title: Evidence of simian virus 40 exposure in a colony of captive baboons.
abstract: Simian virus 40 (SV40) is a polyomavirus for which non-human primates are the permissive host. The baboon (Papio spp.) is an old world monkey that is used in a variety of research investigations; however, natural infection of SV40 among baboons has not been thoroughly examined or reported. Initially, we were interested in determining the prevalence of SV40 infection among a captive colony of baboons based on the presence of antibodies to SV40 large T-antigen (Tag). An overall seroprevalence rate of >50% was found after screening sera from 142 baboons in the colony based on ELISA. Endpoint titer values for serum antibody binding to SV40 Tag reached as high as 1280 for 5 out of 142 baboons. Peptide binding assays revealed that a range of SV40 Tag epitopes are immunogenic in the baboon, and that individual animals differ in their humoral immune responses to SV40 Tag based on epitope recognition. Specificity to SV40 Tag and not some other primate polyomavirus encoded large Tag was further examined by serologic reactivity to peptide epitopes unique to SV40 Tag. Additional serology was performed to assess SV40 Tag reactivity by Western blot and whether antibodies were capable of neutralizing SV40 infectivity in vitro. Although antibodies with high levels of SV40 neutralization were observed in a number of the baboons, there was a lack of correlation between viral neutralization and antibodies to SV40 Tag. Further examination using molecular-based diagnosis and SV40 Tag specific real-time quantitative PCR determined that some of the baboons appeared to be exposed to SV40. DNA sequence analysis of the PCR products confirmed that SV40 Tag specific sequences were detected in baboons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, 3601 4th Street STOP 6591, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA.
authors.forename: Landon W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Westfall
authors.forename: Michael H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Shearer
authors.forename: Cynthia A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Jumper
authors.forename: Gary L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: James F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Papin
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Eberle
authors.forename: Janet S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Butel
authors.forename: Robert K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Bright
authors.forename: Ronald C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Kennedy
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000830:Animals, Laboratory / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D000957:Antigens, Viral, Tumor / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008992:Monkey Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D010215:Papio / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D048530:Papio anubis / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D048548:Papio cynocephalus / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D048549:Papio ursinus / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D027601:Polyomavirus Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary / Q000821:virology; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013539:Simian virus 40 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000957:Antigens, Viral, Tumor; D017931:DNA Primers; D004279:DNA, Viral