title: Capsid protein oxidation in feline calicivirus using an electrochemical inactivation treatment.
abstract: Pathogenic viral infections are an international public health concern, and viral disinfection has received increasing attention. Electrochemical treatment has been used for treatment of water contaminated by bacteria for several decades, and although in recent years several reports have investigated viral inactivation kinetics, the mode of action of viral inactivation by electrochemical treatment remains unclear. Here, we demonstrated the inactivation of feline calicivirus (FCV), a surrogate for human noroviruses, by electrochemical treatment in a developed flow-cell equipped with a screen-printed electrode. The viral infectivity titer was reduced by over 5 orders of magnitude after 15 min of treatment at 0.9V vs. Ag/AgCl. Proteomic study of electrochemically inactivated virus revealed oxidation of peptides located in the viral particles; oxidation was not observed in the non-treated sample. Furthermore, transmission electron microscopy revealed that viral particles in the treated sample had irregular structures. These results suggest that electrochemical treatment inactivates FCV via oxidation of peptides in the structural region, causing structural deformation of virus particles. This first report of viral protein damage through electrochemical treatment will contribute to broadening the understanding of viral inactivation mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biotechnology and Life Science, Institute of Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 2-24-16 Naka-cho, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan.
authors.forename: Nozomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shionoiri
authors.affiliation: Division of Biotechnology and Life Science, Institute of Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 2-24-16 Naka-cho, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan.
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Nogariya
authors.affiliation: Division of Biotechnology and Life Science, Institute of Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 2-24-16 Naka-cho, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan.
authors.forename: Masayoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.affiliation: Division of Biotechnology and Life Science, Institute of Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 2-24-16 Naka-cho, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan.
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsunaga
authors.affiliation: Division of Biotechnology and Life Science, Institute of Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 2-24-16 Naka-cho, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan. Electronic address: tsuyo@cc.tuat.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanaka
mesh_terms: D017927:Calicivirus, Feline / Q000502:physiology*; D002213:Capsid / Q000378:metabolism*; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D038301:Virus Inactivation
keywords: Electrochemical inactivation; Feline calicivirus; Mass spectrometry; Norovirus; Water treatment