Experimental infection of mice with noncytopathic bovine viral diarrhea virus 2 increases the number of megakaryocytes in bone marrow

Berbamine, a bioactive alkaloid, suppresses equine herpesvirus type 1 in vitro and in vivo

Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) poses a global threat to equines. The anticancer agent berbamine (BBM), a bioactive alkaloid, has been shown to inhibit viral infection. However, whether BBM can inhibit EHV-1 infection remains unclear. This study investigated the effect of BBM treatment on EHV-1 infection. Quantitative PCR (qPCR), immunoblotting, the Reed-Muench method, and pathological examination were employed to study the ability of BBM to inhibit EHV-1 infection, viral DNA replication, viral protein production, virion secretion, and cytopathogenesis in vitro and in vivo. The in vitro studies revealed that 10 μM BBM effectively suppressed EHV-1 viral entry into cells, viral DNA replication, and virion secretion, while the in vivo studies verified the ability of BBM to suppress EHV-1-induced damage of brain and lung tissues and animal mortality. These findings strongly suggest that BBM could be a serious contender in the therapeutic control of EHV-1 infection of equines.

Non-structural proteins of bovine viral diarrhea virus

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) belongs to the family Flaviviridae genus pestivirus. The viral genome is a single-stranded, positive-sense RNA that encodes four structural proteins (i.e., C, Erns, E1, and E2) and eight non-structural proteins (NSPs) (i.e., Npro, p7, NS2, NS3, NS4A, NS4B, NS5A, and NS5B). Cattle infected with BVDV exhibit a number of different clinical signs including diarrhea, abortion, and other reproductive disorders which have a serious impact on the cattle industry worldwide. Research on BVDV mainly focuses on its structural protein, however, progress in understanding the functions of the NSPs of BVDV has also been made in recent decades. The knowledge gained on the BVDV non-structural proteins is helpful to more fully understand the viral replication process and the molecular mechanism of viral persistent infection. This review focuses on the functions of BVDV NSPs and provides references for the identification of BVDV, the diagnosis and prevention of Bovine viral diarrhea mucosal disease (BVD-MD), and the development of vaccines.

Dendritic Cell Targeting of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus E2 Protein Expressed by Lactobacillus casei Effectively Induces Antigen-Specific Immune Responses via Oral Vaccination

Bovine viral diarrhea caused by bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is an important disease in cattle, resulting in significant economic losses to the cattle industry worldwide. In order to develop an effective vaccine against BVDV infection, we constructed a dendritic cell (DC)-targeting oral probiotic vaccine (pPG-E2-DCpep/LC W56) using Lactobacillus casei as antigen delivery carrier to express BVDV glycoprotein E2 fused with DC-targeting peptide, and the immunogenicity of orally administered probiotic vaccine was evaluated in mice model. Our results showed that after immunization with the probiotic vaccine, significantly levels of antigen-specific sera IgG and mucosal sIgA antibodies (p < 0.05) with BVDV-neutralizing activity were induced in vivo. Challenge experiment showed that pPG-E2-DCpep/LC W56 can provide effective immune protection against BVDV, and BVDV could be effectively cleared from the intestine of immunized mice post-challenge. Moreover, the pPG-E2-DCpep/LC W56 could efficiently activate DCs in the intestinal Peyer’s patches, and significantly levels of lymphoproliferative responses, Th1-associated IFN-γ, and Th2-associated IL-4 were observed in mice immunized with pPG-E2-DCpep/LC W56 (p < 0.01). Our results clearly demonstrate that the probiotic vaccine could efficiently induce anti-BVDV mucosal, humoral, and cellular immune responses via oral immunization, indicating a promising strategy for the development of oral vaccine against BVDV.