Publication
Title
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus-infected alveolar macrophages contain no detectable levels of viral proteins in their plasma membrane and are protected against antibody-dependent, complement-mediated cell lysis
Author
Abstract
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) can evade the host immune system, which results in prolonged virus replication for several weeks to several months. To date, the mechanisms of PRRSV immune evasion have not been investigated in detail. One possible immune-evasion strategy is to avoid incorporation of viral proteins into the plasma membrane of infected cells, as this prevents recognition by virus-specific antibodies and consequent cell lysis either by the classical complement pathway or by antibody-dependent, cell-mediated cytotoxicity. In this study, viral proteins were not observed in the plasma membrane of in vitro-infected macrophages by using confocal microscopy or flow cytometry. Subsequently, the sensitivity of PRRSV-infected macrophages towards antibody-dependent, complement-mediated cell lysis (ADCML) was determined by using an ADCML assay. A non-significant percentage of PRRSV-infected cells were killed in the assay, showing that in vitro PRRSV-infected macrophages are protected against ADCML. PRRSV proteins were not detected in the plasma membrane of in vivo-infected alveolar macrophages and ADCML was also not observed. Together, these data indicate that viral proteins are not incorporated into the plasma membrane of PRRSV-infected macrophages, which makes infected cells invisible to PRRSV-specific antibodies. This absence of viral proteins on the cell surface could explain the protection against ADCML observed for in vitro and in vivo PRRSV-infected macrophages, and may play a role in virus persistence.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Journal of general virology. - London
Publication
London : 2006
ISSN
0022-1317
DOI
10.1099/VIR.0.81808-0
Volume/pages
87 :8 (2006) , p. 2341-2351
ISI
000239612500025
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Project info
Publication type
Subject
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 16.01.2015
Last edited 22.01.2023
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