title: Development of recombinant capsid antigen/transmembrane epitope fusion proteins for serological diagnosis of animal lentivirus infections.
abstract: Among animal lentiviruses, Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), Equine infectious anaemia virus (EIAV) and Small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLV) are important pathogens associated with a variety of clinical pictures including immunodeficiency, anaemia, arthritis, pneumonia. The detection of viral antibody response represents a practical diagnostic approach in all lentivirus infections since they remain detectable long life. Capsid antigen (CA) is the major viral core protein and specific antibodies against this antigen are usually first recognised in infected sheep, goat and horse, remaining detectable for long period. Transmembrane (TM) domain of envelope glycoprotein contains a well conserved motif known to form an immunodominant epitope in several lentiviruses. In this study a simple strategy was developed to express the entire CA and the TM epitope in a single fusion protein from equine, feline and small ruminant lentiviruses in prokaryotic system and evaluated the diagnostic utility of a purified preparation in an indirect ELISA for each of the three infections. Results demonstrate that, for FIV and SRLV infections, the combination of CA and TM fractions increases the sensitivity of diagnostic tests based only on CA. The corresponding CA/TM antigen from EIAV showed excellent agreement with Coggins test.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Produzioni Animali, Epidemiologia ed Ecologia, Facoltà di Medicina Veterinaria, Università di Torino, Via Leonardo da Vinci 44, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy. sergio.rosati@unito.it
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rosati
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Profiti
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lorenzetti
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bandecchi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mannelli
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ortoffi
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tolari
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Ciabatti
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D002415:Cats; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D000939:Epitopes / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D004859:Equine Infectious Anemia / Q000175:diagnosis; D016181:Feline Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D006041:Goats; D006736:Horses; D016089:Immunodeficiency Virus, Feline / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004860:Infectious Anemia Virus, Equine / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016086:Lentivirus / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016180:Lentivirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D017972:Lentiviruses, Ovine-Caprine / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D000939:Epitopes; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins