Chia-Yi Chang

The challenges of classical swine fever control: modified live and E2 subunit vaccines.

Classical swine fever (CSF) is an economically important, highly contagious disease of swine worldwide. CSF is caused by classical swine fever virus (CSFV), and domestic pigs and wild boars are its only natural hosts. The two main strategies used to control CSF epidemic are systematic prophylactic vaccination and a non-vaccination stamping-out policy. This review compares the protective efficacy of the routinely used modified live vaccine (MLV) and E2 subunit vaccines and summarizes the factors that influence the efficacy of the vaccines and the challenges that both vaccines face to CSF control. Although MLV provide earlier and more complete protection than E2 subunit vaccines, it has the drawback of not allowing differentiation between infected and vaccinated animals (DIVA). The marker vaccine of E2 protein with companion discriminatory test to detect antibodies against E(rns) allows DIVA and is a promising strategy for future control and eradication of CSF. Maternal derived antibody (MDA) is the critical factor in impairing the efficacy of both MLV and E2 subunit vaccines, so the well-designed vaccination programs of sows and piglets should be considered together. Because of the antigen variation among various genotypes of CSFV, antibodies raised by either MLV or subunit vaccine neutralize genotypically homologous strains better than heterologous ones. However, although this is not a major concern for MLV as the induced immune responses can protect pigs against the challenge of various genotypes of CSFVs, it is critical for E2 subunit vaccines. It is thus necessary to evaluate whether the E2 subunit vaccine can completely protect against the current prevalent strains in the field. An ideal new generation of vaccine should be able to maintain the high protective efficiency of MLV and overcome the problem of antigenic variations while allowing for DIVA.

Phylogenetic Analysis of the Spike (S) Gene of the New Variants of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhoea Virus in Taiwan

&NA; New variants of porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDV), which emerged in Taiwan in late 2013, have caused a high morbidity and mortality in neonatal piglets. To investigate the molecular characteristics of the spike (S) gene of the emerging Taiwan PEDV strains for a better understanding of the genetic diversity and relationship among the Taiwan new variants and the global PEDVs, full‐length S genes of PEDVs from nine 1–7 day‐old piglets from three pig farms in the central and southern Taiwan were sequenced and analysed. The result of phylogenetic analysis of the S gene showed that all the Taiwan PEDV strains were closely related to the non‐S INDEL strains from US, Canada and China, suggesting a common ancestor for these strains. As compared with the historic PEDVs and CV777‐based vaccine strains, the nine Taiwan PEDV variants shared almost the same genetic signatures as the global non‐S INDEL strains, including a series of insertions, deletions and mutations in the amino terminal as well as identical mutations in the neutralizing epitopes of the S gene. The high similarity of the S protein among the Taiwan and the globally emerged non‐S INDEL PEDV strains suggests that the Taiwan new variants may share similar pathogenesis and immunogenicity as the global outbreak variants. The development of a novel vaccine based on the Taiwan or the global non‐S INDEL strains may be contributive to the control of the current global porcine epidemic diarrhoea outbreaks.

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) infection decreases the efficacy of an attenuated classical swine fever virus (CSFV) vaccine

The Lapinized Philippines Coronel (LPC) vaccine, an attenuated strain of classical swine fever virus (CSFV), is an important tool for the prevention and control of CSFV infection and is widely and routinely used in most CSF endemic areas, including Taiwan. The aim of this study was to investigate whether PCV2 infection affects the efficacy of the LPC vaccine. Eighteen 6-week-old, cesarean-derived and colostrum-deprived (CDCD), crossbred pigs were randomly assigned to four groups. A total of 105.3 TCID50 of PCV2 was experimentally inoculated into pigs through both intranasal and intramuscular routes at 0 days post-inoculation (dpi) followed by LPC vaccination 12 days later. All the animals were challenged with wild-type CSFV (ALD stain) at 27 dpi and euthanized at 45 dpi. Following CSFV challenge, the LPC-vaccinated pigs pre-inoculated with PCV2 showed transient fever, viremia, and viral shedding in the saliva and feces. The number of IgM+, CD4+CD8-CD25+, CD4+CD8+CD25+, and CD4-CD8+CD25+ lymphocyte subsets and the level of neutralizing antibodies against CSFV were significantly higher in the animals with LPC vaccination alone than in the pigs with PCV2 inoculation/LPC vaccination. In addition, PCV2-derived inhibition of the CSFV-specific cell proliferative response of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was demonstrated in an ex vivo experiment. These findings indicate that PCV2 infection decreases the efficacy of the LPC vaccine. This PCV2-derived interference may not only allow the invasion of wild-type CSFV in pig farms but also increases the difficulty of CSF prevention and control in CSF endemic areas.

Antigenic domains analysis of classical swine fever virus E2 glycoprotein by mutagenesis and conformation-dependent monoclonal antibodies

Glycoprotein E2 of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) is the major antigenic protein exposed on the outer surface of the virion that induces main neutralizing antibodies during infection in pigs. This study displays the differences in antigenicity of E2 between vaccine and field strains of CSFV by their variable reaction patterns between expressed proteins and monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). The D/A domains of various CSFVs were relatively conserved and recognized by all mAbs against the A domain. However, mAbs against B/C domains were able to differentiate field viruses TD/96/TWN (subgroup 2.1) and 94.4/IL/94/TWN (subgroup 3.4) from the vaccine virus LPC/AHRI (subgroup 1.1). By analysis of expressed truncated proteins, the epitope(s) on B/C domains were mapped to the N-terminal 90 residues of E2 between amino acids 690 and 779. Site-directed mutagenesis further showed that residues (693)C, (737)C, (771)L, (772)L, (773)F and (774)D were critical for the reactivity of E2 protein with mAbs. Thus, the B/C domains are responsible for antigen specificity among various CSFVs, and the disulfide bond and motif (771)LLFD(774) are essential for the structural integrity of its conformational recognition. These data significantly increase our understanding of the antigenic structure of E2 for antibody binding.

Antigenic mimicking with cysteine-based cyclized peptides reveals a previously unknown antigenic determinant on E2 glycoprotein of classical swine fever virus.

Envelope glycoprotein E2 of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) is the major antigen that induces neutralizing antibodies in infected pigs. The conformational epitope(s) on B/C domains were mapped to the N-terminal 90 residues of E2 between amino acids 690 and 779 (Chang et al., 2010a). To mimic the conformational epitopes, a set of synthetic cyclized peptides spanning the B/C domains of E2 were used to react with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against E2 and with swine anti-CSFV polyclonal sera. All antibodies recognized a highest common element, (753)RYLASLHKKALPTSV(767), on the double-looped peptides. This epitope region has not been revealed previously in the literature. Both substitution-scanning of residues (753)RYLASLHKKALPTSV(767) on a double-looped peptide and site-directed mutagenesis of expressed E2 demonstrated that residues (761)K, (763)L and (764)P were critical for the reactivity with mAbs. In addition, the up- and downstream residues (753)R, (754)Y, (755)L and (765)T were also crucial. Alignment showed that this stretch of amino acids was relatively conserved among various CSFVs. Thus, we identified a motif (753)RYLASLHKKALPT(765), which may be part of group-specific antigen and important for the structural integrity of conformational epitope recognition.

Identification of antigen-specific residues on E2 glycoprotein of classical swine fever virus

Envelope glycoprotein E2 of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) is the major antigen that induces neutralizing antibodies in infected pigs. Our previous study revealed that N-terminal 90 residues (domains B/C) of E2 play key roles in differentiating vaccine strain LPC/AHRI (subgroup 1.1) from the two field strains TD/96/TWN (subgroup 2.1) and 94.4/IL/94/TWN (subgroup 3.4) (Chang et al., 2010). This study further analyzed the reaction patterns between monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and expressed hybrid N-terminal of E2 of the above-mentioned viruses, revealing that mAbs T33 and C2, mAbs V8 and T23, and mAbs L7 and L150 required binding sites specifically at residues 690-714 in domain B, residues 715-740 in domain C, and residues 741-765 in domain C, respectively. Site-directed mutagenesis further demonstrated that residues (713)E and (729)D were critical for antigenic specificity of field strain (94.4/IL/94/TWN), while residues (705)D and (761)K were specific for vaccine strain (LPC/AHRI). These specific residues likely mediated in determining the topography of mAb binding sites of E2 to allow for differentiation between strains based on the premise that the structural integrity of the conformational epitope is maintained.

Evolutionary characterization of the emerging porcine epidemic diarrhea virus worldwide and 2014 epidemic in Taiwan.

Abstract Since 2010, a new variant of PEDV belonging to Genogroup 2 has been transmitting in China and further spreading to the Unites States and other Asian countries including Taiwan. In order to characterize in detail the temporal and geographic relationships among PEDV strains, the present study systematically evaluated the evolutionary patterns and phylogenetic resolution in each gene of the whole PEDV genome in order to determine which regions provided the maximal interpretative power. The result was further applied to identify the origin of PEDV that caused the 2014 epidemic in Taiwan. Thirty-four full genome sequences were downloaded from GenBank and divided into three non-mutually exclusive groups, namely, worldwide, Genogroup 2 and China, to cover different ranges of secular and spatial trends. Each dataset was then divided into different alignments by different genes for likelihood mapping and phylogenetic analysis. Our study suggested that both nsp3 and S genes contained the highest phylogenetic signal with substitution rate and phylogenetic topology similar to those obtained from the complete genome. Furthermore, the proportion of nodes with high posterior support (posterior probability >0.8) was similar between nsp3 and S genes. The nsp3 gene sequences from three clinical samples of swine with PEDV infections were aligned with other strains available from GenBank and the results suggested that the virus responsible for the 2014 PEDV outbreak in Taiwan clustered together with Clade I from the US within Genogroup 2. In conclusion, the current study identified the nsp3 gene as an alternative marker for a rapid and unequivocal classification of the circulating PEDV strains which provides complementary information to the S gene in identifying the emergence of epidemic strain resulting from recombination.

Identification of conformational epitopes and antigen-specific residues at the D/A domains and the extramembrane C-terminal region of E2 glycoprotein of classical swine fever virus

Envelope glycoprotein E2 of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) is the major antigen that induces neutralizing antibodies in infected pigs. Previous studies revealed that both conformation-dependent and linear epitopes are most present within domains B/C/D/A in the N-terminal half of E2. However, studies of antigenicity beyond the B/C domains remain limited. This study revealed that conformational epitopes were present on the D/A domains as well as the proximal C-terminal of E2, since the mutation of cysteine abrogated their bindings to monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). The residue R845 at domain A and E902 at the C-terminal region were critical for specific binding to mAbs, further supporting the presence of antigenic determinants on these regions. Substitutions of cysteines in domains D/A not only abrogated the binding to mAbs directed to D/A, but also affected the binding of the downstream C-terminal region to its specific mAbs, suggesting a close interaction between the two conformational epitopes. Mutations on the five proximal cysteines at positions 869, 877, 893, 896 and 930 in the C-terminal region only affected the binding to its specific mAbs binding sites. In addition, mutation on the three distal C-terminal cysteines at positions 945, 966, and 983 resulted in loss of E2 homodimerization. This study demonstrates new antigenic epitopes on D/A domains and C-terminal of E2 that have not been reported before, and that the nine cysteines in the C-terminal function differently in either maintaining the antigenic structure or in intermolecular dimerization of E2.

Rabies Virus Infection in Ferret Badgers (Melogale moschata subaurantiaca) in Taiwan: A Retrospective Study

Abstract Fifteen ferret badgers (Melogale moschata subaurantiaca), collected 2010–13 and stored frozen, were submitted for rabies diagnosis by direct fluorescent antibody test and reverse transcription PCR. We detected seven positive animal samples, including some from 2010, which indicated that the ferret badger population in Taiwan had been affected by rabies prior to 2010.

The application of a duplex reverse transcription real-time PCR for the surveillance of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus and porcine circovirus type 2

The porcine respiratory disease complex (PRDC) is the most common disease in commercial pork production worldwide. Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), the most important agents of PRDC, usually co-infect in the same pigs. In order to survey the prevalence of PCV2 and PRRSV in pigs of various ages, a duplex reverse transcription real-time PCR (DRT-rPCR) was developed and applied in the present study. The DRT-rPCR did not cross-react with 10 swine viruses other than PCV2 and PRRSV, with detection limits of 1 TCID50/ml for PCV2 and 6.3 TCID50/ml for PRRSV. Surveillance using DRT-rPCR together with serology revealed that in the five farms studied, pigs were most susceptible to PRRSV at 6-14 weeks of age, whereas susceptibility to PCV2 varied by the management system but was mostly at 10-14 weeks of age. Cross analysis of viral loads versus antibody titers revealed that PCV2 load was affected negatively by anti-PCV2 ORF2 antibody, which constituted the most important non-infectious factor affecting the development of PMWS. These results indicated that DRT-rPCR was developed and applied successfully to the surveillance of PCV2 and PRRSV in the field.