Abstract
There is increasing interest in the immune response induced by plant viruses since these could be used as antigen-expressing systems in vaccination procedures. Cowpea severe mosaic virus (CPSMV), as a purified preparation (300 g of leaves, 2 weeks post-inoculation), or crude extract from cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) leaves infected with CPSMV both administered by gavage to Swiss mice induced a humoral immune response. Groups of 10 Swiss mice (2-month-old females) were immunized orally with 10 daily doses of either 50 microg viral capsid protein (boosters of 50 microg at days 21 and 35 after immunization) or 0.6 mg protein of the crude extract (boosters of 0.6 mg at days 21 and 35 after immunization). Anti-CPSMV antibodies were quantified by ELISA in pooled sera diluted at least 1:400 at days 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 after the 10th dose. IgG and IgA against CPSMV were produced systemically, but IgE was not detected. No synthesis of specific antibodies against the proteins of leaf extracts from V. unguiculata, infected or not with CPSMV, was detected. The use of CPSMV, a plant-infecting virus that apparently does not induce a pathogenic response in animals, induced a humoral and persistent (at least 6 months) immune response through the administration of low antigen doses by gavage. These results raise the possibility of using CPSMV either as a vector for the production of vaccines against animal pathogens or in quick and easy methods to produce specific antisera for viral diagnosis.
Highlights
Plant viruses, recognized to be nonpathogenic to humans and other animals, are attracting much attention because of the increasing possibility of using them as antigen expression systems [1]
When the antigen consisted of purified cowpea severe mosaic virus (CPSMV), the titers of specific antibodies were significantly higher (P≤0.05) than those obtained when the crude leaf extract from CPSMV-infected plants was used as the antigen
The present study has shown a systemic immune response in mice immunized orally with purified CPSMV or crude leaf extract of CPSMV-infected cowpea plants in the absence of immunoadjuvants
Summary
Plant viruses, recognized to be nonpathogenic to humans and other animals, are attracting much attention because of the increasing possibility of using them as antigen expression systems [1]. Cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV), family Comoviridae, genus Comovirus, is one of the viruses frequently studied for its immunogenic properties and, used to construct chimeric virus particles expressing a foreign peptide as a vaccine [9,10,11]. The cowpea severe mosaic virus (CPSMV) once was considered to be a strain of CPMV, but is recognized as a distinct virus of the same family and genus [12]. We have shown that a systemic immune response is induced in mice orally fed purified CPSMV or a leaf extract from CPSMVinfected cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) subsp. The present study demonstrated a systemic immune response in Swiss mice that were immunized orally with either purified CPSMV or leaf extract from CPSMV-infected cowpea plants, and the synthesis of specific IgG1 and IgA
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Schedule a callMore From: Brazilian journal of medical and biological research = Revista brasileira de pesquisas medicas e biologicas
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