AIDS and Cancer Virus Program

Biography

Mr. Julian Bess, Jr. received his B.S. in Biology from Virginia Tech in 1977 and his M.S. in Biomedical Sciences from Hood College in 1981. He began working at the (now) Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center in 1977 in the Viral Resources Laboratory and later trained in the Protein and Immunochemistry Laboratory directed by Dr. Steve Oroszlan. After receiving his M.S., he became the supervisor of the Biochemistry unit of the Biological Products Laboratory directed by Dr. Larry Arthur. In 1983 he began supervising both the Biochemistry and Production units which are now collectively known as the Biological Products Core of the AIDS and Cancer Virus Program.

Core Description

The Biological Products Core provides the AIDS research community with high quality purified preparations of various strains of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) economically prepared by leveraging the economy of scale. Materials provided include chemically inactivated virus prepared by treatment with Aldrithiol-2. This chemical inactivation method was developed by AIDS and Cancer Virus Program personnel and eliminates infectivity while preserving functional surface proteins including envelope glycoproteins. This property makes them attractive preparations for experimental vaccine studies and for use in experiments in which non-infectious, authentic viral particles are required. We also provide non-inactivated preparations of other retroviruses such as Human T-cell Leukemia Virus (HTLV), Murine Leukemia Virus (MuLV), Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus (MMTV), and Equine Infectious Anemia Virus (EIAV). Since the T-cell lines used to propagate HIV and SIV also produce microvesicles (non-viral particles that bud from the cell surface) that can contaminate even highly purified retrovirus preparations, we also produce purified microvesicle preparations from non-infected cell lines for use as a “negative” control reagent matched to virus preparations of interest.

The Biological Products Core also produces HIV-1 p24CA antigen capture immunoassay kits, originally developed for use in our own laboratory to monitor virus yields from production cultures or infectivity assays. Unlike commercial kits, these kits were developed for measuring the relatively high capsid protein concentrations obtained in productively infected cell cultures and to make these measurements over an extended range of concentrations. Kits are provided for research use only and are not appropriate for use on human samples.

We also prepare a variety of virus preparations on small scale to accommodate the needs of researchers who require only a small amount of virus in a certain format. These often require derivation of infected cell lines and optimization of a virus propagation method. Please contact us if you feel we can be of assistance in your research.

Publications

1. Felts RL, Narayan K, Estes JD, Shi D, Trubey CM, Fu J, Hartnell LM, Ruthel GT, Schneider DK, Nagashima K, Bess JW Jr, Bavari S, Lowekamp BC, Bliss D, Lifson JD, Subramaniam S: 3D visualization of HIV transfer at the virological synapse between dendritic cells and T-cells. PNAS 107(3):13336-13341, 2010. Epub 2010 Jul 12. PMID: 206224966.
2. Gherghe C, Lombo R, Leonard CW, Datta SAK, Bess JW Jr, Gorelick RJ, Rein A, Weeks KM: Definition of a high-affinity gag recognition structure mediating packaging of a retroviral RNA genome. PNAS 107(45):19248-53, 2010. Epub 2010 Oct 25. PMID: 20974908
3. White TA, Bartesaghi A, Borgnia MJ, Meyerson JR, de la Cruz MJ, Bess JW, Nandwani R, Hoxie JA, Lifson JD, Milne JL, Subramaniam S: Molecular architectures of trimeric SIV and HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins on intact viruses: strain-dependent variation in quaternary structure. PLoS Pathog 6(12):e1001249, 2010. PMID: 21203482
4. Trapp S, Derby NR, Singer R, Shaw A, Williams VG, Turville SG, Bess JWJr, Lifson JD, Robbiani M: Double-stranded RNA analog poly(l:C) inhibits HIV amplification in dendritic cells via type 1 IFN-mediated activation of APOBEC3G. J Virol 83:884-895, 2009.
5. Krishnamoorthy L, Bess JWJr, Preston AB, Nagashima K, Mahal LK: HIV-1 and microvesicles from T cells share a common glycome, arguing for a common origin. Nat Chem Biol 5:244-250, 2009.
6. Watts JM, Dang KK, Gorelick RJ, Leonard CW, Bess JWJr, Swanstrom R, Burch CL, Weeks KM: The structure of an entire HIV-1 RNA genome. Nature 460:711-716, 2009.
7. Vagenas P, Williams VG, Piatak M Jr, Bess JW Jr, Lifson JD, Blanchard JL, Gettie A, Robbiani M: Tonsillar application of AT-2 SIV affords partial protection against rectal challenge with SIVmac239. JAIDS 52(4):433-442, 2009. PMID: 19779309.
8. Frank I, Stossel H, Getti A, Turville SG, Bess J, Lifson JD, Sivin L, Romani N, Robbiani M: A fusion inhibitor prevents spread of immunodeficiency viruses, but not activation of virus-specific T cells, by dendritic cells. J Virol 82:5329-5339, 2008.
9. Vachot L, Williams VG, Bess JW, Lifson JD, Robbiani M: Candida albicans-induced DC activation partially restricts HIV amplification in DCs and increases DC to T-cell spread of HIV. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 48:398-407, 2008.
10. Turville SG, Aravantinou M, Miller T, Kenney J, Teitelbaum A, Hu L, Chudolij A, Zydowsky TM, Piatak MJr, Bess JWJr, Lifson JD, Blanchard J, Gettie A, Robbiani M: Efficacy of Carraguard-based microbicides in vivo despite variable in vitro activity. PLoS ONE 3:e162, 2008.
11. Rutebemberwa A, Bess JW, Brown B, Arroyo M, Eller M, Slike B, Polonis V, McCutchan F, Currier JR, Birx D, Robb M, Marovich M, Lifson JD, Cox JH: Evaluation of aldrithiol-2-inactivated preparations of HIV type 1 subtypes A, B, and D as reagents to monitor T cell responses. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 23:532-542, 2007.
12. Sougrat R, Bartesaghi A, Lifson JD, Bennett AE, Bess JW, Zabransky DJ, Subramaniam S: Electron tomography of the contact between T-cells and SIV/HIV-1: Implications for viral entry. PLOS Pathogens 3:e63, 2007.
13. Chertova E, Chertov O, Coren LV, Roser JD, Trubey CM, Bess JW, Sowder RC, Barsov E, Hood BL, Fisher RJ, Nagashima K, Conrads TP, Veenstra TD, Lifson JD, Ott DE: Proteomic and biochemical analysis of purified HIV-1 produced from infected monocyte-derived macrophages. J Virol 80:9039-9052, 2006.
14. Zhu P, Liu J, Bess J, Chertova E, Lifson JD, Grise H, Ofek GA, Taylor KA, Roux KH. Distribution and three-dimensional structure of AIDS virus envelope spikes. Nature 441:847-852, 2006.
15. Morcock DR, Thomas JA, Gagliardi TD, Gorelick RJ, Roser D, Chertova EN, Bess JWJr, Ott DE, Sattentau QJ, Frank I, Pope M, Lifson JD, Henderson LE, Crise BJ: Elimination of retroviral infectivity by N-ethylmaleimide with preservation of functional envelope glycoproteins. J Virol 79:1533-1542, 2005.
16. Cline AN, Bess JW, Piatak M, Lifson JD: Highly sensitive SIV plasma viral load assay: Practical considerations and realistic performance expectations, and application to reverse engineering of vaccine for AIDS. J Med Primatology 34:303-312, 2005.
17. Raviv Y, Viard M, Bess JW, Chertova E, Blumenthal R: Inactivation of retrovirus with preservation of structural integrity by targeting the hydrophobic domain of the viral envelope. J Virol 79:12394-12400, 2005.
18. Banks WA, Kumar VB, Franko MW, Bess JW, Arthur LO: Evidence that the species barrier of HIV-1 does not extend to uptake by the blood-brain barrier: Comparison of mouse and human brain microvessels. Life Sciences 77:2361-2368, 2005.

Staffing

• Rodman Smith, Manager, Sr. Tech. Operations
• William H. Bohn, Research Associate III
• Terra M. Ireland, Research Associate II
• David B. Westcott, Research Associate II
• Dana M. Randall, Research Associate I