Pig model mimicking chronic hepatitis E virus infection in immunocompromised patients to assess immune correlates during chronicity.

Chronic hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is a significant clinical problem in immunocompromised individuals such as organ transplant recipients, although the mechanism remains unknown because of the lack of an animal model. We successfully developed a pig model of chronic HEV infection and examined immune correlates leading to chronicity. The conditions of immunocompromised patients were mimicked by treating pigs with an immunosuppressive regimen including cyclosporine, azathioprine, and prednisolone. Immunocompromised pigs infected with HEV progressed to chronicity, because 8/10 drug-treated HEV-infected pigs continued fecal virus shedding beyond the acute phase of infection, whereas the majority (7/10) of mock-treated HEV-infected pigs cleared fecal viral shedding at 8 wk postinfection. During chronic infection, serum levels of the liver enzyme γ-glutamyl transferase and fecal virus shedding were significantly higher in immunocompromised HEV-infected pigs. To identify potential immune correlates of chronic infection, we determined serum levels of cytokines and cell-mediated immune responses in pigs. Results showed that HEV infection of immunocompromised pigs reduced the serum levels of Th1 cytokines IL-2 and IL-12, and Th2 cytokines IL-4 and IL-10, particularly during the acute phase of infection. Furthermore IFN-γ-specific CD4+ T-cell responses were reduced in immunocompromised pigs during the acute phase of infection, but TNF-α-specific CD8+ T-cell responses increased during the chronic phase of infection. Thus, active suppression of cell-mediated immune responses under immunocompromised conditions may facilitate the establishment of chronic HEV infection. This pig model will aid in delineating the mechanisms of chronic HEV infection and in developing effective therapeutics against chronic hepatitis E.

Infection Dynamics of Hepatitis E Virus in Wild-Type and Immunoglobulin Heavy Chain Knockout JH-/- Gnotobiotic Piglets.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV), the causative agent of hepatitis E, is an important but incompletely understood pathogen causing high mortality during pregnancy and leading to chronic hepatitis in immunocompromised individuals. The underlying mechanisms leading to hepatic damage remain unknown; however, the humoral immune response is implicated. In this study, immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy chain JH-/- knockout gnotobiotic pigs were generated using CRISPR/Cas9 technology to deplete the B-lymphocyte population, resulting in an inability to generate a humoral immune response to genotype 3 HEV infection. Compared to wild-type gnotobiotic piglets, the frequencies of B lymphocytes in the Ig heavy chain JH-/- knockouts were significantly lower, despite similar levels of other innate and adaptive T-lymphocyte cell populations. The dynamic of acute HEV infection was subsequently determined in heavy chain JH-/- knockout and wild-type gnotobiotic pigs. The data showed that wild-type piglets had higher viral RNA loads in feces and sera compared to the JH-/- knockout pigs, suggesting that the Ig heavy chain JH-/- knockout in pigs actually decreased the level of HEV replication. Both HEV-infected wild-type and JH-/- knockout gnotobiotic piglets developed more pronounced lymphoplasmacytic hepatitis and hepatocellular necrosis lesions than other studies with conventional pigs. The HEV-infected JH-/- knockout pigs also had significantly enlarged livers both grossly and as a ratio of liver/body weight compared to phosphate-buffered saline-inoculated groups. This novel gnotobiotic pig model will aid in future studies into HEV pathogenicity, an aspect which has thus far been difficult to reproduce in the available animal model systems.IMPORTANCE According to the World Health Organization, approximately 20 million HEV infections occur annually, resulting in 3.3 million cases of hepatitis E and >44,000 deaths. The lack of an efficient animal model that can mimic the full-spectrum of infection outcomes hinders our ability to delineate the mechanism of HEV pathogenesis. Here, we successfully generated immunoglobulin heavy chain JH-/- knockout gnotobiotic pigs using CRISPR/Cas9 technology, established a novel JH-/- knockout and wild-type gnotobiotic pig model for HEV, and systematically determined the dynamic of acute HEV infection in gnotobiotic pigs. It was demonstrated that knockout of the Ig heavy chain in pigs decreased the level of HEV replication. Infected wild-type and JH-/- knockout gnotobiotic piglets developed more pronounced HEV-specific lesions than other studies using conventional pigs, and the infected JH-/- knockout pigs had significantly enlarged livers. The availability of this novel model will facilitate future studies of HEV pathogenicity.

Recombinant Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus Expressing Membrane-Bound Interleukin-15 as an Immunomodulatory Adjuvant Enhances NK and γδ T Cell Responses and Confers Heterologous Protection.

Cytokines are often used as adjuvants to improve vaccine immunogenicity, since they are important in initiating and shaping the immune response. The available commercial modified live-attenuated vaccines (MLVs) against porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) are unable to mount sufficient heterologous protection, as they typically induce weak innate and inadequate T cell responses. In this study, we investigated the immunogenicity and vaccine efficacy of recombinant PRRSV MLVs incorporated with the porcine cytokine interleukin-15 (IL-15) or IL-18 gene fused to a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) modification signal that can anchor the cytokines to the cell membrane. We demonstrated that both cytokines were successfully expressed on the cell membrane of porcine alveolar macrophages after infection with recombinant MLVs. Pigs vaccinated with recombinant MLVs or the parental Suvaxyn MLV had significantly reduced lung lesions and viral RNA loads in the lungs after heterologous challenge with the PRRSV NADC20 strain. The recombinant MLVs SUV-IL-15 and SUV-IL-18 recovered the inhibition of the NK cell response seen with Suvaxyn MLV. The recombinant MLV SUV-IL-15 significantly increased the numbers of gamma interferon (IFN-γ)-producing cells in circulation at 49 days postvaccination (dpv), especially for IFN-γ-producing CD4- CD8+ T cells and γδ T cells, compared to the Suvaxyn MLV and SUV-IL-18. Additionally, MLV SUV-IL-15-vaccinated pigs also had elevated levels of γδ T cell responses observed at 7 dpv, 49 dpv, and 7 days postchallenge. These data demonstrate that the recombinant MLV expressing membrane-bound IL-15 enhances NK and T cell immune responses after vaccination and confers improved heterologous protection, although this was not statistically significant compared to the parental MLV.IMPORTANCE Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) has arguably been the most economically important global swine disease, causing immense economic losses worldwide. The available commercial modified live-attenuated vaccines (MLVs) against PRRS virus (PRRSV) are generally effective against only homologous or closely related virus strains but are ineffective against heterologous strains, partially due to the insufficient immune response induced by the vaccine virus. To improve the immunogenicity of MLVs, in this study, we present a novel approach of using porcine IL-15 or IL-18 as an adjuvant by directly incorporating its encoding gene into a PRRSV MLV and expressing it as an adjuvant. Importantly, we directed the expression of the incorporated cytokines to the cell membrane surface by fusing the genes with a membrane-targeting signal from CD59. The recombinant MLV virus expressing the membrane-bound IL-15 cytokine greatly enhanced NK cell and γδ T cell responses and also conferred improved protection against heterologous challenge with the PRRSV NADC20 strain.

Vaccination of sows with a dendritic cell-targeted porcine epidemic diarrhea virus S1 protein-based candidate vaccine reduced viral shedding but exacerbated gross pathological lesions in suckling neonatal piglets.

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) poses a serious threat to swine worldwide as evidenced by its recent introduction into the USA and the devastating economic impact it caused to the USA swine industry. Commercial vaccines against PEDV are available but their efficacies are inadequate. Therefore, vaccines with improved efficacy are needed to effectively control PEDV infections. We previously determined the immunogenicity of a novel dendritic cell (DC)-targeted PEDV S1 protein-based subunit vaccine in weaned piglets in which the PEDV antigen was targeted to DCs through a porcine Langerin-specific antibody. In this study, we evaluated the protective efficacy of this DC-targeting vaccine by immunizing sows at 5 and 2 weeks prior to farrowing and by challenging the 5-day-old piglets with PEDV. The results showed that immunization of sow with DC-targeted PEDV vaccine did not eliminate faecal virus shedding in piglets but significantly reduced faecal viral RNA levels in the early days after virus challenge. The vaccine also reduced the amount of PEDV antigen in intestinal tissues presented with intestinal villi regrowth. However, the DC-targeted vaccine neither mitigated PEDV clinical signs nor affected viral RNA loads in intestinal tissues of piglets. In the vaccinated sow, DC-targeted PEDV vaccine enhanced T helper 1-like cluster of differentiation (CD)4 T cell responses and induced IgG but not IgA-specific immune responses. The suckling piglets in the DC-targeted vaccine group showed increased gross pathological lesions in the small intestine. Results in this study provide insights into the effects of sow cellular immune responses to PEDV infection in suckling piglets.

Isolation of Peripheral Blood CD8 T Cells Specific to Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus Utilizing Porcine CD137 Activation Marker.

CD137 is a costimulatory molecule transiently expressed on activated T cells after mitogen or antigen stimulation that can be exploited for isolating antigen-specific T cells as reported in mouse models. By utilizing an antiporcine CD137 monoclonal antibody (mAb, clone 3B9) developed in our laboratory, we isolated virus-specific CD8ß T cells from peripheral blood of pigs experimentally infected with different porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) strains. Similar to mouse, porcine CD8ß T cells also express CD137 transiently upon Concavalin A stimulation while the unstimulated cells did not. Most frequently, virus-specific CD8ß T cells were isolated at low levels from peripheral blood of pigs experimentally infected with PRRSV strains VR2385, NADC20, and MN184B at 49 and 63 days postinfection. The results suggest that porcine CD137-specific mAb is a useful tool for isolating virus-specific CD8 T cells from peripheral blood and tissues of pigs after in vitro stimulation with viral antigen.

Evaluation of the pathogenicity of mammalian orthoreovirus type 3 (MRV3) in germ-free gnotobiotic pigs and of the efficacy of an inactivated vaccine against MRV3 infection in neonatal conventional piglets.

A novel U.S. strain of mammalian orthoreovirus type 3 (MRV3) isolated from diarrheic pigs in 2015 was reportedly highly pathogenic in pigs. In this study, we first developed an inactivated MRV3 vaccine and determined its protective efficacy against MRV3 infection in conventional neonatal piglets. A pathogenicity study was also conducted in gnotobiotic pigs to further assess the pathogenicity of MRV3. To evaluate if piglets could be protected against MRV3 infection after immunization of pregnant sows with an inactivated MRV3 vaccine, pregnant sows were vaccinated with 2 or 3 doses of the vaccine or with PBS buffer. Four-day-old piglets born to vaccinated and unvaccinated sows were subsequently challenged with MRV3. The results showed that piglets born from vaccinated sows had lower levels of fecal viral RNA shedding at 1, 3, and 4 days post-challenge, suggesting that the inactivated MRV3 vaccine can reduce MRV3 replication. Surprisingly, although the conventional piglets were infected, they did not develop severe enteric disease as reported previously. Therefore, in an effort to further definitively assess the pathogenicity of MRV3, we experimentally infected gnotobiotic pigs, a more sensitive model for pathogenicity study, with the wild-type MRV3 virus. The infected gnotobiotic piglets all survived and exhibited only very mild diarrhea in some pigs. Taken together, the results indicate that the novel strain of MRV3 recently isolated in the United States infected but caused only very mild diarrhea in pigs, and that maternal immunity acquired from sows vaccinated with an inactivated vaccine can reduce MRV3 replication in neonatal pigs.

The activation of the IFNß induction/signaling pathway in porcine alveolar macrophages by porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus is variable.

BACKGROUND: It has been recognized that the expression of type I interferon (IFNα/ß) may be suppressed during infection with porcine reproductive, respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV). This causes profound negative effects on both the innate and adaptive immunity of the host resulting in persistence of infection. OBJECTIVE: Test the effects of PRRSV infection of porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs), the main target cell, on the expression of interferon beta (IFNß) and downstream signaling events. METHODS: In order to examine those effects, PAMs harvested from lungs of healthy PRRSV-free animals were infected with virulent, attenuated, infectious clone-derived chimeric viruses, or field PRRS virus strains. Culture supernatants from the infected PAMs were tested for IFNß protein expression by means of indirect ELISA and for bioactivity by a vesicular stomatitis virus plaque reduction assay. The expression of the Mx protein was assayed to ascertain signaling events. RESULTS: These experiments demonstrated that PRRSV does induce variably, the expression of bioactive IFNß protein in the natural host cell. To further elucidate the effects of PRRSV infection on IFNß signaling, Mx-1 an interferon stimulated gene (ISG), was also tested for expression. Interestingly, Mx-1 expression by infected PAMs generally correlated with IFNß production. CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrate that the induction of IFNß and signaling in PAMs after PRRSV infection is variable.

Enhancing heterologous protection in pigs vaccinated with chimeric porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus containing the full-length sequences of shuffled structural genes of multiple heterologous strains.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is the causative agent of arguably the most economically important global swine disease. The extensive genetic variation of PRRSV strains is a major obstacle for heterologous protection of current vaccines. Previously, we constructed a panel of chimeric viruses containing only the ectodomain sequences of DNA-shuffled structural genes of different PRRSV strains in the backbone of a commercial vaccine, and found that one chimeric virus had an improved cross-protection efficacy. In this present study, to further enhance the cross-protective efficacy against heterologous strains, we constructed a novel chimeric virus VR2385-S3456 containing the full-length sequences of shuffled structural genes (ORFs 3-6) from 6 heterologous PRRSV strains in the backbone of PRRSV strain VR2385. We showed that the chimeric virus VR2385-S3456 induced a high level of neutralizing antibodies in pigs against two heterologous strains. A subsequent vaccination and challenge study in 48 pigs revealed that the chimeric virus VR2385-S3456 conferred an enhanced cross-protection when challenged with heterologous virus strain NADC20 or a contemporary heterologous strain RFLP 1-7-4. The results suggest that the chimera VR2385-S3456 may be a good PRRSV vaccine candidate for further development to confer heterologous protection.

Efficient priming of CD4 T cells by Langerin-expressing dendritic cells targeted with porcine epidemic diarrhea virus spike protein domains in pigs.

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) first emerged in the United States in 2013 causing high mortality and morbidity in neonatal piglets with immense economic losses to the swine industry. PEDV is an alpha-coronavirus replicating primarily in porcine intestinal cells. PEDV vaccines are available in Asia and Europe, and conditionally-licensed vaccines recently became available in the United States but the efficacies of these vaccines in eliminating PEDV from swine populations are questionable. In this study, the immunogenicity of a subunit vaccine based on the spike protein of PEDV, which was directly targeted to porcine dendritic cells (DCs) expressing Langerin, was assessed. The PEDV S antigen was delivered to the dendritic cells through a single-chain antibody specific to Langerin and the targeted cells were stimulated with cholera toxin adjuvant. This approach, known as "dendritic cell targeting," greatly improved PEDV S antigen-specific T cell interferon-γ responses in the CD4posCD8pos T cell compartment in pigs as early as 7days upon transdermal administration. When the vaccine protein was targeted to Langerinpos DCs systemically through intramuscular vaccination, it induced higher serum IgG and IgA responses in pigs, though these responses require a booster dose, and the magnitude of T cell responses were lower as compared to transdermal vaccination. We conclude that PEDV spike protein domains targeting Langerin-expressing dendritic cells significantly increased CD4 T cell immune responses in pigs. The results indicate that the immunogenicity of protein subunit vaccines can be greatly enhanced by direct targeting of the vaccine antigens to desirable dendritic cell subsets in pigs.

Chimeric porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus containing shuffled multiple envelope genes confers cross-protection in pigs.

The extensive genetic diversity of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) strains is a major obstacle for vaccine development. We previously demonstrated that chimeric PRRSVs in which a single envelope gene (ORF3, ORF4, ORF5 or ORF6) was shuffled via DNA shuffling had an improved heterologous cross-neutralizing ability. In this study, we incorporate all of the individually-shuffled envelope genes together in different combinations into an infectious clone backbone of PRRSV MLV Fostera(®) PRRS. Five viable progeny chimeric viruses were rescued, and their growth characteristics were characterized in vitro. In a pilot pig study, two chimeric viruses (FV-SPDS-VR2,FV-SPDS-VR5) were found to induce cross-neutralizing antibodies against heterologous strains. A subsequent vaccination/challenge study in 72 pigs revealed that chimeric virus FV-SPDS-VR2 and parental virus conferred partial cross-protection when challenged with heterologous strains NADC20 or MN184B. The results have important implications for future development of an effective PRRSV vaccine that confers heterologous protection.

In vivo targeting of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus antigen through porcine DC-SIGN to dendritic cells elicits antigen-specific CD4T cell immunity in pigs.

Immunogenicity of protein subunit vaccines may be dramatically improved by targeting them through antibodies specific to c-type lectin receptors (CLRs) of dendritic cells in mice, cattle, and primates. This novel vaccine development approach has not yet been explored in pigs or other species largely due to the lack of key reagents. In this study, we demonstrate that porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) antigen was targeted efficiently to dendritic cells through antibodies specific to a porcine CLR molecule DC-SIGN (dendritic cell-specific intercellular adhesion molecule-3-grabbing non-integrin) in pigs. A recombinant PRRSV antigen (shGP45M) was constructed by fusing secretory-competent subunits of GP4, GP5 and M proteins derived from genetically-shuffled strains of PRRSV. In vaccinated pigs, when the PRRSV shGP45M antigen was delivered through a recombinant mouse-porcine chimeric antibody specific to the porcine DC-SIGN (pDC-SIGN) neck domain, porcine dendritic cells rapidly internalized them in vitro and induced higher numbers of antigen-specific interferon-γ producing CD4T cells compared to the pigs receiving non-targeted PRRSV shGP45M antigen. The pDC-SIGN targeting of recombinant antigen subunits may serve as an alternative or complementary strategy to existing vaccines to improve protective immunity against PRRSV by inducing efficient T cell responses.