Loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay targeting the omp25 gene for rapid detection of Brucella spp.

A novel loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay was established to detect Brucella species DNA in milk and blood samples of animals and humans. This LAMP assay based on the sequence of highly repetitive omp25 gene was able to detect 9fg/µl Brucella spp. DNA with high sensitivity, which was 10 times higher than the nested PCR. The LAMP was evaluated for its specificity using 19 strains of six Brucella species and 28 related non-Brucella micro-organism strains as controls. The target 19 Brucella strains were all amplified, and no cross-reaction was found with all the non-Brucella micro-organism strains. Both nested PCR and LAMP assays were then used to detect Brucella spp. DNA in 78 milk samples and 113 blood samples from animals and 11 blood samples from humans, and the established LAMP assay yielded 99.0% concordance rate with the nested PCR. The LAMP assay should be a potential tool with high convenience, rapidity, sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of Brucellosis.

[Expression, purification and antigenic characterization of the Epitope-G1 gene of bovine ephemeral fever virus in Escherichia coli].

The epitope-G1 gene, cloned from the pMD-G plasmid including G protein gene of bovine ephemeral fever virus (BEFV), was subcloned into expression vector pGEX-4T-1 to construct pGEX-G1 recombinant plasmid successfully. The pGEX-G1 was transformed into E. coli BL21(DE3) to be induced with IPTG. The optimal expression conditions for G1 gene were obtained, which included reaction temperature 16 degrees C, induction time 18h and IPTG concentration 0.1 mmol/L. The soluble target protein was purified with Glutathione Sepharose TM(4B) and the purity reached 80%. The inclusion body washed with 2% deoxycholic acid sodium salt and dissolved with 0.5% N-lauroyl sarcosine sodium was recovered by the way of dialysis, then the protein was purified with Glutathione Sepharose TM(4B) and its purity was above 85%. The protein purified had nicer reaction activity by analysis of Western blot. The target protein was used as coating antigen to detect the sera against BEFV by an indirect ELISA. The 12 positive sera to BEFV were detected and the average of OD490 was 1.813 +/- 0.231, while the average of OD490 from 12 negative sera was 0.359 +/- 0.032, and the distinction was very remarkable (P < 0.01). All the rabbits inoculated with the target protein had produced high titer of antibodies, which indicated that the target protein had immunological activity. The average of OD49, detecting the 8 positive sera to rabies virus (RV) with the target protein purified was 0.324 +/- 0.031 which closed the datum obtained from the negative sera to BEFV, and it showed no cross-reaction between the sera to RV and BEFV. All the results above indicated that the target protein expressed had nicer biological activity and specificity, so the protein could be used as coating antigen to develop ELISA Kit for diagnosing BEF.

Infection of mouse bone marrow-derived immature dendritic cells with classical swine fever virus C-strain promotes cells maturation and lymphocyte proliferation.

In this study, the interactions of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) C-strain and the virulent GSLZ strain with mouse bone marrow-derived immature dendritic cells (BM-imDCs) were investigated for the first time. Both the C-strain and the virulent GSLZ strain could effectively infect and replicate in mouse BM-imDCs. C-strain-infected BM-imDCs showed a greatly enhanced degree of maturation, and could effectively promote the expansion and proliferation of allogeneic naive T cells. The C-strain induced a stronger Th1 response. Infection with the virulent GSLZ strain had no obvious influence on cell maturation or lymphocyte proliferation, and failed to induce any obvious immune response. The results of this study provided initial information for research of the immunologic mechanisms of CSFV using mouse DCs as the model cells.

Serological detection of bovine ephemeral fever virus using an indirect ELISA based on antigenic site G1 expressed in Pichia pastoris.

An indirect ELISA for the serological detection of bovine ephemeral fever virus (BEFV) infection in cattle is described in which a glycosylated protein of approximately 25 kDa (including the G1 antigenic site of the virus glycoprotein) expressed in Pichia pastoris GS115 was used as the coating antigen. The optimal concentration of coated antigen was 0.3 microg/well at a serum dilution of 1:40. The optimal positive threshold value of the assay was 1.88, as derived from receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. The test had 100% sensitivity and 96.7% specificity when compared with a micro-neutralisation test using 336 positive and 180 negative sera to BEFV, respectively. The inter-assay and intra-assay coefficients of variation for 15 sera were both <5.8% and there was no evidence of cross-reactivity between the tested coating antigen and antibodies to related rabies virus. The ELISA is an inexpensive and rapid serological detection method that would be suitable for screening for BEFV infection on a large scale.

An indirect ELISA of classical swine fever virus based on quadruple antigenic epitope peptide expressed in E.coli.

In this study, a synthesized quadruple antigenic epitope gene region of the classical swine fever virus (CSFV) E2 glycoprotein was expressed in E. coli to a obtain target protein. This target protein was used as a coating antigen to establish an indirect ELISA for specifically detecting anti-CSFV antibodies in serum samples from pigs. The P/N cut-off value of this assay was 1.92 by receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis based on 30 negative sera and 80 positive samples. The test gave 97.5% sensitivity and 96.7% specificity compared with the indirect hemagglutination (IHA) test. The inter-assay and intra-assay coefficients of variation (CVs) for 16 sera were both ≤6.8%. No cross-reactivity between the coating antigen and anti-bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) antibodies was observed.

Development and application of G1-ELISA for detection of antibodies against bovine ephemeral fever virus.

The gene encoding antigenic site G(1) of bovine ephemeral fever virus (BEFV) was highly expressed in the host cell Escherichia coli. An indirect G(1)-ELISA with the recombinant protein as the coating antigen was established to detect antibodies against BEFV. The result revealed that the optimal concentration of the coated antigen was 0.5 microg/well and the dilution of serum was 1:20. It was optimal that sera with P/N >or= 2.2 were considered positive, P/N