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Although porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) virus-like particles (VLPs) have been successfully harvested from various protein expression systems, conditions to promote their stability and integrity during long-term storage have not been well defined since only the intact VLPs, instead of the monomeric capsid protein (Cap), can induce neutralizing antibodies in pigs in previous studies. In this study, freshly prepared PCV2 VLPs were stored in several media (various concentrations of NaCl, sorbitol, sucrose and trehalose) at three temperatures (4 °C, −20 °C and −80 °C) and their stability and integration were evaluated after 7 month. Addition of 15% trehalose in storage buffer promoted long-term preservation of PCV2 VLPs. In contrast, storage buffer with 5% osmolytes (sucrose, trehalose and sorbitol) did not confer stabilization for long-term storage. These refined storage conditions for stabilization of PCV2 VLPs should enhance their use in vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study established a highly permissive and decontaminated cell line for growing porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2). A porcine kidney-15 cell line (PK-15) contaminated with porcine circovirus type 1 (PCV1) was decontaminated by neutralizing with rabbit anti-PCV1 hyperimmune serum. Subsequently, by limiting dilution and cell subcloning, four PCV1-free monoclonal cells were grown to monolayers. Each cell clone and PK-15 cell were infected with PCV2. The PKKC cell clone yielded up to 106.8 TCID50/ml at 6 days post-infection. In addition, PKKC was free of extraneous viral contamination and exhibited a cytopathic effect (CPE) to PCV2 at 6 days post-infection. The advantages of the PKKC cell are that it can grow a high PCV2 titer and exhibit CPE; therefore, it can be used for PCV2 cultivation, vaccine production, and diagnostic purposes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this study, a method was developed to measure replication rates of rolling-circle replicon-based plasmids in eukaryotic cells. This method is based on the discriminative quantitation of MboI-resistant, non-replicated input plasmids and DpnI-resistant, replicated plasmids. To do so, porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) replicon-based plasmids were constructed. These plasmids contained the PCV2 origin of replication, the PCV2 Rep promoter and the PCV2 Rep gene. The results show that the replication rate depends on the length of the PCV2 replicon-based plasmid and not on the respective position of the Rep promoter and the promoter of the gene of interest that encodes the enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP). In all cases, it was necessary to add the Rep gene encoded by a plasmid and cotransfected as a replication booster. This method can evaluate the replication potential of replicon-based plasmids quickly and is thereby a promising tool for the development of plasmids for vaccine purposes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The main aim of the present study was to describe new methods for the identification of antibodies against the PCV2 capsid (Cap) and replicase (Rep) proteins in pig sera. Specifically, two new indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) were developed based on recombinant PCV2 Cap (rCap) and Rep/Rep′ (rRep) proteins expressed in baculovirus and produced in Trichoplusia ni insect larvae. Both assays were validated by testing serum samples in a longitudinal study of 107 animals with different clinico-pathological features of PCV2 infection: pigs with postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS), wasted pigs without a diagnosis of PMWS and healthy animals. Longitudinal antibody profiles indicated that healthy animals had significantly higher anti-Cap and anti-Rep antibody levels than the rest of the animal groups at 11 weeks of age. Moreover, PMWS affected pigs could be distinguished from the rest of the pig groups by their lower anti-Rep antibody levels at 11 weeks of age and at necropsy. The results demonstrate the potential of these two ELISAs for large-scale serological studies. This study represents the first longitudinal study of the induction of anti-Cap and anti-Rep antibodies in farms affected by PMWS, from 1 week of age until the occurrence of disease. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) infections in pigs have diverse clinical presentations and are considered economically important diseases worldwide. However, despite intensive research, the early pathogenesis of PCV2 and the primary target cells for PCV2 infections and replication are still unknown. Rolling-circle amplification (RCA) is an amplification technique for small, circular DNA templates that essentially mimics rolling-circle replication in vitro. In this study, the amplification of PCV2-specific DNAs using randomly primed RCA has been demonstrated. This novel approach has circumvented the normal requirement for conventional virus isolation procedures for the characterization of PCV2 DNAs from clinical samples. In addition, the potential utility of a strand-specific derivative of RCA was further investigated. Specifically, strand-specific RCA for the detection of active virus replication following the amplification of complementary sense PCV2 DNAs, which occur as double-stranded replicative intermediates that are present only during de novo viral DNA replication both in vitro and in vivo has been demonstrated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Baculovirus has emerged recently as a novel and attractive gene delivery vehicle for mammalian cells. Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is known to be associated with post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS), an emerging swine disease which results in tremendous economic losses. In this study, baculovirus pseudotyped with vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSV-G) was used as a vector to express capsid (Cap) protein, the most important immunogen of PCV2, under the transcriptional control of cytomegalovirus immediate early (CMV-IE) enhancer/promoter. The resultant recombinant baculovirus (BV-G-ORF2) efficiently transduced and expressed the Cap protein in mammalian cells, as demonstrated by Western blot and flow cytometric analyses. After direct vaccination with 1×108 or 1×109 plaque forming units (PFU)/mouse of BV-G-ORF2, significant PCV2-specific ELISA antibodies, neutralizing antibodies, as well as cellular immune responses could be induced in mice. BV-G-ORF2 exhibited better immunogenicity than a DNA vaccine encoding the Cap protein, even at a dose of 1×108 PFU/mouse. Taken together, the improved immunogenicity of BV-G-ORF2, together with the unique advantages of pseudotype baculovirus, including easy manipulation, simple scale-up, lack of toxicity, and no pre-existing antibody against baculovirus in the hosts, indicate that pseudotype baculovirus-mediated gene delivery can be utilized as an alternative strategy to develop a new generation of vaccines against PCV2 infection. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A method of loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) was employed to develop a rapid and simple detection system for porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2). The amplification could be finished in 60min under isothermal condition at 64°C by employing a set of four primers targeting the cap gene of PCV2. The LAMP assay showed higher sensitivity than the conventional PCR, with a detection limit of five copies per tube of purified PCV2 genomic DNA. No cross-reactivity was observed from the samples of other related viruses including porcine circovirus type 1 (PCV1), porcine parvovirus (PPV), porcine pseudorabies virus (PRV) and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV). The detection rate of PCV2 LAMP for 86 clinical samples was 96.5% and appeared greater than that of the PCR method. The LAMP assay reported can provide a rapid yet simple test of PCV2 suitable for laboratory diagnosis and pen-side detection due to ease of operation and the requirement of only a regular water bath or heat block for the reaction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is detected in high amounts within the characteristic microscopic lesions of postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) affected pigs. In spite of recent advances on disease pathogenesis, the precise cell types that support viral replication are still a major issue of scientific discussion. In this study, a new methodology to detect cell types that support PCV2 replication was designed. For this purpose, two in situ hybridisation (ISH) methods were developed and applied on tissues of PMWS naturally affected pigs using two probes designed from the ORF1 sequence of the virus. While the complementary probe (CP) detected ssDNA, ORF1 mRNA and replicative form (RF) of PCV2, the RF probe (RFP) exclusively hybridised with the RF of the virus, thus, only labelling cells where PCV2 replication is taking place. Both probes demonstrated to be specific and equally sensitive by an in vitro Southern blot hybridisation assay. ISH labelling with the CP was extensive in lymphoid tissues and of variable amount in other non-lymphoid tissues. With this probe, mainly macrophage-like cells were labelled but also other cell types such as hepatocytes and other epithelial cells. Tissues in which RFP labelling was found more frequently were lung, inguinal and mesenteric lymph nodes, tonsil and liver. Labelling with the RFP was always nuclear, and found in the same cell types as with the CP, although in a relatively low proportion of them; labelling of macrophage-like cells was infrequent. Therefore, the results indicate that at least a certain proportion of macrophages may support PCV2 replication, but main cells where PCV2 replicates are of epithelial/endothelial origin. In summary, the present study permitted the study of cell types that support PCV2 replication by the use of ISH on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues of PMWS affected pigs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]