Abstract
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome is one of the most devastating diseases affecting the pig industry. The licensed vaccines available present several shortcomings and consequently many groups around the world are actively working towards developing an efficacious vaccine. In this work, we have fused the epitope B of the GP5 protein from the PRRRS virus to peptide nanoparticles and expressed the construct in plants in a transient manner. It was shown by transmission electron microscopy that the chimeric protein nanoparticles can be efficiently synthesized and self-assembled inside plant cells. By real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), it was also demonstrated that the chimeric constructs are efficiently transcribed. There exists a high potential for these nanoparticles to serve as platforms for vaccines. In the next phase of the project, we will immunize mice to show immunogenicity and pigs, which will be later challenged with a circulating strain of the virus. Key words: Peptide nanoparticles, epitopes, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), GP5, vaccines.
Highlights
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is one of the most important viral diseases affecting the global pork industry, with annual losses of billions of dollars per year worldwide (Neumann et al, 2005; Holtkamp et al, 2013; Zhang et al, 2014)
The syndrome is characterized by reproductive and respiratory failure and it is associated with abortions and infertility, respiratory distress in nursing pigs, poor growth and increased mortality (Rowland and Morrison, 2012; Hu and Zhang, 2014). It is caused by PRRS virus (PRRSV), which is a member of the Arteriviridae family in the Nidovirales order (Lunney et al, 2010; Snijder et al, 2013)
As a first step towards using the peptide nanoparticles decorated with the GP5 epitope B of PRRSV as a candidate vaccine, our aim was to demonstrate that peptide nanoparticles, expressing the epitope B of GP5, were able to assemble adequately in a plant expression system
Summary
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is one of the most important viral diseases affecting the global pork industry, with annual losses of billions of dollars per year worldwide (Neumann et al, 2005; Holtkamp et al, 2013; Zhang et al, 2014). The syndrome is characterized by reproductive and respiratory failure and it is associated with abortions and infertility, respiratory distress in nursing pigs, poor growth and increased mortality (Rowland and Morrison, 2012; Hu and Zhang, 2014). It is caused by PRRS virus (PRRSV), which is a member of the Arteriviridae family in the Nidovirales order (Lunney et al, 2010; Snijder et al, 2013). N is the major structural element within the PRRSV virion and forms disulfide-linked homodimers; It functions to package the viral genomic RNA and is the only known structural protein, which does not encode a transmembrane domain (Dokland, 2010)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
