Immune responses in a horse inoculated with the VP2 gene of African horsesickness virus.

Detection of African horsesickness virus and discrimination between two equine orbivirus serogroups by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.

A reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), based on the gene encoding the NS2 protein of African horsesickness virus (AHSV), was developed for rapid serogroup-specific detection of AHSV. The specificity of RT-PCR products was confirmed by Southern blot hybridization using a radioactively labelled cDNA probe specific for the NS2 gene. This RT-PCR could discriminate between all k...

Protein aggregation complicates the development of baculovirus-expressed African horsesickness virus serotype 5 VP2 subunit vaccines.

This paper describes the expression of a cloned African horsesickness virus (AHSV) serotype 5 VP2-gene by a baculovirus recombinant that was generated by the BAC-TO-BAC system. Immunization of horses with crude cell lysates containing recombinant baculovirus-expressed AHSV5 VP2 did induce neutralizing antibodies, but afforded only partial protection against virulent virus challenge. Further ana...

Structural insight into African horsesickness virus infection.

African horsesickness (AHS) is a devastating disease of horses. The disease is caused by the double-stranded RNA-containing African horsesickness virus (AHSV). Using electron cryomicroscopy and three-dimensional image reconstruction, we determined the architecture of an AHSV serotype 4 (AHSV-4) reference strain. The structure revealed triple-layered AHS virions enclosing the segmented genome an...

Comparative studies on the serological responses of horses to African horsesickness virus

Production and properties of monoclonal antibodies against African horsesickness virus, serotype 3.

Four polyethylene glycol-mediated cell fusions yielded a total of 23 monoclonal antibodies (McAbs) specific for African horsesickness virus (AHSV). Two recognised the major core structural polypeptide, VP7, while one each was specific for the outer capsid proteins, VP2 and VP5. The remainder co-precipitated both VP2 and VP7. An inhibition ELISA and radio-immunoprecipitation revealed two types o...