Материал: Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus Diagnosis, Management, and Control

INTRODUCTION

RNA viruses, including bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), replicate and survive through diverse genetic strategies and lifecycles that rely on the biology and biochemistry of their hosts. Like other viruses, infection of host cells by BVDV results in modifications in gene expression that would be beneficial to virus replication and survival. Upregulation of genes encoding host proteins involved in translation and posttranslational processing, and nonlethal down-regulation of genes encoding proteins involved in energy production and cell structure have been documented in cells infected with BVDV (Neill and Ridpath, 2003a, 2003b). As seen with other viruses possessing both cytopathic and noncytopathic biotypes, cytopathic BVDV amplifies viral RNA at levels that are several logs higher when compared to their noncytopathic counterparts (Glew et al., 2003; Kummerer and Meyers, 2000; Mendez et al., 1998; Vassilev and Donis, 2000).

A semiconservative asymmetric model has been used to describe BVDV RNA replication. Based on finding of negative-strand template and nascent pos- itive-strand RNA, BVDV replication has been detected in cell culture models within 4–6 hours of infection, with peak BVDV titer detected at 12–24 hours postinfection (Gong et al., 1996; Purchio et al., 1983).

BVDV replication occurs through an RNAdependent RNA synthesis pathway that utilizes enzyme activities not typically found in uninfected host cells, and therefore, must be encoded in the viral genome and expressed during infection. In eukaryotic cells, ribosomes require a specific methylated cap structure at the 5 end of the genome to signal the initiation of protein synthesis, and in general, each mRNA results in a single polypeptide product. As a family, the RNA viruses have evolved unique

mechanisms to obtain multiple protein products from a single genome by fragmentation at the level of protein, mRNA, or the gene. Pestiviruses, including BVDV, utilize their single-stranded positivesense genome as template for both translation and replication. BVDV relies on fragmentation by extensive cotranslation and posttranslation proteolytic processing using host and viral proteases to obtain at least 11 viral proteins from a single translated polyprotein.

VIRAL GENOME

GENOME ORGANIZATION

The BVDV genome consists of single-stranded positive-sense RNA approximately 12.5 kb in length, with some variability in size associated with genomic deletions, insertions, and duplications. Untranslated regions at the 5 and 3 ends of the genome (5 UTR and 3 UTR, respectively) flank a large open reading frame (ORF) that encodes the approximately 4,000 amino acid polyprotein. The high degree of conservation of nucleotide sequence and structure for BVDV and the other pestiviruses in the 5 and 3 regions of the genome indicates specific genomic elements required for positive-strand synthesis, translation, and possibly packaging of viral genome (Becher et al., 1999b; Becher et al., 2000; Chon et al., 1998; Deng and Brock, 1993; Yu et al., 1999).

The organization of the BVDV genome is Npro, Capsid, Erns, E1, E2, and p7, which code for structural proteins, followed by NS2-3, NS4A, NS4B, NS5A, and NS5B encoding nonstructural proteins. The genomic organization in cytopathic strains of BVDV can deviate based on the variety of genomic insertions, deletions, and replications. The function and description of proteins encoded by the BVDV

genome are described in the preceding chapter. In brief, the viral-encoded proteins involved in BVDV replication include an autoprotease encoded by Npro, NS3-encoded serine protease, ATPase, and RNA helicase, an NS4A-encoded essential cofactor of NS3 serine protease, an NS5A-encoded serine phosphoprotein, and the NS5B encoded RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. The function of nonstructural proteins NS4B and NS5A has not been identified, but these proteins have been associated with a multiprotein complex also involving NS3. Blockage of the ion channel encoded by the small structural protein p7 has recently been shown to suppress replication of BVDV (Pavlovic et al., 2003).

5 UTR

Translation among the pestiviruses is cap-independ- ent, relying instead on an internal ribosomal entry site (IRES), which mediates internal attachment of ribosomes to the translation initiation codon. The BVDV IRES is encoded in the 5 UTR and contains essential structural or functional components that may extend into or include nucleotide sequence within the ORF. Although the exact genomic boundaries of the IRES have not yet been clearly defined, the structural integrity in the region, divided among three domains and including a pseudoknot structure, is required for IRES activity (Fields et al., 2001). Structural and biochemical models demonstrate that the two stem-loop structures located at the 5 of the genome and nucleotides of the Npro-coding region are required for efficient RNA replication. Proper secondary structure in the stem of the 5 terminal stem-loop was found to be critical to efficient translation, and an intact loop and portion of the stem are important components for replication (Yu et al., 2000). Based on similarities with other Flaviviridae genomes, it is postulated that the pseudoknot structurally serves to position the ribosomal subunit over the initiator AUG codon (Lemon and Honda, 1997). The 5 UTR of BVDV, similar to other pestiviruses, is relatively long at approximately 385 nucleotides and contains multiple initiator codons upstream of the actual translation initiation site (Yu et al., 2000). Additionally, four initial nucleotides at the 5 terminus of the BVDV genome have been reported to provide an essential signal for replication (Frolov et al., 1998; Yu et al., 2000).

3 UTR

The 3 end of the BVDV genome also contains critical primary and secondary structures, including a conserved single-stranded region separating two

hairpin loops that functions to direct initiation of negative-strand synthesis and is critical for replication (Fields et al., 2001; Yu et al., 1999). The singlestranded region separating the two stem-loop structures is highly conserved among the pestiviruses (Becher et al., 1998b; Yu et al., 1999). It has been suggested, based on similarities to other singlestranded RNA viruses, that the structurally conserved 3 region may be involved in regulatory functions by cross-talk with the 5 structural components (Yu et al., 1999). If analogous to other RNA viruses, the structural interaction of the 5 and 3 regions could be involved in modulation of RNA-RNA interactions, translation, replication, and encapsulation steps.

VIRUS BINDING AND RNTRY

Based on comparisons to related members of the Flaviviridae, the binding and entry of BVDV involves a series of steps, beginning with attachment or interaction of the virion with specific host cell receptors, followed by internalization and pH dependent fusion of the viral envelope and cell membrane. Envelope glycoproteins coded by E2 and Erns have been demonstrated to independently bind to cell surfaces (Hulst and Moorman, 1997; Iqbal et al., 2000). The ability of BVDV to infect a relatively diverse range of cell-types, as well as the tissue and hostspecies tropisms observed for BVDV have been associated with the E2 envelope glycoprotein (Liang et al., 2003). The E2 protein is translated from a highly variable region of the genome and may additionally contribute to the ability of BVDV to escape the host immune response (Ridpath, 2003). Though specific cell receptors for BVDV entry have not been well characterized, low-density lipoprotein receptors have been identified (Baranowski et al., 2001). Candidate receptors, as determined by monoclonal antibodies capable of blocking infection, include 50kDa, 60kDa, and 93kDa cell surface proteins found on bovine cells (Minocha et al.,1997; Schlep et al., 1995; Xue and Minocha, 1993; Xue et al., 1997). After entry into the host cell is complete, viral RNA is released into the host cell cytoplasm and RNA translation begins.

TRANSLATION AND REPLICATION

Initiation of the translation process is mediated by the IRES. It has been demonstrated among pestiviruses that the IRES binds specifically to the 40S ribosomal subunit in the absence of any additional translation initiation factors. In concert with cellular

components, and functionally linked to the translation process, viral nonstructural proteins assemble into a functional replicase complex to catalyze transcription of positive-sense RNA into full-length complementary strand negative-sense RNA. The negative RNA strands provide template for the replicase complex to synthesize additional positive-sense RNA molecules, using a semiconservative asymmetric replication model (Warrilow et al., 2000). The model includes three virus-specific RNAs: a double-stranded replicative form (RF), a partially single-stranded and partially double-stranded replicative intermediate (RI), and single-stranded viral RNA.

The replication process begins with a positivestrand replicase complex comprised of viral and cellular components formed at the 3’ terminus of the genome. Progression from initiation to elongation occurs after the synthesis of nascent RNAs 8–10 nucleotides in length (Sun and Kao, 1997). Elongation mediated by viral-polymerase displaces the positive strand from the RI template, allowing recycling of the template while elongation of the prior nascent strand continues. Approximately six nascent positive strands per template have been predicted (Gong et al., 1998). The double-stranded replicative form is a product of viral RNA used as template for minusstrand synthesis, or may represent the replicative intermediate during synthesis of the final nascent strand (no new initiation complexes formed). During in vitro experiments, the ratio of positive-to- minus–sense RNA increases from 2:1 at 4 hours to 10:1 by 12 hours postinoculation (Gong et al., 1996).

GENETIC RECOMBINATION

The high rate of genetic insertion and recombination events in BVDV as compared to other positive-sense RNA viruses is unique to pestiviruses and is possibly related to some unique character of the pestivirus polymerase (Fields et al., 2001). Recombination can occur in BVDV when virions having different genomic sequences coinfect the same host cell, allowing genetic crossover resulting in a hybrid BVDV strain (Moenning et al., 1993; Becher et al., 1999a). Sequence analyses of cytopathic strains of BVDV, as discussed in more detail below, suggest genomic hot-spots for viral recombination at the border of NS2 and NS3, though recent cloning experiments using replicons expressing NS3 argue for functional selection of mutations or recombination events, based on a highly conserved region within the NS3 that is critical for effective viral replication (Tautz and Thiel, 2003). Genetic recombinations be-

tween noncytopathic and cytopathic (Ridpath and Bolin, 1995b, Fritzemeier et al., 1997, Nagai et al., 2003), BVDV type 1 and type 2 (Ridpath and Bolin, 1995b), BVDV persistent infection strains and vaccine strain (Ridpath and Bolin, 1995b; Becher et al., 2001), and between BVDV and host RNA (Becher et al., 2002; Baroth et al., 2000; Mendez et al., 1998; Meyers et al., 1989; Meyers et al., 1991a; Meyers et al., 1998; Qi et al. 1998; Ridpath and Bolin, 1995a; Ridpath et al., 1994; Ridpath and Neill 2000; Rinck et al., 2001; Tautz et al., 1996; Tautz and Thiel., 2003) have been well documented. Cellular insertions include duplicated viral sequences, host ubiquitin or ubiquitin homologs, ribosomal ubiquitin gene fusion protein, host mRNA encoding a DnaJ or J-domain-regulatory proteins, and multiple microtubule-associated proteins. The insertion and recombination events can occur at different sites along the viral genome (Desport et al., 1998; Meyers et al., 1992; Meyers and Thiel, 1996); however, those involving the NS2/3 coding sequences have been most extensively studied, based on association with the generation of cytopathic BVDV (Meyers et al., 1996, Fields et al., 2001). The genetic modifications associated with NS2-NS3 cleavage tend to be associated with two specific sites located within 54 base pairs of each other and within BVDV NS2/NS3 (Ridpath and Neill, 2000).

CYTOPATHOLOGY

Cytopathic strains of BVDV evolve from noncytopathic BVDV by mutation, with specific genomic rearrangements varying considerably between different cytopathic strains of the virus (Becher at al., 1998a; Kummerer and Meyers, 2000; Meyers et al., 1991a, 1991b; Meyers et al., 1998; Muller et al., 2003; Nakamura et al., 1997; Qi et al.,1992; Qi et al.,1998; Ridpath and Bolin, 1995a; Ridpath and Neill, 2000; Tautz et al., 1993; Tautz et al., 1994; Tautz et al., 1999; Tautz et al., 2003). The genomic rearrangements generating cytopathic BVDV— including duplications of the BVDV genome, insertion of cellular sequences at the junction of NS2 and NS3, or in-frame deletions—primarily affect the coding region for the NS2-3 polypeptide and result in the production of NS3. Cleavage of NS2/NS3 occurs by different theoretical strategies, dependent on the strain of BVDV and may include introduction of sequences that form new cleavage sites, introduction of sequences with autocatalytic activity, introduction of conformational changes signaling cellular protease, or activation of latent protease activity directly encoded by NS2 (Fields et al., 2001; Meyers

and Thiel, 1996; Ridpath and Neill 2000; Rinck et al., 2001). NS3 production, and associated BVDV cytopathogenicity, have also been generated by point mutations in the region encoding NS2 (Kummerer et al., 1998; Kummerer and Meyers, 2000), upstream of the NS2/3 region (Kummerer et al., 1998), or through a specific mutation in the region encoding NS4b (Qu et al., 2001). The majority of cytopathic BVDV characterized in the literature appear to be associated with genomic insertions, of either host cell sequences or duplications of the viral genome. A relatively small number of the characterized cytopathic BVDV sequences appear to arise through recombination between BVD viruses having different genomic sequences. Proteolytic processing associated with generation of BVDV cytopathology is further discussed in Chapter 11. In addition to BVDV superinfection with a cytopathic and noncytopathic BVDV pair, spontaneous cases of mucosal disease arise when noncytopathic persistent BVDV mutates or undergoes recombination, as reviewed in Chapter 8 on reproductive disease and persistent infections.

DEFECTIVE INTERFERING PARTICLES AND CYTOPATHOLOGY

Viral genomes having deletions or truncations, which can replicate with the support of a helper virus or helper virus-coreplication, are referred to as defective interfering (DI) particles (Huang and Baltimore, 1970). BVDV DI particle have been associated with cytopathology in vitro and mucosal disease in vivo. A BVDV DI particle, approximately 4.3 kb smaller than the corresponding noncytopathic BVDV virus and lacking all structural genes plus the amino-terminal region of the nonstructural NS3 protein, was initially described from a persistently infected calf in 1994 (Tautz et al., 1994). Other BVDV DI, with slightly different deletions but lacking all structural genes, have been described (Kupfermann et al., 1996), and at least one (DI9c) has been shown to function as an autonomous replicon (Behrens et al., 1998).

DI particles have been implicated in the onset of mucosal disease in cattle persistently infected with a noncytopathic BVDV, potentially through recombination events involving structural proteins of the helper noncytopathic virus (Kupferman et al., 1996). Theoretically, the structural genes of the persistent virus would not be recognized by the immune surveillance of the host, allowing the recombinant BVDV virus to replicate while escaping the host im-

mune response. The existence of DI in naturally occurring disease has been confirmed from animals with mucosal disease; however, DI are difficult to detect due to low virus yields, and they also can get lost easily during virus isolation and plaque purification (Meyers and Thiel, 1996). DI particles are typically observed in vitro only during cell culture passages with a high multiplicity of infection (Meyers and Thiel, 1996).

PROTEOLYTIC PROCESSING

The single BVDV polyprotein translated from the open reading frame (ORF) undergoes proteolytic processing to derive at least 11 viral proteins (Meyers and Thiel, 1996). BVDV structural proteins are located within the N-terminus third of the polyprotein, followed by a single non-virion protein (p7), and nonstructural proteins that comprise the remainder of the polyprotein. Proteolytic processing of the polyprotein is mediated by both host and viral enzymes, including a viral autoprotease (Npro) unique to pestiviruses, host signal peptidase, and viral serine protease (Fields et al., 2001). BVDV proteolytic processing and function of the structural and nonstructural proteins are discussed in detail in Chapters 3 and 11.

REGULATION OF TRANSLATION AND REPLICATION

Tight regulation of translation and replication is required during the BVDV lifecycle, since the same positive-sense RNA is used as template for both processes. Structural and functional studies of the 5’ terminal fragment of the BVDV genome, including the IRES site, demonstrate secondary structure that could enable viral RNA to switch from a translation to a replication cycle (Yu et al., 2000). Accumulation of viral proteins, such as NS5A and NS5B, which can inhibit IRES-dependent translation may also provide a regulatory mechanism for the translation-to-replication switch. Kinetic analysis of translation and replication using BVDV fulllength and replicon genomes indicate that regulation of the translation-to-replication switch is not specific for the BVDV IRES, but may result from regulatory proteins interacting with viral genome outside the IRES or from interaction between viral and host translation protein complexes (Li and McNally, 2001). Alternately, competition for replicase and ribosome-loading on the same template molecule may serve to regulate the switch.

The asymmetric replication of the BVDV genome is consistent with other positive-sense RNA viruses,

where an excess of newly synthesized positive-sense RNA compared to negative-sense RNA is generated. A close functional control appears to exist between generation of the polyprotein and generation of replication complexes. The replicase complexes, formed by association of new viral nonstructural proteins plus cellular components with the 3’ end of the genomic RNA, act to catalyze synthesis of a low copy number of negative-strand RNA templates for the transcription of an excess of positive-strand RNA progeny (Behrens et al., 1998; Yu et al., 2000).

VIRION ASSEMBLY AND EXOCYTOSIS

Little information is available on the assembly and release of virions from infected host cells. BVDV virions appear to mature in intracellular vesicles at the Golgi apparatus or endoplasmic reticulum where the lipid envelope is acquired through budding into the vesicle lumen. Virus maturation, including conformational stabilization through glycoprotein folding of E1-E2 (Branza-Nichita et al., 2001) and associated transport to the cell surfaces is mediated by host cell enzymes and processes (Zitzmann et al., 1999, Branza-Nichita et al., 2001, Durantel et al., 2001). The intact virions are released by budding into the cisternae of the endoplasmic reticulum, followed by exocytosis (Grummer et al., 2001; Bielefeldt-Ohmann and Block, 1982; Gray and Nettleton, 1987) with detection reported as early as 8 hours postinfection (Nuttall, 1980).

QUASISPECIES AND POPULATION GENETICS

The RNA-dependent RNA polymerases that catalyze RNA replication and reverse transcription have minimal proofreading activities, resulting in error rates tens of thousands times greater than those encountered during DNA replication (Domingo and Holland, 1997; Holland et al., 1992; Malet et al., 2003; Moya et al., 2000). Because mutation is a frequent event, an RNA virus population does not represent a homogeneous clone, but is a “cloud of mutants” clustered around the most frequent viral sequence (Moya et al., 2000). The related, but nonhomogeneous populations have been identified as quasispecies (Eigen, 1993). Although the theories of quasispecies and population genetics differ in mathematical modeling and the contributions of point mutations to viral evolution (Page and Nowak, 2002; Moya et al., 2000; Domingo, 2003), it is agreed that the target of natural selection is not a single fittest genotype, but a distribution of genotypes around a master sequence. The existence

of quasispecies among BVDV strains reflects the high replication rate of the virus, as well as the lack of proofreading capacity of the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. BVDV is able to effectively evade emerging humoral and cellular immune responses (Bolin et al., 1991), which may be a function of BVDV quasispecies generation in infected hosts. Among BVDV, point mutations occurring approximately once per 10 kb would be equivalent to one or more mutations per BVDV viral replication cycle and logically explain the existence of multiple distinct, but closely related, genetic variants of BVDV. BVDV quasispecies have been recovered (Becher et al., 1999a; Jones et al., 2002) from persistently infected cattle, though other studies have reported apparent stabilization of the genome in persistent infection (Edwards et al., 1991; Edwards and Patton, 1995; Hamers et al., 1998, Hamers et al., 2001). Stabilization of the antigenic, if not genetic, character of the virus is consistent with the theory of immunologic elimination of BVDV variants in PI animals. Stabilization, or lack of significant genetic change in the genome of BVDV isolated from PI cattle over time, is also consistent with observations of herd-specific strains of BVDV (Paton et al., 1995).

REPLICATION SITES

Similar to most RNA viruses, BVDV replicates in the cellular cytoplasm. In studies aimed at subcellular localization of BVDV replication, nonstructural proteins NS2-3 and NS3 were found in association with the cytoplasmic face of the endoplasmic reticulum, but not with the Golgi apparatus or lysosomal membrane, suggesting that replication occurs on the cytoplasmic side of the endoplasmic reticulum (Zhang et al., 2003). Both cell and species tropisms are seen with BVDV. Though BVDV can infect a wide variety of cell types, both in vitro and in vivo, there is an apparent predilection for cells of the immune system, including T cells, B cells, monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells (Sopp et al., 1994). The biotypes of BVDV behave differently, with noncytopathogenic strains having tropism for leucocytes, lymphoid tissues, parotic gland, proximal colon, and respiratory tract; cytopathogenic strains are generally associated with the gastrointestinal tract (Greiser-Wilke et al. 1993; Liebler et al.,1991) and replicate in the ovaries (Grooms et al., 1998).

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Important genetic diversity occurs among BVDV isolates, as evidenced by point mutations, deletions, genetic recombination among virus strains, and by