Phenotypic, genotypic and antigenic characterization of emerging avian reoviruses isolated from clinical cases of arthritis in broilers in Saskatchewan, Canada.

In recent years, emerging strains of pathogenic arthrogenic avian reovirus (ARV) have become a challenge to the chicken industry across USA and Canada causing significant economic impact. In this study, we characterized emerging variant ARV strains and examined their genetic and antigenic relationship with reference strains. We isolated 37 emerging variant ARV strains from tendons of broiler chickens with clinical cases of arthritis/tenosynovitis at commercial farms in Saskatchewan, Canada. Viral characterization using immunocytochemistry, gold-immunolabeling and electron microscopy revealed distinct features characteristic of ARV. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analyses of the viral Sigma C gene revealed genetic heterogeneity between the field isolates. On phylogenetic analyses, the Sigma C amino acid sequences of the isolates were clustered into four distinct genotypic groups. These ARV field strains were genetically diverse and quite distant from the vaccine and vaccine related field strains. Antibodies produced against a commercial Reo 2177 ® vaccine did not neutralize these variants. Moreover, structure based analysis of the Sigma C protein revealed significant antigenic variability between the cluster groups and the vaccine strains. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the genetic, phenotypic and antigenic characterization of emerging ARVs in Canada.

Microspheres-prime/rMVA-boost vaccination enhances humoral and cellular immune response in IFNAR(-/-) mice conferring protection against serotypes 1 and 4 of bluetongue virus.

Bluetongue virus (BTV) is the causative agent of bluetongue disease (BT), which affects domestic and wild ruminants. At the present, 27 different serotypes have been documented. Vaccination has been demonstrated as one of the most effective methods to avoid viral dissemination. To overcome the drawbacks associated with the use of inactivated and attenuated vaccines we engineered a new recombinant BTV vaccine candidate based on proteins VP2, VP7, and NS1 of BTV-4 that were incorporated into avian reovirus muNS-Mi microspheres (MS-VP2/VP7/NS1) and recombinant modified vaccinia virus Ankara (rMVA). The combination of these two antigen delivery systems in a heterologous prime-boost vaccination strategy generated significant levels of neutralizing antibodies in IFNAR(-/-) mice. Furthermore, this immunization strategy increased the ratio of IgG2a/IgG1 in sera, indicating an induction of a Th1 response, and elicited a CD8 T cell response. Immunized mice were protected against lethal challenges with the homologous serotype 4 and the heterologous serotype 1 of BTV. All these results support the strategy based on microspheres in combination with rMVAs as a promising multiserotype vaccine candidate against BTV.

Identification of a linear B-Cell epitope on avian reovirus protein sigmaC.

SigmaC (σC) protein, which mediates virus attachment to target cells, is the most variable proteins of avian reovirus (ARV). It is responsible for inducing protective antibody immune responses in animals. To understand the antigenic determinants of σC protein, a set of partially overlapping and consecutive peptides spanning σC were expressed and then screened with the monoclonal antibody (mAb) 2B5 directed against σC. The mAb 2B5 recognized peptides with the σC motif (45)ELLHRSISDISTTV(58). Further identification of the displayed B-cell epitope was conducted with a set of truncated peptides expressed as GST fusion proteins. The Western blot and ELISA results indicated that (45)ELLHRSISDI(54) was the minimal determinant of the linear B-cell epitope. Using sequences analysis, we found that this epitope was not a common motif shared among the other members of the ARV and DRV groups. Furthermore, cross reactivity analysis showed that the associated coding motif of other ARV and DRV groups was not recognized by 2B5. These data suggested that (45)ELLHRSISDI(54) was a type-specific linear B-cell epitope of avian reovirus. The results in this study may have potential applications in the development of diagnostic techniques and epitope-based marker vaccines against ARV, which is prevalent in China.

Baculovirus surface display of sigmaC and sigmaB proteins of avian reovirus and immunogenicity of the displayed proteins in a mouse model.

Avian reovirus (ARV), an important pathogen in poultry, causes arthritis, chronic respiratory disease, and malabsorption syndrome that cause considerable economic losses to the poultry industry. In present study, we have succeeded in construction of a universal baculovirus surface display system (UBSDS) that can display different foreign proteins on the envelope of baculovirus. Sequences encoding the signal peptide (SS), transmembrane domain (TM), and cytoplasmic domain (CTD) derived from the gp64 protein of baculovirus and histidine tag, respectively were inserted into the pBacCE vector. Four restriction enzyme sites between the histidine tag and gp64 transmembrane domain were established for expression of different foreign proteins. The transmembrane domain and CTD of gp64 in the platform were designed in order to improve stability and quantity of foreign proteins on the envelope of baculovirus. The sigmaC and sigmaB proteins of ARV are known to elicit neutralizing antibodies against ARV. The UBSDS was therefore used to express sigmaC and sigmaB proteins on the envelope of baculovirus. Two recombinant baculoviruses BacSC-sigmaC and BacSC-sigmaB have been successfully constructed. After infection, both His6-tagged recombinant sigmaC (rsigmaC) and sigmaB (rsigmaB) proteins were displayed on the envelope of recombinant baculoviruses and the recombinant viral proteins were anchored on the plasma membrane of Sf-9 cells, as revealed by immunofluorescence staining (IFS) and confocal microscopy. The antigenicity of rsigmaC and rsigmaB proteins was demonstrated by Western blotting assay. Immunogold electron microscopy demonstrated that both recombinant viruses displayed rsigmaC and rsigmaB proteins on the viral surface. Immunization of BALB/c mice with recombinant viruses, demonstrated that serum from the BacSC-sigmaC and BacSC-sigmaB treated models had significant higher levels of virus neutralization activities than the control groups. This demonstrates that the recombinant baculoviruses BacSC-sigmaC and BacSC-sigmaB can be a potential vaccine against ARV infections.

Characterization of M-class genome segments of muscovy duck reovirus S14.

This report documents the first sequence analysis of the entire M1, M2, and M3 genome segments of the muscovy duck reovirus (DRV) S14. The complete sequence of each of the three M gene segments was determined. The M1 genome segment was 2283 nucleotides in length and was predicted to encode muA protein of 732 residues. The Escherichia coli expressed M1 transcripts generated a 108kDa protein, as expected for muA. A cleavage product of muA, muA1, could be detected by Western blotting with duck anti-reovirus and mouse anti-muA polyclonal serum. muA was distributed diffusely in the cytoplasma and nucleus of transfected Vero cells, which provides evidence that muA might be functional related to the mammalian reovirus (MRV) mu2. The M2 gene was 2155 nucleotides in length and was predicted to encode muB major outer capsid protein of 676 amino acids. The M3 genome segment was 1996 nucleotides in length and was predicted to encode a muNS protein of 635 amino acids. It was unexpectedly found that 5'-termini of the M1 and M2 genes ended with 5'-ACUUUU and 5'-UCUUUU, respectively, instead of 5'-GCUUUU, which is present on most mRNAs of other avian reoviruses (ARV). The UCAUC 3'-terminal sequences of the S14 M1, M2, and M3 genome segments are shared by DRV, ARV, and MRV. Alignment of the DRV muA-, muB-, and muNS-encoding genes with ARV revealed 72.9-73.9%, 67.1-69.6%, and 69.4-70.8% nucleotide identity, respectively. The amino acid sequence homology between DRV and ARV ranged from 85.3 to 86.2% (muA), 75.0 to 76.5% (muB), and 78.4 to 79.8% (muNS). Phylogenetic analyses of the M1, M2, M3, and S-class [Kuntz-Simon, G., Le Gall-Recule, G., de Boisseson, C., Jestin, V., 2002. Muscovy duck reovirus sigmaC protein is a typically encoded by the smallest genome segment. J. Gen. Virol. 83, 1189-1200; Zhang, Y., Liu, M., Hu, Q.L., Ouyang, S.D., Tong, G.Z., 2006a. Characterization of the sigmaC-encoding gene from muscovy duck reovirus. Virus Genes 36, 169-174; Zhang, Y., Liu, M., Ouyan, S.D., Hu, Q.L., Guo, D.C., Han, Z., 2006b. Detection and identification of avian, duck, and goose reoviruses by RT-PCR: goose and duck reoviruses aggregated the same specified genogroup in Orthoreovirus Genus II. Arch. Virol. 151, 1525-1538] genome segments suggests that DRV and ARV share a recent common ancestor and that the two lineages have subsequently undergone host dependent evolution.

Development and characterization of monoclonal antibodies against avian reovirus sigma C protein and their application in detection of avian reovirus isolates.

Avian reovirus (ARV) is a non-enveloped virus with a segmented double-stranded RNA genome surrounded by a double icosahedral capsid shell. ARVs are associated with viral arthritis, immunosuppression, and enteric diseases in poultry. The sigma C protein was involved in induction of apoptosis and neutralization antibody. In the present study, sigma C-His protein was expressed in Sf9 insect cells and purified by immobilized metal affinity chromatography. Eight monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against sigma C-His and three mAbs against His were screened from hybridoma cells produced by fusion of splenocytes from immunized mice with NS1 myeloma cells. Among the eight mAbs against sigma C protein, all belonged to the IgG isotype except three for IgM. It was discovered that all anti-His mAbs were mixtures of IgG and IgM isotypes. mAbs reacted with sigma C-His protein in a conformation-independent manner based on dot blot and western blotting assays. The competitive binding assay indicated that all mAbs recognized the same epitope on sigma C protein that was conserved in different isolates. Compared with the commercial anti-ARV S1133 polyclonal antibody, mAb (D15) had universal reactivity to all serotypes or genotypes of ARVs tested. This monoclonal antibody may therefore be useful for the development of an antigen-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for rapid detection of field isolates.

A monoclonal antibody-based competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detecting antibody production against avian reovirus protein sigmaA.

An assay protocol based on a monoclonal antibody-based competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (MAb-based c-ELISA) for detection of antibody against avian reovirus protein sigmaA in chicken is described. After the conditions for MAb-based c-ELISA had been optimized, sera collected from birds that received live and inactivated avian reovirus vaccines in different combinations were tested for antibody response against virus protein sigmaA. The results show a high level of antibody against sigmaA was in both vaccinated specific pathogenic free (SPF) and vaccinated commercially reared birds as long as one of the vaccines administered was in an inactivated form. The high level of antibody production is indicated by a high percentage inhibition (PI) values in the sera of the birds; but no antibody production was found in birds which received live vaccine only, as indicated by the low PI values. In serum samples from SPF birds receiving vaccines that include an inactivated form of the vaccine, there is a good correlation between the PI values and serum neutralizing antibody (SN) titers. Again, this correlation was not observed in birds that received only live vaccine. The PI values of commercially reared birds receiving inactivated vaccine were significantly different from those of the mock-treated birds, but this was not the case when the birds received only live vaccine. Taken together, the results suggest that MAb-based c-ELISA may provide an alternative choice for determining the immune status of a vaccinated chicken flock as long as one of the vaccines used was inactivated, and thus would allow a more precise way to predict the appropriate time for vaccination.

Epitope mapping and functional analysis of sigma A and sigma NS proteins of avian reovirus.

We have previously shown that avian reovirus (ARV) sigmaA and sigmaNS proteins possess dsRNA and ssRNA binding activity and suggested that there are two epitopes on sigmaA (I and II) and three epitopes (A, B, and C) on sigmaNS. To further define the location of epitopes on sigmaA and sigmaNS proteins and to further elucidate the biological functions of these epitopes by using monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) 62, 1F9, H1E1, and 4A123 against the ARV S1133 strain, the full-length and deletion fragments of S2 and S4 genes of ARV generated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were cloned into pET32 expression vectors and the fusion proteins were overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21 strain. Epitope mapping using MAbs and E. coli-expressed deletion fragments of sigmaA and sigmaNS of the ARV S1133 strain, synthetic peptides, and the cross reactivity of MAbs to heterologous ARV strains demonstrated that epitope II on sigmaA was located at amino acid residues 340QWVMAGLVSAA350 and epitope B on sigmaNS at amino acid residues 180MLDMVDGRP188. The MAbs (62, 1F9, and H1E1) directed against epitopes II and B did not require the native conformation of sigmaA and sigmaNS, suggesting that their binding activities were conformation-independent. On the other hand, MAb 4A123 only reacted with complete sigmaNS but not with truncated sigmaNS fusion proteins in Western blot, suggesting that the binding activity of MAb to epitope A on sigmaNS was conformation-dependent. Amino acid sequence analysis and the binding assays of MAb 62 to heterologous ARV strains suggested that epitope II on sigmaA was highly conserved among ARV strains and that this epitope is suitable as a serological marker for the detection of ARV antibodies following natural infection in chickens. On the contrary, an amino acid substitution at position 183 (M to V) in epitope B of ARV could hinder the reactivity of the sigmaNS with MAb 1F9. The sigmaNS of ARV with ssRNA-binding activity could be blocked by monoclonal antibody 1F9. The epitope B on sigmaNS is required for ssRNA binding because its deletion fully abolished the ssRNA binding activity of sigmaNS.

Evidence that avian reovirus sigmaA protein is an inhibitor of the double-stranded RNA-dependent protein kinase.

The results of a previous study demonstrated that avian reovirus is highly resistant to the antiviral effects of interferon and suggested that the double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-binding sigmaA protein might play an important role in that resistance. To gather more evidence on the interferon-inhibitory activity of sigmaA protein, its gene was cloned into the prokaryotic maltose-binding protein (MBP) gene fusion vector pMalC and into the recombinant vaccinia virus WRS2. The two recombinant sigmaA proteins displayed a dsRNA-binding affinity similar to that of sigmaA protein synthesized in avian reovirus-infected cells. Interestingly, MBP-sigmaA, but not MBP, was able to relieve the translation-inhibitory activity of dsRNA in reticulocyte lysates by blocking the activation of endogenous dsRNA-dependent enzymes. In addition, transient expression of sigmaA protein in HeLa cells rescued gene expression of a vaccinia virus mutant lacking the E3L gene, and insertion of the sigmaA-encoding gene into vaccinia virus conferred protection for the virus against interferon in chicken cells. Further studies demonstrated that expression of recombinant sigmaA in mammalian cells interfered with dsRNA-dependent protein kinase (PKR) function. From these results we conclude that sigmaA is capable of reversing the interferon-induced antiviral state by down-regulating PKR activity in a manner similar to other virus-encoded dsRNA-binding proteins.

Avian reovirus induces an inhibitory effect on lymphoproliferation in chickens.

The cellular immune responses of chickens inoculated with the vaccine strain S-1133 and/or a field isolate VA-1 of avian reovirus (ARV) were studied. Both strains of virus caused inhibition of the phytohaemagglutinin (PHA)-induced lymphoproliferative response of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and splenic mononuclear cells (SMC) during the initial stage from day 4 up to day 10 post-inoculation (PI), with a later return to the normal value. The inhibition in the PHA-induced lymphoproliferation of SMC could be partially overcome by depletion of adherent cells. The supernatant of the PHA-stimulated SMC culture was also checked in vitro for the presence of suppressive factor(s) produced in response to ARV infection. The culture supernatant from chickens at day 5 PI caused significant inhibition of the PHA-induced lymphoproliferation of control birds, suggesting the presence of suppressive factor(s). ARV infection also significantly inhibited IL-2 production on day 5. There was a significant increase in nitric oxide production by the splenic mononuclear cells of chickens inoculated with either strain of ARV.

Interactions of poult enteritis and mortality syndrome-associated reovirus with various cell types in vitro.

An avian reovirus, ARV-CU98, has recently been isolated from poults experiencing poult enteritis and mortality syndrome (PEMS). To further understand ARV-CU98 and its role in PEMS, the current study investigates interactions of ARV-CU98 with various cell types in vitro. When macrophages, B cells, T cells, and liver cells of chicken or turkey origin were co-incubated with ARV-CU98, only cells of liver origin demonstrated cytopathic effects, the presence of viral antigen, and reduced metabolic activity over time. Furthermore, distinctive pockets of viral particles were evident in electron microscopic examination of a chicken hepatocellular carcinoma (LMH) cell line, but not in a chicken macrophage cell line (MQ-NCSU) co-incubated with virus. Additional evidence of viral replication in LMH, cells but not MQ-NCSU cells was demonstrated by the presence of two viral bands (43 and 145 kD size) in cell lysates from LMH cells exposed to ARV-CU98. Although not capable of being infected by ARV-CU98, MQ-NCSU cells do appear to be activated by the virus since IL-1 mRNA expression is increased in MQ-NCSU cells 2 h after addition of the virus. LMH cells exposed to the virus demonstrate a decrease in IL-1 mRNA expression by 8 to 10 h after addition of the virus, perhaps corresponding to the initiation of infection by the virus. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that ARV-CU98 actively infects and replicates in LMH cells, but not in lymphocytes or macrophages, suggesting that the liver may be a target and site of replication of ARV-CU98 in poults experiencing PEMS.