The putative capsid protein of the newly identified avian hepatitis E virus shares antigenic epitopes with that of swine and human hepatitis E viruses and chicken big liver and spleen disease virus.
We recently identified a novel virus, designated avian hepatitis E virus (avian HEV), from chickens with hepatitis-splenomegaly (HS) syndrome in the USA. We showed that avian HEV is genetically related to swine and human HEVs. Here we report the antigenic cross-reactivity of the putative open reading frame 2 (ORF2) capsid protein of avian HEV with those of swine and human HEVs and the Australian chicken big liver and spleen disease virus (BLSV). The region encoding the C-terminal 268 amino acid residues of avian HEV ORF2 was cloned into expression vector pRSET-C. The truncated ORF2 protein was expressed in E. coli as a fusion protein and purified by affinity chromatography. Western blot analysis revealed that the avian HEV ORF2 protein reacted with antisera against the Sar-55 strain of human HEV and with convalescent antisera against swine HEV and the US2 strain of human HEV, as well as with antiserum against BLSV. Convalescent sera from specific-pathogen-free chickens experimentally infected with avian HEV also reacted with the recombinant capsid proteins of swine HEV and Sar-55 human HEV. Antisera against the US2 human HEV also reacted with recombinant ORF2 proteins of both swine HEV and Sar-55 human HEV. The antigenic cross-reactivity of the avian HEV putative capsid protein with those of swine and human HEVs was further confirmed, for the most part, by ELISA assays. The data indicate that avian HEV shares certain antigenic epitopes in its putative capsid protein with swine and human HEVs, as well as with BLSV. The results have implications for HEV diagnosis and taxonomy.
Center for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1410 Price's Fork Rd, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0342, USA1.
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Haqshenas
Center for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1410 Price's Fork Rd, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0342, USA1.
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Huang
Center for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1410 Price's Fork Rd, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0342, USA1.
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Fenaux
Center for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1410 Price's Fork Rd, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0342, USA1.
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Guenette
Center for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1410 Price's Fork Rd, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0342, USA1.
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Pierson
Center for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1410 Price's Fork Rd, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0342, USA1.
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Larsen
California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California-Davis, 2789 South Orange Ave, Fresno, CA 93725, USA2.
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Shivaprasad
Center for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1410 Price's Fork Rd, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0342, USA1.
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Toth
Center for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1410 Price's Fork Rd, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0342, USA1.
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Meng
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000276:immunology; D002213:Capsid / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D002645:Chickens / Q000821:virology*; D003429:Cross Reactions; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D007106:Immune Sera; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014760:Viral Fusion Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
D000956:Antigens, Viral; D000939:Epitopes; D007106:Immune Sera; D014760:Viral Fusion Proteins