10 in Autopow infection medium, pH 6.6.
After adsorption at 37°C for 1 h, infected monolayers were overlaid with DMEM
supplemented with 7.5% FBS and incubated for an additional 5 h.
VV infection
HeLa cells were grown to 60–70% confluency and infected with VV WR at a
multiplicity of 10 in saline supplemented with 0.1% BSA. After adsorption at
37°C for 1 h, infected monolayers were overlaid with DMEM supplemented with
7.5% FBS and incubated for an additional 5 h.
RNA isolationTotal cellular RNA
Total RNA was extracted from HeLa cells 6 h post-infection by the TRIzol method
(Invitrogen).
Polysome RNA
HeLa cells 6 h post-infection were trypsinized in the presence of emetine (25 μg/ml,
EMD) and re-suspended in ice-cold polysome lysis buffer (50 mM Tris–HCl pH 7.5, 5
mM MgCl2, 25 mM KCl, 0.2 M sucrose, 1% NP-40, 10 u/ml RNaseOUT). Cell
lysate was transferred to Lysing Matrix D tubes (MP Biomedical) and vortexed 1 min at
4°C. The lysate was clarified by spinning 10 min at 14 000 rpm at 4°C. The
supernatant was loaded on a sucrose density gradient (15–50% w/v) prepared
in SW41 tubes (Beckman) and spun at 4°C, 35 000 rpm for 2.5 h. Sucrose solutions
were prepared in gradient buffer (50 mM Tris–HCl pH 7.5, 5 mM MgCl2, 25
mM KCl, 100 μg/ml cycloheximide, 10 u/ml RNaseOUT). Twenty one fractions were
collected manually from the top of the gradient and the OD260 of each fraction measured
by nanodrop (Thermo Scientific). The polysome fractions were pooled and centrifuged for
2 h at 40 000 rpm in T100.1 tubes to pellet the ribosomes. Polysome RNA was then
extracted from the ribosome pellet following the TRIzol method (Invitrogen).
tRNA microarrays
The tRNA microarray experiment consists of four steps starting from total or polysome
RNA: (i) deacylation to remove any amino acids still attached to the tRNA; (ii) selective
fluorophore labeling of tRNA; (iii) hybridization; and (iv) data analysis. The
reproducibility of the tRNA microarray method and result validation by northern blots have
been extensively described in previously published papers.
Deacylation
Total or polysome RNA (0.25 μg/μl) was spiked with three tRNA transcript
standards (Escherichia coli tRNALys,
E. coli tRNATyr and Saccharomyces
cerevisiae tRNAPhe) at 0.67 pmol each per μg RNA. The mixture
was incubated in 100 mM Tris–HCl pH 9.0 at 37°C for 30 min, then neutralized
by the addition of an equal volume of 100 mM sodium acetate/acetic acid, 100 mM NaCl at
pH 4.8. After ethanol precipitation, deacylated RNA was dissolved in water and its
integrity verified by agarose gel electrophoresis.
Fluorophore labeling
tRNA in each sample was selectively labeled with either Cy3 or Alexa647 using an
enzymatic ligation method previously described. The labeling oligonucleotide consists of
an 8 bp RNA:DNA hybrid helix containing a Cy3 or Alexa647 fluorophore in the loop and an
overhang complementary to the 3′CCA nucleotides universally conserved in all
tRNAs. The ligation reaction was carried out overnight at 16°C with 1 u/μl T4 DNA
ligase (USB Corp) and 9 μM labeling oligonucleotide.
Hybridization
1–2.5 μg of labeled RNA were hybridized on commercially printed custom
microarrays (Microarrays Inc.). Hybridization was performed in a DigiLab GeneMachines
Hyb4 at 60°C for 16 h. Each sample array was hybridized with an infected sample and
uninfected control sample as a reference, labeled with Cy3 or Alexa647. The control
array was hybridized with uninfected control sample labeled with Cy3 and Alexa647.
Data analysis
Arrays were scanned using a GenePix 4000b scanner (Axon Instruments). For both Cy3 and
Alexa647, PMT gain was set at 600 and power at 100%. These settings were chosen
to provide optimal signal without saturation. Array images were generated and analysed
using GenePix 6.0 software. GenePix adaptive circle spot segmentation was used for image
analysis. To account for differences in labeling and hybridization efficiencies, the
following normalization procedure was applied to each probe: (i) average Alexa647/Cy3
ratios were calculated from all the replicate spots for each probe; (ii) the sample
array Alexa647/Cy3 ratio was normalized to the corresponding control array Alexa647/Cy3
ratio; and (iii) the obtained value was divided by the average of the Alexa647/Cy3
ratios of the three tRNA standards spiked in at the deacylation step.
S35 labeling
HeLa cells were trypsinized and washed twice in methionine-free DMEM (Invitrogen).
Approximately 106 cells were incubated for 5 min at 37°C in methionine-free
DMEM supplemented with 0.1 mCi/ml S35-methionine (Perkin Elmer). Cells were
washed twice with ice-cold PBS supplemented with 100 μg/ml cycloheximide and
re-suspended in 500 μl lysis buffer (1X PBS, 1% NP-40, Roche Mini Protease
Inhibitor). Lysate was incubated on ice for 15 min prior to loading on a NuPAGE 10%
Bis-Tris gel (Invitrogen) or TCA precipitation. S35-labeled products were
visualized on a phosphorimager (Typhoon, Amersham Biosciences) and analysed using ImageJ
software (http://rsbweb.nih.gov/ij/). For TCA
precipitation, 5 μl of each sample was applied per spot of a 96-well filter mat (six
replicates per sample). After drying at 60°C, the mat was incubated in 10% TCA
for 30 min at room temperature and washed twice in 70% ethanol (10 min per wash).
The mat was again dried at 60°C and placed in a scintillation bag with 5 ml
scintillation liquid (Betaplate Scint, Perkin Elmer). Radioactivity was quantitated using
a liquid scintillation counter (1450 MicroBeta Lux, Perkin Elmer).
tRNA—codon usage analysisRelative tRNA abundance
Relative tRNA abundances were measured using the tRNA microarray method described
above. Our tRNA microarray measurements reflect changes in tRNA abundance relative to
the uninfected control sample rather than absolute tRNA abundances because (i) all
arrays include the control sample; and (ii) all data are normalized to the control. Only
tRNA isoacceptors uniquely detected by one tRNA probe were used for tRNA—codon
usage analysis. For example, the three proline tRNA isoacceptors are detected by a
single probe on the tRNA microarray and so were excluded from the analysis.
Codon usage
The VV WR (AY243312.1) and IAV A/Puerto Rico/8/34/Mount Sinai (H1N1) (AF389115.1
through AF389122.1) complete sequences were downloaded from NCBI. Coding sequences were
extracted and codon usage was calculated using the Sequence Manipulation Suite (version
2, http://www.bioinformatics.org/sms2/). Human codon usage for all human
genes was obtained from the Codon Usage Database (http://www.kazusa.or.jp/codon/). Amino acids read by only one codon (e.g.
AUG for Met and UGG for Trp) and stop codons were excluded from tRNA—codon usage
analysis.
tRNA—codon usage correlations
Viral and human codon usage were expressed as frequency per 1000 codons. Because a
given tRNA isoacceptor may decode more than one mRNA codon (wobble), a converted codon
usage was used for further analysis. The codon frequencies of all the codons decoded by
a given tRNA were added together to obtain the converted codon usage corresponding to
that tRNA. Viral converted codon usage was normalized to human converted codon usage,
reflecting relative rather than absolute codon usage. This normalization was necessary
because the tRNA microarray method provides relative and not absolute tRNA abundances
(see above).
Software and data processing
Gel analysis was performed using ImageJ software (http://rsbweb.nih.gov/ij/). All data
were plotted using Prism (Graphpad). One sample t-tests were performed
using GraphPad QuickCalcs (http://graphpad.com/quickcalcs/OneSampleT1.cfm). To apply the Bonferroni
correction, the obtained P-values were divided by the number of events
measured.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONCodon usages of influenza A and VV genes differ from human genes
Viral codon adaptation is considered poor when codons that are infrequent in host genes
are enriched in viral genes. In this study, we used two viruses distinct from each other
in almost every aspect of their genome and replication cycle: IAV and VV. IAV is a
negative-stranded RNA virus with a limited genome (13 kB) that replicates its RNA in the
nucleus, where it steals caps from cellular mRNAs. VV is a double-stranded DNA virus with
a large genome that replicates in cytoplasmic viral factories, where it imports ribosomes
to produce viral proteins (26–28).
We compared the codon usages of IAV and VV to the codon usage of their human host (Figure 1). Codon usage can be expressed as either
frequency per 1000 codons or relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU). Frequency per 1000
codons allows for comparison between species by adjusting for differences in coding
sequence length. RSCU is a normalized index of codon usage that adjusts both for coding
sequence length and amino acid composition. It has a value of 0 for unused synonymous
codons, a value of 1 for equally used synonymous codons and a maximum of
n, where n is the number of synonymous codons in the
codon family. Regardless of the index used, the codon usages of IAV and VV correlate
poorly with the codon usage of their human host. When codon usage is expressed as
frequency per 1000, the R2 correlation coefficient between
viral and human codon usage is 0.26 for IAV and 0.01 for VV. When codon usage is expressed
as RSCU, the the R2 correlation coefficient is 0.10 for IAV
and 0.08 for VV.
Codon usage of
virus compared with human. Viral codon usage (IAV in gray, VV in black) is plotted
against human codon usage. Codon usage is expressed as frequency per 1000 codons
(top) or RSCU (bottom). Regardless of the index used, viral codon usage correlates
poorly with human codon usage. When codon usage is expressed as frequency per 1000,
the R2 correlation coefficient between viral and human
codon usage is 0.26 for IAV and 0.01 for VV. When codon usage is expressed as RSCU,
the R2 correlation coefficient is 0.10 for IAV and 0.08
for VV.
Analysis of tRNA abundance upon viral infection
Because host codon usage generally reflects the host tRNA (1,2,29–31), poor viral
codon adaptation is thought to result in inefficient translation of viral genes. This
assumes that rare host tRNAs are limiting in the translation of viral genes, and that the
host tRNA pool remains unchanged after viral infection. There is extensive experimental
evidence supporting the first assumption. Indeed, codon optimization has been shown to
result in increased translation and greater immunogenicity of several viruses and bacteria
(12–17). To our knowledge, however, previous studies have not explored
whether viruses alter tRNA pools to favor translation of viral genes.
To address this question, we examined the changes in tRNA populations after infection
with IAV or VV using tRNA microarray technology (18,21,32). For this study, we used custom-printed microarrays
containing 37 probes for human nuclear-encoded tRNAs and 22 probes for human
mitochondrial-encoded tRNAs. The arrays include 75 probes for S.
cerevisiae tRNAs and 34 probes for E. coli tRNAs that serve as
hybridization and specificity controls. We isolated total or polysome-associated RNA from
cells 6 h post-infection. After selectively labeling tRNAs by ligation to a
fluorophore-containing oligonucleotide, we hybridized the samples directly onto the
microarray. We included an uninfected control sample in all array hybridizations to
correct for variations in labeling and array manufacturing. The tRNA microarray method
typically measures changes in tRNA levels relative to the control sample, so only relative
tRNA levels were analysed in this study.
We first quantitated total nuclear- and mitochondrial-encoded tRNAs in virus-infected and
uninfected cells. This revealed that infection with neither VV nor IAV alters global tRNA
levels (Figure 2A, left panel). Similarly, for
individual tRNA species, infection with either virus did not significantly alter abundance
(Figure 2B, top). We conclude that cellular
tRNA levels are not greatly altered by IAV- or VV-infection.
Changes in tRNA abundance after viral infection.
HeLa cells were infected with IAV or VV; total cellular RNA or polysome RNA was
isolated 6 h post-infection. tRNA abundance was measured by microarray relative to
an uninfected control. Data are averages of three replicate experiments; error bars
indicate standard deviation. (A) Median tRNA abundance after viral
infection. Median values for nuclear-encoded tRNAs (black) and mitochondrial-encoded
tRNAs (gray) are shown for IAV- and VV-infected cells relative to an uninfected
control (set to 1). No mitochondrial-encoded tRNAs were detected in the polysome RNA
samples. No significant changes in median tRNA abundance are detected in total
cellular RNA (left) or polysome RNA (right). (B) Individual tRNA
abundance after viral infection. Individual tRNA abundance values are shown for IAV
(gray) and VV (black) infected cells relative to an uninfected control (set to 1,
black line). A value of 1 indicates no change, a value <1 indicates a decrease
and a value >1 indicates an increase after viral infection. No significant
changes in individual tRNA abundances are detected in total cellular RNA (top), but
distinct and virus-specific changes are observed in polysome RNA (bottom). One
sample t-tests were performed to determine the statistical
significance of the changes: * indicates P-value <0.0014
applying the Bonferroni correction for measuring multiple events
(P-value/number of events, or 0.05/37).
We then examined tRNA levels in polysome-associated RNA samples (for simplicity,
polysome-associated RNA is termed polysome RNA in the text below). Polysome RNA was
isolated from sucrose gradient polysome fractions, and therefore contains ribosome-bound
tRNAs and tRNAs associated with aminoacyl synthetases and other components of the
translation machinery (33). As expected, we
detected only nuclear-encoded tRNAs but no mitochondrial-encoded tRNAs in polysome RNA
samples (Figure 2A, right panel). As with
cellular RNA samples, we found no significant difference in median polysome tRNA levels
between IAV- or VV-infected versus uninfected cells. We observed, however, significant
changes in individual polysome tRNA levels in virus-infected compared with uninfected
cells (Figure 2B, bottom). IAV- and
VV-infected cells each exhibit distinct changes in their polysome tRNA populations
compared with uninfected control cells. For example, tRNAArg(UCU) is most
over-represented (1.6-fold) and tRNAGly(GCC/CCC) is most under-represented
(0.8-fold) in polysome RNA of IAV-infected cells. tRNAIle(UAU) is most
over-represented (2.4-fold) and tRNAArg(CCG/UCG) is most under-represented
(0.4-fold) in polysome RNA of VV-infected cells.
We conclude that the polysome tRNA population is selectively and significantly altered by
IAV and VV infection, in contrast to total tRNA populations, which are not detectably
altered.
tRNA—codon usage correlation analysis
IAV or VV infections alter the polysome tRNA population, most likely as a result of viral
protein synthesis at the expense of host translation (34). To quantitate the contribution of virus versus host
translation, we analysed protein synthesis 6 h post-infection by SDS-PAGE of total lysates
from cells labeled for 5 min pulse with S35-Met. This clearly revealed
synthesis of major IAV or VV proteins superimposed on major inhibition of host protein
synthesis: host shutdown was more complete with VV (Figure 3A). IAV-infected cells exhibited a higher total translation (1.5-fold)
relative to VV-infected or uninfected cells (Figure
3B).
Polysome tRNAs
reflect viral translation. (A) Translation patterns after viral
infection. HeLa cells were infected with IAV, VV or mock-treated for the uninfected
control. At 6 h post-infection, cells were pulsed with S35-methionine and
lysed. Cell lysate was loaded on an SDS-PAGE gel for visualization of
S35-labeled protein products (left). Signal intensity was quantitated to
better compare the infected (IAV or VV) and the control samples (middle and right
panels). Translation is significantly altered upon viral infection. However, VV is
far more efficient than IAV in shutting down host translation
(R2 IAV/Ctrl > R2
VV/Ctrl). (B) Quantitation of translation after viral infection. Cell
lysate was obtained as in (A) and S35-labeled protein products were
quantitated on a scintillation counter after TCA precipitation. Values are averages
of six technical replicates, error bars indicate standard deviation. A modest
increase in translation is observed in IAV-infected cells but not VV-infected cells
relative to the uninfected control. (C) tRNA—codon usage
analysis. Relative tRNA abundance values after viral infection (IAV left, VV right)
measured by microarray are plotted against normalized viral codon usage. Polysome
tRNA values (gray) correlate well with viral codon usage, whereas total tRNA values
(black) do not correlate with viral codon usage.
To correlate polysome tRNA levels with viral codon usage we plotted the relative tRNA
levels versus the normalized codon usage of the virus (Figure 3C). For a given codon, the normalized codon usage is
defined as the viral codon usage divided by the human codon usage. This normalization was
necessary to allow direct comparison to the relative tRNA levels measured by microarray.
We found that polysome tRNA levels correlate remarkably well with normalized viral codon
usage: R2 = 0.57 for IAV and R2
= 0.82 for VV. The higher correlation coefficient obtained with VV is
consistent with a greater proportion of viral translation relative to host translation,
clearly seen by SDS-PAGE analysis (Figure
3A).
Viral adaptation for replication in IFN-exposed cells?
Though viral codon usage is poorly adapted to the HeLa tRNA pool, IAV and VV do not alter
cellular tRNA levels to favor translation of their viral genes. Given the rapidity of
infectious cycles of IAV and VV and the large size of tRNA pools (∼5 ×
107 copies of tRNA per cell) it may simply not be possible for viruses to
acutely alter tRNAs to their benefit. Viruses, however, with longer infectious times may
profit by modulating tRNA transcription to better match viral codon usage. Indeed, van
Weringh et al. (35)
proposed just this mechanism to account for the selective incorporation of normally low
abundance tRNAs into HIV particles.
Under normal infection conditions, hosts will rapidly produce interferons (IFNs). Later
rounds of viral replication will then occur in cells reprogrammed by IFNs. We recently
reported that both type I and type II IFNs markedly change tRNA aminoacylation levels in
HeLa cells (25). As seen in Figure 4A, IFN-γ generally increases tRNA
expression, whereas IFN-β generally decreases tRNA expression (these data were
referred to, but not shown in (25)). For
most viral codons, IFN exposure will have little positive or negative effect in matching
cellular tRNA expression. Intriguingly, the only tRNA species commonly upregulated by type
I and II IFNs is tRNAIle(UAU), decoding the Ile-AUA codon which is the most
overrepresented in the IAV and VV genomes (Figure
4B and C). This result suggests that evolution may have adapted IAV and VV Ile
codons for better translation in IFN-γ-exposed cells.
Changes in tRNA abundance after IFN treatment.
HeLa cells were treated with IFN-β or IFN-γ for 16 h and total cellular
RNA was isolated. tRNA abundance was measured by microarray relative to an untreated
control. (A) Median tRNA abundance after IFN treatment. Median values
for nuclear-encoded tRNAs (black) and mitochondrial-encoded tRNAs (gray) are shown
for IFN-β or IFN-γ−treated cells relative to an untreated control
(set to 1). IFN-β slightly decreases global nuclear-encoded tRNA levels,
whereas IFN-γ treatment increases global nuclear-encoded tRNA levels.
(B) Individual tRNA abundance after IFN treatment. Individual tRNA
abundance values are shown for IFN-β (black) or IFN-γ (gray) treated
cells relative to an untreated control (set to 1, black line). Data are averages
from one dye-swapped experiment; error bars indicate standard deviation. A value of
1 indicates no change, a value <1 indicates a decrease and a value >1
indicates an increase after IFN treatment relative to untreated.
tRNAIle(UAU) is markedly increased upon IFN-β and IFN-γ
treatment (black arrow). One sample t-tests were performed to
determine the statistical significance of the changes: * indicates
P-value <0.0009, applying the Bonferroni correction for
measuring multiple events (P-value/number of events, or 0.05/58).
(C) tRNA—codon usage analysis. Relative tRNA abundance values
after IFN treatment (IFN-β in black and IFN-γ in gray) are plotted
against normalized IAV codon usage. The Ile-AUA codon is over-represented in the IAV
genome, correlating with an increase in tRNAIle(UAU) abundance after IFN
treatment (black arrow). Similar results are obtained when plotting against VV codon
usage (not shown). These data were referred in (25) but not shown.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Since IAV and VV do not alter tRNA levels on the cellular scale, an intriguing possibility
is the existence of local tRNA pools at sites of viral translation. tRNAs decoding codons
rare in the host but frequent in the virus (such as Ile-AUA) may be recruited and re-used in
successive rounds of viral translation, becoming enriched in the immediate environment. Such
a ‘channeled tRNA cycle’ was first proposed by Deutscher et al.
over 10 years ago: tRNAs are shuttled directly from the ribosome to their cognate tRNA
synthetase and back to the ribosome for another round of translation, without reentering the
cytosolic pool (36–38). Local tRNA pools would therefore be adapted to viral codon usage,
enhancing translational efficiency of viral genes.
The possibility of local tRNA pools is particularly relevant in the case of VV, which
replicates in cytoplasmic viral factories where the components of the translation machinery,
including tRNA synthetases, are recruited (26,33). Clearly an area of future
investigation is to study the local concentrations of individual tRNAs in VV-factories and
at other locations of clearly compartmentalized translation. Although this can be approached
experimentally by available techniques (such as FISH and introduction of labeled tRNAs into
live cells), further technological advances will be required to finely discriminate between
the myriad tRNA species and increase resolution.
FUNDING
Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases; National Institutes of
Health [DP1 GM105386 to T.P.]. Funding for open
access charge: Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases.
Conflict of interest statement. None declared.
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