Vet. Res. 38 (2007) 819-834
DOI: 10.1051/vetres:2007037

Sequence-optimised E2 constructs from BVDV-1b and BVDV-2 for DNA immunisation in cattle

Bernard Couvreur^{a, b}, Carine Letellier^a, Fabrice Olivier^a, Pierre Dehan^c, Abdelatif Elouahabi^d, Michel Vandenbranden^d, Jean-Marie Ruysschaert^d, Claude Hamers^c, Paul-Pierre Pastoret^c and Pierre Kerkhofs<sup>a

a</sup>  Department of Virology, Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre, Bruxelles, Belgium
^b  Present address: Service de Génétique Appliquée, ULB CP 300, 12 rue des professeurs Jeener et Brachet, 6041 Gosselies, Belgique
^c  Vaccinologie-Immunologie, Université de Liège, Belgium
^d  Laboratory of Structure and Function of Biological Membranes, ULB, Bruxelles, Belgium

(Received 7 September 2006; accepted 14 May 2007 ; published online 31 August 2007)

Abstract - We report DNA immunisation experiments in cattle using plasmid constructs that encoded glycoprotein E2 from bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV)-1 (E2.1) and BVDV-2 (E2.2). The coding sequences were optimised for efficient expression in mammalian cells. A modified leader peptide sequence from protein gD of BoHV1 was inserted upstream of the E2 coding sequences for efficient membrane export of the proteins. Recombinant E2 were efficiently expressed in COS7 cells and they presented the native viral epitopes as judged by differential recognition by antisera from cattle infected with BVDV-1 or BVDV-2. Inoculation of pooled plasmid DNA in young cattle elicited antibodies capable of neutralising viral strains representing the major circulating BVDV genotypes.

Key words: BVDV / DNA immunisation / E2 / neutralisation / synthetic gene

Corresponding author: bcouvreu@ulb.ac.be

© INRA, EDP Sciences 2007