Neutralizing antibody responses of pigs infected with natural GP5 N-glycan mutants of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus.

In order to assess the effect of the N-glycans associated with the GP5 neutralization epitope of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) on the neutralizing antibody (Ab) response of swine, groups of young pigs were infected with PRRSV strains differing in N-glycosylation pattern. The humoral immune response to strain VR-2332, harboring four potential N-glycan sites, was compared to that of two natural field isolates carrying mutations either abolishing the N-glycosylation site at position 44 (N44) or the two N-glycosylation sites in the hypervariable region upstream of the neutralization epitope (HV-1). The pigs were bled at intervals and their sera were assayed for neutralizing Abs by indirect and competition ELISAs using peptides containing the GP5 neutralization epitope, and selectively for infectivity neutralization of a number of PRRSV strains.

Neutralizing antibody formation in swine infected with seven strains of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus as measured by indirect ELISA with peptides containing the GP5 neutralization epitope.

An indirect ELISA with peptides containing the GP5 neutralization epitope was used to measure the time courses of formation of neutralizing antibodies in sera of groups of 10 pigs infected with seven different strains of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) generated in an earlier study (Johnson et al., Vet.Immunol.

Peptide ELISA for measuring antibodies to N-protein of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus.

Indirect and competition ELISAs with synthetic peptides were used to characterize the epitopes of the N-protein of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) that are recognized by a battery of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and by antibodies from infected pigs. Four linear epitopes recognized by mAbs have been identified in the most hydrophilic segment of the N-protein (AA25-57). Similarly, at least four linear epitopes in this segment are immunogenic in PRRSV-infected pigs, but only one corresponds to an epitope recognized by one of the mAbs (AA36-45).

Polyclonal hypergammaglobulinemia and formation of hydrophobic immune complexes in porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus-infected and uninfected pigs.

Infection of young conventional, domestic pigs with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) strains VR2332 and JA142 resulted in a rapid, progressive increase in serum IgG reaching maximum levels of 20-30 mg/mL at about 3 weeks post infection (p.i.), which were maintained until at least 63 days p.

Epitope specificity of monoclonal antibodies to the N-protein of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus determined by ELISA with synthetic peptides.

In an attempt to develop an alternate to ELISAs using recombinant N-proteins as antigen for the sero-diagnosis of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) infections of pigs I have measured the binding of nine anti-N-protein mAbs, which had been previously generated by various investigators, to overlapping peptides encompassing amino acids 19-70 of the N-proteins of the North American prototype (VR2332) and the European prototype (Lelystad virus, LV) of PRRSV. I also measured the binding of the mAbs to HerdChek ELISA plates coated with recombinant N-protein. All mAbs bound in an indirect ELISA to some of the peptides whether the mAbs had previously been reported to recognize continuous or discontinuous epitopes, but with different specificity and titer.

The primary GP5 neutralization epitope of North American isolates of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus.

I have used indirect ELISA with overlapping synthetic peptides representing the GP5 ectodomain to study the generation and specificity of peptide-binding Abs in pigs that were infected in utero with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) strain VR2332 and in North American field sera submitted for PRRSV infection diagnosis. Peptide-binding Abs appeared in sera of the VR2332-infected pigs within about 30 days post-farrowing (dpf), reaching maximum titers 100-200 dpf and then decreasing slowly to about half of maximum titer by about 400 dpf. The formation of peptide-binding Abs and of virus neutralizing Abs correlated and their initial appearance coincided with disappearance of virus from the circulation.

GP5 ectodomain epitope of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus, strain Lelystad virus.

Sera from pigs infected with the European porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), strain Lelystad virus (LV), were screened by indirect ELISA for antibodies that bound to a series of overlapping synthetic peptides covering amino acids (AA) 19-60 of the primary envelope glycoprotein (GP)5. Antibodies were detected that bound to an epitope(s) located in an ectodomain segment composed of AA 38-54. The antibodies strongly cross-reacted with peptides specific for the North American PRRSV VR2332.

Hydrophobic IgG-containing immune complexes in the plasma of autoimmune MRL/lpr mice, lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus-infected mice, and pigs: association with transforming growth factor-beta and pH-dependent amplification.

Persistent infection of mice with lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus (LDV) is associated with polyclonal B cell activation, autoimmunity, and circulating hydrophobic IgG-containing immune complexes (ICs), which bind to the surfaces of uncoated ELISA plates in the presence of 0.05% Tween 20. We demonstrate here that hydrophobic IgG-containing ICs also appear naturally in the plasma of autoimmune MRL/lpr mice.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus: origin hypothesis.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome is a serious swine disease that appeared suddenly in the midwestern United States and central Europe approximately 14 years ago; the disease has now spread worldwide. In North America and Europe, the syndrome is caused by two genotypes of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), an arterivirus whose genomes diverge by approximately 40%. My hypothesis, which explains the origin and evolution of the two distinct PRRSV genotypes, is that a mutant of a closely related arterivirus of mice (lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus) infected wild boars in central Europe.

Glucocorticoid regulation of lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus replication in macrophages.

Lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus (LDV) is a macrophage-tropic arterivirus which generally causes a persistent viremic infection in mice. LDV replication in vivo seems to be primarily regulated by the extent and dynamics of a virus-permissive macrophage population. Previous studies have shown that glucocorticoid treatment of chronically LDV-infected mice transiently increases viremia 10-100-fold, apparently by increasing the productive infection of macrophages.

N-glycans on the short ectodomain of the primary envelope glycoprotein play a major role in the polyclonal activation of B cells by lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus.

The common biologically cloned isolates of lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus (LDV-P and LDV-vx) invariably cause a polyclonal activation of B cells in immunocompetent mice. It is recognized by an at least 10-fold increase in plasma IgG2a levels and the de novo formation of immune complexes that most likely consist of autoantibodies and their antigens. The present study indicates that three closely spaced N-glycans on the short ectodomain of the primary envelope glycoprotein, VP-3P, of LDV-P/vx, play a major role in inducing the polyclonal proliferation of B cells.