Human Norovirus Histo-Blood Group Antigen (HBGA) Binding Sites Mediate the Virus Specific Interactions with Lettuce Carbohydrates

Lettuce is often implicated in human norovirus (HuNoV) foodborne outbreaks. We identified H-like histo-blood group antigens (HBGAs) on lettuce leaves as specific binding moieties for virus-like particles (VLPs) of HuNoV GII.4/HS194/2009 strain. The objective of this study was to determine whether HuNoV-lettuce binding is mediated through the virus HBGA binding sites (HBS). Toward this objective, VLPs of historical HuNoV GII.4 strains (1987, 1997, 2002, 2004 and 2006) with known natural mutations in their HBS, two newly generated VLP mutants of GII.4/HS194/2009 (D374A and G443A) and a VLP mutant (W375A) of GI.1/Norwalk/1968 along with its wild type VLPs, which displays distinct HBS, were investigated for their binding to lettuce. ELISA revealed that historical GII.4 strains binding to lettuce was dependent on their HBGAs profiles. The VLP mutants D374A and G443A lost binding to HBGAs and displayed no to minimal binding to lettuce, respectively. The VLPs of GI.1/Norwalk/1968 strain bound to lettuce through an H-like HBGA and the binding was inhibited by fucosidase digestion. Mutant W375A which was previously shown not to bind to HBGAs, displayed significantly reduced binding to lettuce. We conclude that the binding of HuNoV GII.4 and GI.1 strains to lettuce is mediated through the virus HBS.

Engineering a Live Attenuated Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus Vaccine Candidate via Inactivation of the Viral 2'-O-Methyltransferase and the Endocytosis Signal of the Spike Protein

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) causes high mortality in neonatal piglets; however, effective and safe vaccines are still not available. We hypothesized that inactivation of the 2'-O-methyltransferase (2'-O-MTase) activity of nsp16 and the endocytosis signal of the spike protein attenuates PEDV yet retains its immunogenicity in pigs. We generated a recombinant PEDV, KDKE4A, with quadruple alanine substitutions in the catalytic tetrad of the 2'-O-MTase using a virulent infectious cDNA clone, icPC22A, as the backbone. Next, we constructed another mutant, KDKE4A-SYA, by abolishing the endocytosis signal of the spike protein of KDKE4A Compared with icPC22A, the KDKE4A and KDKE4A-SYA mutants replicated less efficiently in vitro but induced stronger type I and type III interferon responses. The pathogenesis and immunogenicities of the mutants were evaluated in gnotobiotic piglets. The virulence of KDKE4A-SYA and KDKE4A was significantly reduced compared with that of icPC22A. Mortality rates were 100%, 17%, and 0% in the icPC22A-, KDKE4A-, and KDKE4A-SYA-inoculated groups, respectively. At 21 days postinoculation (dpi), all surviving pigs were challenged orally with a high dose of icPC22A. The KDKE4A-SYA- and KDKE4A-inoculated pigs were protected from the challenge, because no KDKE4A-SYA- and one KDKE4A-inoculated pig developed diarrhea whereas all the pigs in the mock-inoculated group had severe diarrhea, and 33% of them died. Furthermore, we serially passaged the KDKE4A-SYA mutant in pigs three times and did not find any reversion of the introduced mutations. The data suggest that KDKE4A-SYA may be a PEDV vaccine candidate.IMPORTANCE PEDV is the most economically important porcine enteric viral pathogen and has caused immense economic losses in the pork industries in many countries. Effective and safe vaccines are desperately required but still not available. 2'-O-MTase (nsp16) is highly conserved among coronaviruses (CoVs), and the inactivation of nsp16 in live attenuated vaccines has been attempted for several betacoronaviruses. We show that inactivation of both 2'-O-MTase and the endocytosis signal of the spike protein is an approach to designing a promising live attenuated vaccine for PEDV. The in vivo passaging data also validated the stability of the KDKE4A-SYA mutant. KDKE4A-SYA warrants further evaluation in sows and their piglets and may be used as a platform for further optimization. Our findings further confirmed that nsp16 can be a universal target for CoV vaccine development and will aid in the development of vaccines against other emerging CoVs.

Pathogenicity and immunogenicity of attenuated porcine epidemic diarrhea virus PC22A strain in conventional weaned pigs

BACKGROUND

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) causes diarrhea in all ages of pigs with 50-100% mortality rates in neonatal piglets. In the United States, inactivated and subunit PEDV vaccines for pregnant sows are available, but fail to induce sufficient protection in neonatal piglets farrowed from PEDV naïve sows. A safe and efficacious live attenuated vaccine that can prime mucosal immune responses is urgently needed. In this study, we evaluated the safety and efficacy of two attenuated PEDV vaccine candidates, the emerging non-S INDEL PEDV strain PC22A at the 100th cell culture passage level - Clone no. 4 (P100C4) and at the 120th passage level (P120), in weaned pigs.

RESULTS

Four groups of 40-day-old weaned pigs were inoculated orally with PEDV PC22A-P3 (virulent), -P100C4, -P120, and mock, respectively, and challenged with the P3 virus at 24 days post-inoculation (dpi). After inoculation, P3 caused diarrhea in all pigs with a high level of fecal viral RNA shedding. P100C4 and P120 did not cause diarrhea in pigs, although viral RNA was detected in feces of all pigs, except for one P100C4-inoculated pig. Compared with the P120 group, P3- and P100C4-inoculated pigs had higher serum PEDV-specific IgG and viral neutralizing (VN) antibody (Ab) titers at 14 dpi. After the challenge, no pigs in the P3 group but all pigs in the P100C4, P120, and mock groups had diarrhea. Compared with the P120 group, pigs in the P100C4 group had a more rapid decline in fecal PEDV RNA shedding titers, higher titers of serum PEDV-specific IgG, IgA, and VN Abs, and higher numbers of intestinal IgA Ab-secreting cells.

CONCLUSIONS

PEDV PC22A P100C4 and P120 were fully attenuated in weaned pigs but failed to elicit protection against virulent P3 challenge. P100C4 induced higher PEDV-specific antibody responses than P120 post inoculation resulting in a greater anamnestic response post challenge. Therefore, P100C4 potentially could be tested as a priming vaccine or be further modified using reverse genetics. It also can be administered in multiple doses or be combined with inactivated or subunit vaccines and adjuvants as a PEDV vaccination regimen, whose efficacy can be tested in the future.