Proteomic Comparison of Three Wild-Type Pseudorabies Virus Strains and the Attenuated Bartha Strain Reveals Reduced Incorporation of Several Tegument Proteins in Bartha Virions

Pseudorabies virus (PRV) is a member of the alphaherpesvirus subfamily and the causative agent of Aujeszky's disease in pigs. Driven by the large economic losses associated with PRV infection, several vaccines and vaccine programs have been developed. To this day, the attenuated Bartha strain, generated by serial passaging, represents the golden standard for PRV vaccination. However, a proteomic comparison of the Bartha virion to wild-type (WT) PRV virions is lacking. Here, we present a comprehensive mass spectrometry-based proteome comparison of the attenuated Bartha strain and three commonly used WT PRV strains: Becker, Kaplan, and NIA3. We report the detection of 40 structural and 14 presumed nonstructural proteins through a combination of data-dependent and data-independent acquisition. Interstrain comparisons revealed that packaging of the capsid and most envelope proteins is largely comparable in-between all four strains, except for the envelope protein pUL56, which is less abundant in Bartha virions. However, distinct differences were noted for several tegument proteins. Most strikingly, we noted a severely reduced incorporation of the tegument proteins IE180, VP11/12, pUS3, VP22, pUL41, pUS1, and pUL40 in Bartha virions. Moreover, and likely as a consequence, we also observed that Bartha virions are on average smaller and more icosahedral compared to WT virions. Finally, we detected at least 28 host proteins that were previously described in PRV virions and noticed considerable strain-specific differences with regard to host proteins, arguing that the potential role of packaged host proteins in PRV replication and spread should be further explored. IMPORTANCE The pseudorabies virus (PRV) vaccine strain Bartha-an attenuated strain created by serial passaging-represents an exceptional success story in alphaherpesvirus vaccination. Here, we used mass spectrometry to analyze the Bartha virion composition in comparison to three established WT PRV strains. Many viral tegument proteins that are considered nonessential for viral morphogenesis were drastically less abundant in Bartha virions compared to WT virions. Interestingly, many of the proteins that are less incorporated in Bartha participate in immune evasion strategies of alphaherpesviruses. In addition, we observed a reduced size and more icosahedral morphology of the Bartha virions compared to WT PRV. Given that the Bartha vaccine strain elicits potent immune responses, our findings here suggest that differences in protein packaging may contribute to its immunogenicity. Further exploration of these observations could aid the development of efficacious vaccines against other alphaherpesvirus vaccines such as HSV-1/2 or EHV-1.

The Attenuated Pseudorabies Virus Vaccine Strain Bartha Hyperactivates Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells by Generating Large Amounts of Cell-Free Virus in Infected Epithelial Cells

Pseudorabies virus (PRV) is a porcine alphaherpesvirus and the causative agent of Aujeszky's disease. Successful eradication campaigns against PRV have largely relied on the use of potent PRV vaccines. The live attenuated Bartha strain, which was produced by serial passaging in cell culture, represents one of the hallmark PRV vaccines. Despite the robust protection elicited by Bartha vaccination, very little is known about the immunogenicity of the Bartha strain. Previously, we showed that Bartha-infected epithelial cells trigger plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) to produce much higher levels of type I interferons than cells infected with wild-type PRV. Here, we show that this Bartha-induced pDC hyperactivation extends to other important cytokines, including interleukin-12/23 (IL-12/23) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) but not IL-6. Moreover, Bartha-induced pDC hyperactivation was found to be due to the strongly increased production of extracellular infectious virus (heavy particles [H-particles]) early in infection of epithelial cells, which correlated with a reduced production of noninfectious light particles (L-particles). The Bartha genome is marked by a large deletion in the US region affecting the genes encoding US7 (gI), US8 (gE), US9, and US2. The deletion of the US2 and gE/gI genes was found to be responsible for the observed increase in extracellular virus production by infected epithelial cells and the resulting increased pDC activation. The deletion of gE/gI also suppressed L-particle production. In conclusion, the deletion of US2 and gE/gI in the genome of the PRV vaccine strain Bartha results in the enhanced production of extracellular infectious virus in infected epithelial cells and concomitantly leads to the hyperactivation of pDC. IMPORTANCE The pseudorabies virus (PRV) vaccine strain Bartha has been and still is critical in the eradication of PRV in numerous countries. However, little is known about how this vaccine strain interacts with host cells and the host immune system. Here, we report the surprising observation that Bartha-infected epithelial porcine cells rapidly produce increased amounts of extracellular infectious virus compared to wild-type PRV-infected cells, which in turn potently stimulate porcine plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC). We found that this phenotype depends on the deletion of the genes encoding US2 and gE/gI. We also found that Bartha-infected cells secrete fewer pDC-inhibiting light particles (L-particles), which appears to be caused mainly by the deletion of the genes encoding gE/gI. These data generate novel insights into the interaction of the successful Bartha vaccine with epithelial cells and pDC and may therefore contribute to the development of vaccines against other (alphaherpes)viruses.

The Valproic Acid Derivative Valpromide Inhibits Pseudorabies Virus Infection in Swine Epithelial and Mouse Neuroblastoma Cell Lines

Pseudorabies virus (PRV) infection of swine can produce Aujeszky’s disease, which causes neurological, respiratory, and reproductive symptoms, leading to significant economic losses in the swine industry. Although humans are not the natural hosts of PRV, cases of human encephalitis and endophthalmitis caused by PRV infection have been reported between animals and workers. Currently, a lack of specific treatments and the emergence of new PRV strains against which existing vaccines do not protect makes the search for effective antiviral drugs essential. As an alternative to traditional nucleoside analogues such as acyclovir (ACV), we studied the antiviral effect of valpromide (VPD), a compound derived from valproic acid, against PRV infection in the PK15 swine cell line and the neuroblastoma cell line Neuro-2a. First, the cytotoxicity of ACV and VPD in cells was compared, demonstrating that neither compound was cytotoxic at a specific concentration range after 24 h exposure. Furthermore, the lack of direct virucidal effect of VPD outside of an infected cell environment was demonstrated. Finally, VPD was shown to have an antiviral effect on the viral production of two strains of pseudorabies virus (wild type NIA-3 and recombinant PRV-XGF) at the concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 mM, suggesting that VPD could be a suitable alternative to nucleoside analogues as an antiherpetic drug against Aujeszky’s disease.

Dynamics of Aujeszky's disease virus infection in wild boar in enzootic scenarios

Aujeszky's disease (AD) virus is enzootic in Iberian wild boar, thus posing a threat to the official eradication of AD on extensive domestic pig farms in Spain. Understanding the dynamics and drivers of ADV infection in wild boar will help prevent viral transmission at the wild boar-pig interface. This study analyses the dynamics of ADV infection in wild boar and tests relevant hypotheses in order to identify drivers of ADV infection dynamics. Wild boar sera (N = 971) and oropharyngeal tonsils (TN, N = 549) collected over 11 consecutive years in south-western Spain were tested for ADV antibodies and DNA, respectively. We tested the hypotheses that population immunity modulates the risk of ADV infection (H₁ ) and that detecting ADV DNA in TN is a good proxy of the annual ADV infection pressure (H₂ ). This was done by building logistic regression models that were subsequently employed to test the influence of a series of host population and host individual factors-including predictors of ADV immunity in the population-on the annual risk of new ADV infections and on the presence of ADV DNA in TN. The premise of H₁ was that there would be a negative association between the proportion of ADV antibody-positive wild boar in a given year and the risk of ADV infection of naïve individuals. There was, however, a positive association, and H₁ was, therefore, rejected. If detecting ADV in TN had been a good indicator of ADV infection pressure, a positive association with the proportion of ADV antibody-positive wild boar would have been found. However, this was not the case and H₂ was also rejected. We confirmed that ADV infection is a dynamic phenomenon. The risk of infection with ADV can change considerably between consecutive years, and these changes are positively associated with the proportion of infected wild boar in the population.

Expression and purification of Suid Herpesvirus-1 glycoprotein E in the baculovirus system and its use to diagnose Aujeszky's disease in infected pigs

Suid Herpesvirus 1 (SHV-1) is the etiological agent of Aujeszky's disease (AD), which affects swine herds worldwide and causes substantial economic losses due to animal mortality and lost productivity. In order to eradicate SHV-1, vaccination programs using viruses lacking the gene encoding glycoprotein E (gE) are ongoing in several countries. These eradication programs have generated a currently unmet demand for affordable and sensitive tests that can detect SHV-1 infection, yet distinguish between infected and vaccinated pigs. To meet this demand, we used the baculovirus-insect cell system to produce immunologically authentic full-length recombinant gE protein for use in a serum ELISA assay. As previous efforts to clone the gE gene had failed due to its extremely high GC-content (75% average), we used betaine as a PCR enhancer to facilitate amplification of the entire gE gene from the Argentinian CL15 strain of SHV-1. The cloned gE gene was expressed at high levels in recombinant baculovirus-infected insect cells and reacted strongly with sera from SHV-1 infected pigs. We used the recombinant gE protein to develop a local indirect ELISA test with sensitivity and specificity comparable to currently available commercial tests. Thus, recombinant gE produced in baculovirus-infected insect cells is a viable source of antigen for the detection of SHV-1 in ELISA tests. We also provide evidence supporting a potential application of this recombinant form of gE as a SHV-1 subunit vaccine.