Characterization of homologous and heterologous adaptive immune responses in porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus infection.

The present study characterized the homologous and heterologous immune response in type-I porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) infection. Two experiments were conducted: in experiment 1, eight pigs were inoculated with PRRSV strain 3262 and 84 days post-inoculation (dpi) they were challenged with either strain 3262 or strain 3267 and followed for the next 14 days (98 dpi). In experiment 2, eight pigs were inoculated with strain 3267 and challenged at 84 dpi as above. Clinical course, viremia, humoral response (neutralizing and non-neutralizing antibodies, NA) and virus-specific IFN-γ responses (ELISPOT) were evaluated all throughout the study. Serum levels of IL-1, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α and TGF-ß were determined (ELISA) after the second challenge. In experiment 1 primo-inoculation with strain 3262 induced viremia of ≤ 28 days, low titres of homologous NA but strong IFN-γ responses. In contrast, strain 3267 induced longer viremias (up to 56 days), higher NA titres (≤ 6 log2) and lower IFN-γ responses. Inoculation with 3267 produced higher serum IL-8 levels. After the re-challenge at 84 dpi, pigs in experiment 1 developed mostly a one week viremia regardless of the strain used. In experiment 2, neither the homologous nor the heterologous challenge resulted in detectable viremia although PRRSV was present in tonsils of some animals. Homologous re-inoculation with 3267 produced elevated TGF-ß levels in serum for 7-14 days but this did not occur with the heterologous re-inoculation. In conclusion, inoculation with different PRRSV strains result in different virological and immunological outcomes and in different degrees of homologous and heterologous protection.

Expression of Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) in the lungs and lymphoid tissue of pigs.

The pattern of distribution of Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) in different tissues varies between species. The aim of the present study was to describe the distribution of TLR9 expression in selected tissues and organs of healthy pigs at 3 weeks and 3 months of age. Representative formalin-fixed samples of lung, thymus and secondary lymphoid tissues were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. TLR9 positive staining was observed in epithelial cells, vascular endothelium and myoepithelial-like cells, as well as in cells of the alveolar septa of the lung. Antigen presenting cells of perifollicular zones (interdigitating, macrophage and dendritic-like cells) of the Peyer's patches, lymph nodes, spleen and thymus were also immunoreactive for TLR9. No differences were seen in TLR9 protein expression in tissues from the two age groups.

Regulation of toll-like receptors 3, 7 and 9 in porcine alveolar macrophages by different genotype 1 strains of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus.

The toll-like receptors (TLRs) play an important role in the innate host defense against pathogens. Endosomal TLRs, TLR3, TLR7/8, and TLR9 are involved in antiviral responses by promoting the production of antiviral cytokines such as type I interferons. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is an important disease causing economically high losses to the swine industry worldwide and caused by a single stranded positive sense RNA virus, known as PRRS virus (PRRSV). Studies focused on the interaction between PRRSV and TLRs are scarce. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the expression of TLR3, TLR7 and TLR9 in porcine alveolar macrophages (PAM) infected with different genotype 1 PRRSV strains previously sequenced and characterized by their ability to induce TNF-α: 3262 (TNF-α inducer), 3267 (TNF-α not inducer) and an attenuated vaccine strain (strain Deventer, PorcilisPRRS, Merck) that replicates scarcely in PAM. PAM were infected with the different PRRSV strains (at 0.1 multiplicity of infection) for 48 h or mock-stimulated with PAM supernatants. Cells were collected at different time-points (0 h, 6 h, 12 h, 24 h, 36 h, 48 h) to determine the kinetics of viral replication by quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) and the expression of TLR3, 7 and 9 by qRT-PCR, flow cytometry and indirect immunofluorescence assay. Although infection with PRRSV did not affect significantly relative levels of any TLR mRNA transcript (normalized to ß-actin expression), this infection resulted in significant differences in the proportion of cells expressing TLR3. Thus, in PAM infected with PRRSV strain 3262 the proportion of TLR3+ cells significantly increased from 24h compared with the controls; in contrast strain 3267 resulted in a lower proportion of TLR3+ PAM. Interestingly, strain 3262 replicate to lower levels than 3267 at comparable post-inoculation times. For strain DV, the results indicated that this strain did not replicate substantially in PAM and did not stimulated TLR3 expression. These observations suggest that at least TLR3 is regulated differentially by different genotype 1 PRRSV strains and this seems to be related apparently to the replication levels of each strain, as well as, to the TNF-α inducing capability. The fact that mRNA transcripts were kept constant also suggests that this regulation occurs at a post-transcriptional level.

Genetic and immunobiological diversities of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome genotype I strains.

Genetic diversity of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) has been based on ORF5/GP5 and ORF7/N protein variations. Complete viral genome studies are limited and focused on a single or a few set of strains. Moreover, there is a general tendency to extrapolate results obtained from a single isolate to the overall PRRSV population. In the present study, six genotype-I isolates of PRRSV were sequenced from ORF1a to ORF7. Phylogenetic comparisons and the variability degree of known linear B-epitopes were done considering other available full-length genotype-I sequences. Cytokine induction of all strains was also evaluated in different cellular systems. Non structural protein 2 (nsp2) was the most variable part of the virus with 2 out of 6 strains harboring a 74 aa deletion. Deletions were also found in ORF3 and ORF4. Phylogenetic analyses showed that isolates could be grouped differently depending on the ORF examined and the highest similarity with the full genome cluster was found for the nsp9. Interestingly, most of predicted linear B-epitopes in the literature, particularly in nsp2 and GP4 regions, were found deleted or varied in some of our isolates. Moreover, 4 strains, those with deletions in nsp2, induced TNF-α and 3 induced IL-10. These results underline the high genetic diversity of PRRSV mainly in nsp1, nsp2 and ORFs 3 and 4. This variability also affects most of the known linear B-epitopes of the virus. Accordingly, different PRRSV strains might have substantially different immunobiological properties. These data can contribute to the understanding of PRRSV complexity.