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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, December 2001, p. 4288-4295, Vol. 39, No. 12
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JCM.39.12.4288-4295.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Characterization of Capsid Genes, Expressed in the
Baculovirus System, of Three New Genetically Distinct Strains of
"Norwalk-Like Viruses"
Gaël
Belliot,1,2
Jacqueline S.
Noel,1,3
Jin-Fen
Li,1,2
Yoshiyuki
Seto,4
Charles D.
Humphrey,1
Tamie
Ando,1
Roger I.
Glass,1 and
Stephan S.
Monroe1,*
Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases,
National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention,1 and Department of
Pediatrics, Emory University,3 Atlanta, Georgia
30333; Atlanta Research and Education Foundation, Decatur,
Georgia 300332; and Osaka City Institute
of Public Health and Environmental Sciences, Osaka, 543, Japan4
Received 5 February 2001/Returned for modification 9 July
2001/Accepted 7 September 2001
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ABSTRACT |
"Norwalk-like viruses" (NLVs), members of a newly defined genus
of the family Caliciviridae, are the most common agents
of outbreaks of gastroenteritis in the United States. Two features of
NLVs have hindered the development of simple methods for detection and
determination of serotype: their genetic diversity and their inability
to grow in cell culture. To assess the immune responses of patients
involved in outbreaks of gastroenteritis resulting from infection with
NLVs, we previously used recombinant-expressed capsid antigens
representing four different genetic clusters, but this panel proved
insufficient for detection of an immune response in many patients. To
extend and further refine this panel, we expressed in baculovirus the
capsid genes of three additional genetically distinct viruses, Burwash
Landing virus (BLV), White River virus (WRV), and Florida virus. All
three expressed proteins assembled into virus-like particles (VLPs)
that contained a full-length 64-kDa protein, but both the BLV and WRV
VLPs also contained a 58-kDa protein that resulted from deletion of 39 amino acids at the amino terminus. The purified VLPs were used to
measure the immune responses in 403 patients involved in 37 outbreaks
of acute gastroenteritis. A majority of patients demonstrated a
fourfold rise in the titer of immunoglobulin G to the antigen
homologous to the outbreak strain, but most seroconverted in response
to other genetically distinct antigens as well, suggesting no clear pattern of type-specific immune response. Further study of the antigenicity of the NLVs by use of VLPs should allow us to design new
detection systems with either broader reactivity or better specificity
and to define the optimum panel of antigens required for routine
screening of patient sera.
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INTRODUCTION |
"Norwalk-like viruses" (NLVs)
are a genetically and antigenically diverse group of viruses that
belong in the family Caliciviridae (29). NLVs
are the major cause of outbreaks of acute nonbacterial gastroenteritis
in adults (7, 16) and recently have also been shown to be
a common cause of gastroenteritis in children (25). The
NLV particle is approximately 34 nm in diameter, as determined by
electron microscopy (EM), and shows no particular motif on its capsid.
Its genome is composed of a single strand of positive-sense RNA, 7 to
7.5 kb in length, that comprises three open reading frames (ORFs)
(15): ORF1 encodes the nonstructural proteins such as the
proteinase, the putative RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, and the helicase
(30); ORF2 encodes a 58- to 65-kDa protein, which is the
major component of the capsid (11); and ORF3 encodes a
minor structural protein of approximately 25 to 28 kDa, whose
function(s) remains unknown.
On the basis of the analysis of the amino acid sequence in ORF2, human
NLV strains can be divided into two genogroups (genogroups GI and GII),
which can be further differentiated into five and nine genetic
clusters, respectively (3). Clusters and representative strains have been identified by their genogroups and have been numbered
consecutively on the basis of the date of their genetic analysis. The
clusters are designated as follows: GI/1 (Norwalk virus [NV]), GI/2
(Southampton virus [SOV]), GI/3 (Desert shield virus [DSV]), GI/4
(Cruise ship strain [CS]), GI/5 (strain 318), GII/1 (Hawaii
virus [HV]), GII/2 (Snow Mountain virus [SMV]), GII/3 (Toronto
virus [TV]), GII/4 (Bristol virus [BV]), GII/5 (White River virus
[WRV]), GII/6 (Florida virus [FV]), GII/7 (Gwynedd virus [GV]),
GII/8 (strain 378), and GII/9 (Idaho Falls virus [IFV]). These
clusters contain strains that are genetically distinct but that, due to
a lack of a cell culture system or animal model, have not yet been
shown to be antigenically distinct.
Jiang et al. first expressed the capsid protein of NV in the
baculovirus expression system and found that the monomers
self-assembled into virus-like particles (VLPs) (14) that
were similar to the native particles in their structural, antigenic,
and immunogenic properties (10). The structure of
recombinant NV consists of 180 copies of the 58- to 65-kDa ORF2
proteins that comprise an NH2-terminal arm facing
the interior of the capsid and a shell domain (S) to which a protruding
P domain is attached via a flexible hinge, as determined by X-ray
crystallography (28). Located toward the exterior of the
capsid on the P domain is the P2 subdomain, and because this is so
variable, it is thought to contribute to strain diversity
(28). Since the preparation of recombinant NV antigen, the
baculovirus system has been used to express the capsid proteins of NLV
strains representing different genetic clusters such as GI/2 (SOV)
(27), GI/3 (DSV [18] and Stavanger virus [21]), GII/1 (HV) (9), GII/3 (TV
[17] and Mexico virus [MXV] [26]), and
GII/4 (Lordsdale virus [LV] [6] and Grimsby virus
[12]). These antigens have been used to study seroprevalence (5, 19, 22, 26, 27) and the immune
responses to NLV infections of patients involved in outbreaks of
gastroenteritis and of individuals in volunteer challenge studies
(8, 13, 23)
Given the absence of an in vivo system for the direct assessment of
serotype, we previously used paired sera from patients involved in
outbreaks caused by well-characterized NLV strains as a proxy to
distinguish immune responses to expressed capsid antigens homologous to
the strains causing the outbreak from antigens homologous to other
genetically distinct strains (23). We were able to
demonstrate a good correlation: 57 to 70% of patients seroconverted
when infected with an NLV strain that belonged to the same genetic
cluster as the baculovirus-expressed antigen being used.
Correspondingly, only 3 to 47% of patients infected with one of the
genetically distinct strains, GV or WRV, for which we had no
representative antigen, seroconverted.
The aims of the present study were twofold: to express in the
baculovirus system the major capsid proteins of three new genetically distinct NLV strains and characterize the synthesized capsid proteins and to use these antigens to extend our previous study
(23), in which we examined the correlation of patients'
immune responses to a panel of seven antigens. The three new NLV
strains from which we expressed the recombinant capsid proteins were
baculovirus-expressed recombinant Burwash Landing virus (rBLV; cluster
GII/4), baculovirus-expressed recombinant WRV (rWRV; cluster GII/5),
and baculovirus-expressed recombinant FV (rFV; cluster GII/6); this
strain was previously known as the GV cluster. (Upon sequencing
of the ORF2 of GV, we identified it to be genetically distinct from the
remaining strains in the cluster and thus reclassified samples from the
GV cluster accordingly [3].) rBLV represents the
globally common 95/96-US strain which formed a distinct subgroup within
the BV cluster (4, 24). Analysis of the amino acid
sequences demonstrated that BLV was 95.5% identical to LV in ORF2,
thus allowing us to examine antigenic relationships within a genetic
cluster. WRV and FV each represent genetically distinct NLV clusters
(1, 23) for which we previously did not have a
representative antigen. We used VLPs prepared from these three
viruses to extend our previously published data
(23) by comparing the responses of sera from an expanded
collection of patients involved in outbreaks and infected with NLV
strains from three GI clusters and seven GII clusters to the panel of
six antigens (one GI cluster and five GII clusters). In
addition, we investigated in greater detail the responses of serum from
patients infected with BLV-like and LV-like strains (cluster GII/4)
against both rLV and rBLV antigens.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS |
Outbreaks.
The clinical specimens used in the present study
were from patients involved in outbreaks of suspected viral
gastroenteritis reported to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention between March 1990 and 1997. The 322-base capsid regions of
the outbreak strains had been amplified and sequenced as described
previously (23, 24). All outbreak strains were classified
into genetic clusters according to the nomenclature recently described
by Ando et al. (3).
Cloning strategy.
For the three strains tested, BLV, WRV,
and FV (GenBank accession numbers AF414425, AF414423, and AF414407,
respectively), a total of 3 kb, consisting of 600 nucleotides of ORF1
together with the complete sequences of ORF2 and ORF3, was amplified as described previously (2), cloned, and sequenced (Y. Seto
et al., unpublished data). PCR fragments containing ORF2 were
generated by using primers engineered with restriction sites (Table
1). The PCR fragments were digested,
ligated into transfer vector pVL1392 (Pharmingen, San Diego, Calif.),
and transformed into HB101 cells. The resulting clones were screened
for the presence of inserts by PCR with primer Mon 381 and primer Mon
382 (5'-TGATAGAAATTATTCCTAACATCAGG-3') for FV, primer
Mon 383 for BLV, or primers jsn7 and jsn8 for WRV, as described
previously (23). The reading frames, sizes, and nucleotide
sequences of selected clones were confirmed prior to transfection.
Production of recombinant baculoviruses.
Monolayers of Sf9
(Spodoptera frugiperda) insect cells were cotransfected with
defective wild-type baculovirus DNA (Autographa californica
nuclear polyhedrosis virus) and the transfer vector containing the
insert by standard transfection procedures (Pharmingen). For all
constructs, at 5 days postinfection the cell lysate was examined for
the presence of VLPs by EM. Three rounds of purification of single
plaques were used to purify recombinant baculoviruses producing VLPs.
EM and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with serum from a
patient involved in an outbreak caused by a homologous virus were used
to test for VLP production. A high-titer seed stock of recombinant
baculovirus was produced by infecting Sf9 cells at a multiplicity of
infection of 0.1 to 0.2 in TMN-FH medium (Pharmingen) containing
10% fetal calf serum. The viral titer was determined by plaque assay.
Antigen production and purification of VLPs.
VLPs were
prepared by using High-Five cells (InVitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.)
infected in serum-free medium (Excell-400; JRH Biosciences, Lenexa,
Kans.) at a multiplicity of infection of 10. The cell lysate was
collected at 5 days postinfection. The cell debris was pelleted by
centrifugation at 3,000 × g for 30 min at 4°C, and
the supernatant was further clarified to remove baculovirus particles
by centrifugation at 8,300 × g for 30 min at 4°C.
VLPs were concentrated by ultracentrifugation at 100,000 × g for 2 h at 4°C, and the resulting pellets were
allowed to resuspend overnight in Grace's medium (Life
Technologies, Grand Island, N.Y.) containing 10 µM leupeptin (Sigma
Chemical Co., St. Louis, Mo.). Cesium chloride was added to a final
concentration of 1.36 g/ml and centrifuged at 38,000 rpm for 22 h
at 10°C with a Beckman SW55 Ti rotor (Beckman Instruments, Inc.,
Fullerton, Calif.). Fractions containing the VLPs were desalted by
using Centricon-30 columns (Millipore Corp., Bedford, Mass.), and
purified VLPs were eluted in Grace's medium containing 10 µM
leupeptin. EM and electrophoresis on a sodium dodecyl sulfate
(SDS)-10% polyacrylamide gel were used to assess the quantities and
the qualities of the VLPs produced. Yield was determined with a protein
assay reagent kit (Micro BCA; Pierce, Rockford, Ill.).
Western blotting and amino-terminal microsequencing of expressed
capsid proteins.
The purified baculovirus-expressed proteins from
BLV, WRV, and FV were resolved by SDS-polyacrylamide gel
electrophoresis (PAGE). The resulting gel was washed twice in ultrapure
water containing 2 mg of dithiothreitol (DTT) per ml for 10 min each time at room temperature and was then washed four times in 10 mM
3-(cyclohexylamino)propanesulfonic acid (CAPS) buffer (pH 11) containing 2 mg of DTT per ml for 10 min for each bath at room temperature. Purified capsid proteins were electrotransferred (Bio-Rad
Laboratories, Hercules, Calif.) to an Immobilon PSQ membrane (pore size, 0.2 µm; Millipore Corp.) for 1.5 h at 75 V. The
membrane was then rinsed by using at least four washes in water
containing 2 mg of DTT per ml before staining with a solution of
methanol-water-acetic acid (5:4:1) containing 0.05% Coomassie blue.
Following destaining (methanol-water-acetic acid; 5:4:1), the
immobilized proteins were excised and processed for microsequencing.
Serological characterization using purified VLPs.
To
determine the titers of immunoglobulin G (IgG) to each antigen in
patient serum, paired serum specimens were assayed at a single dilution
(1:1,000), as described previously (23). IgG units were
calculated by using a standard curve generated from serial dilutions of
a reference serum sample on each test plate. Seroconversion was defined
as a fourfold or greater rise between the acute- and convalescent-phase
serum samples for a given patient.
 |
RESULTS |
Characterization of VLPs expressed with baculovirus system.
For all constructs, VLPs were detected at 5 days postinfection by EM in
both the High-Five cell lysate and the supernatant (25 to 150 VLPs per
grid square [GS]). Isopycnic centrifugation in CsCl yielded a single
band with a buoyant density of 1.32 g/ml (the band was more diffuse for
BLV). By EM it was found that these bands contained more than
1,000 VLPs/GS for all constructs but BLV (300 VLPs/GS). Following CsCl
purification, a majority of the VLPs were intact and had diameters of
approximately 34 nm. However, the BLV preparation contained more
particles that were broken or small (20 nm) (Fig.
1). Additional purification by sucrose gradient centrifugation brought no major improvement in the purity of
the protein and appeared to increase the background when the antigen
was used for serodiagnosis by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (data
not shown). For all constructs, SDS-PAGE analysis of the purified
fractions demonstrated no differences in the migration of the major
64-kDa protein. For two of the constructs, BLV and WRV, a second band
was observed at 58 kDa (Fig. 2A). The
VLPs were purified from 500 ml of medium, corresponding to 1.6 × 108 infected cells, and yielded 400 µg of
purified protein for BLV, 2 to 3 mg of purified protein for FV, and 2.5 mg of purified protein for WRV.

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FIG. 1.
Electron micrograph of CsCl-purified VLPs from BLV
construct at a magnification of ×265,085, after negative staining.
Complete VLPs (white particles) are indicated by an arrow without a
tail. Broken VLPs (dark particles) are indicated by a single-tailed
arrow, and the 20- to 22-nm subunit particles are indicated by a
double-tailed arrow.
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FIG. 2.
(A) SDS-PAGE on a 10% polyacrylamide gel of 10 µl of
CsCl-purified VLPs from TV, FV, BLV, and WRV baculovirus-expressed
proteins. The 64- and 58-kDa proteins are indicated. Lane M, protein
weight marker. (B) Amino acid sequence of the expressed proteins from
panel A. The NV sequence with an NH2-terminal arm (the
shaded sequence), involved in capsid stability, is indicated as a
reference (28). The first methionines of the 64-kDa
proteins are indicated; the first amino acids of the 58-kDa proteins
found in the BLV and WRV preparations are boxed.
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The amino-terminal extremities of the 64- and 58-kDa capsid proteins of
all constructs, together with purified baculovirus-expressed
recombinant TV (rTV) as a control, were sequenced by Edman degradation.
For the 64-kDa proteins, translation began at the first methionine
of
ORF2, whereas the 58-kDa proteins of the BLV and WRV constructs
were
truncated, with 37 amino residues less than the number of
residues in
the 64-kDa protein from the NH
2-terminal region
(Fig.
2B). When compared with the X-ray crystallographic structure for
NV, these 37 missing amino acids were homologous to those of
baculovirus-expressed
recombinant NV (rNV) that face the interior of
the capsid (
28).
Serological characterization.
We used our three new antigens
to examine the seroresponses of 403 patients involved in outbreaks for
which the NLV strains have previously been genetically characterized
(Table 2). rFV and rWRV were used to
analyze paired serum samples from patients involved in 37 outbreaks
caused by NLV strains belonging to GI clusters (GI/3 [DSV], GI/4
[CS]) and GII clusters (GII/1 [HV], GII/2 [SMV], GII/3 [TV],
GII/4 [BV], GII/5 [WRV], GII/6 [FV], GII/7 [GV]). The immune
responses of patients infected with GI strains versus the immune
responses of patients infected with GII strains were quite distinct and
specific, with the best responses noted being to the antigen from the
homologous strain. The rise in the titer of IgG to each antigen
occurred most frequently and was of the greatest magnitude when
the outbreak was caused by a strain belonging to the same cluster as
the antigen used for testing. For example, 73% of patients involved in
outbreaks caused by GII/5 (WRV) exhibited seroconversions to
rWRV antigen, whereas 56% or fewer patients involved in outbreaks
caused by other strains demonstrated seroconversions; the
magnitudes of the rises were 20.7-fold and 7.2-fold or less,
respectively. We also observed, however, strong heterologous immune
responses between paired sera from patients involved in GII/1-related
outbreaks and rWRV and rFV antigens; between sera from patients
involved in GII/3-related outbreaks and baculovirus-expressed
recombinant HV (rHV), rWRV, and rFV antigens; between sera from
patients involved in GII/4-related outbreaks and the rWRV antigen; and
between sera from patients involved in GII/6-related outbreaks and the
rWRV antigen. Surprisingly, only 31% of 35 patients involved in GII/6
(FV) outbreaks exhibited seroconversions in response to the rFV
antigen, while 44% of GII/3 (TV) patients demonstrated
seroconversions; however, the differences in the magnitudes of the
rises in titers of antibodies to any of the expressed antigens
were not significant. Only 3 to 38% of patients involved in GI
outbreaks demonstrated seroconversions in response to one or more GII
antigens, while only 0 to 27% of patients involved in GII outbreaks
demonstrated seroconversions in response to the NV (GI) antigen (Table
2). The results obtained from the testing of sera from patients
involved in the outbreaks included in the present study
(outbreaks numbered 326 and higher) with rNV, rHV,
baculovirus-expressed recombinant MXV (rMXV; or closely related virus
rTV), and baculovirus-expressed recombinant LV (rLV) were consistent
with those published previously (23). Finally, in
agreement with our previous results, only 20% or fewer patients
involved in GII/2 (SMV)-related outbreaks (the SMV antigen was
not represented in our antigen collection) exhibited seroconversions in
response to any of the seven antigens in our panel.
To further analyze heterotypic and homotypic seroresponses among
patients involved in outbreaks, we divided all patients into
one of
four categories, depending on their seroresponses to the
individual
antigens, as follows: category A, no seroconversions;
category B,
seroconversion against only the homologous antigen;
category C,
seroconversion against the homologous antigen and
at least one
heterologous antigen; and category D, seroconversion
against a
heterologous antigen only (Table
3).
Among the patients
from all outbreaks, category C seroresponses
predominated. Of
the 110 patients with no seroconversion (category A),
the sera
from 22 patients (20%) had a very high acute-phase titer
(>50,000
units; as the standard curve plateaus at 200,000 units, a
fourfold
rise in titer would not be detected if the acute-phase serum
sample
had a titer of 50,000 units or greater), and the sera from an
additional 12 patients (11%) had a moderately high acute-phase
titer
(25,000 to 50,000 units). The majority of these sera were
from patients
involved in outbreak 304 (HV) and outbreaks 292
(FV) and 330 (FV), in which less than 50% of patients demonstrated
seroconversion
in response to the homologous antigen and the high
titer of preexisting
antibody was likely preventing us from detecting
a seroresponse to the
present infection. Similarly, 8 (32%) of
the 25 patients from category
D had a moderate to high acute-phase
titer (>25,000) of antibody to
the homologous antigen in serum,
which may have masked seroconversions
in response to that antigen.
The cumulative frequency of
seroconversions among patients from
categories B, C, and D was 68% and
was representative of the overall
detection rate for serological
analysis of patients involved in
outbreaks when antigen homologous to
the one causing the outbreak
was included in the detection panel. When
the homologous antigen
was not available, the frequency of
seroconversion (categories
C and D) was 55%.
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TABLE 3.
Frequencies and types of seroconversions developed by
each patient involved in outbreaks with GI, GII/1, GII/3, GII/4,
GII/5 and GII/6 using NV, HV, TV, LV, WRV, and FV synthetic
antigens
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Finally, we compared patient seroresponses to two antigens within the
same genetic cluster. BLV and LV share 95.5% amino acid
identity in
ORF2. Although the ORF2 proteins of these two viruses
are genetically
closely related, BLV formed a distinct subset
within the GII/4
(BV) cluster and was the strain that was detected
globally and that
predominated in the United States from 1995
to 1996 (
22).
Overall, 77% of patients demonstrated seroconversion
in response to
either the BLV antigen or the LV antigen, or both;
and individually, 61 and 64% of the patients demonstrated seroconversion
in response to the
BLV antigen and the LV antigen, respectively,
of which only 6 (5.3%) and 8 (7.0%) of patients, respectively,
demonstrating
seroconversion in response to only one antigen (
P < 0.0001 by two-tailed Fisher's exact text). There were no significant
differences in the fold rise in titers to the BLV and LV antigens,
which ranged from 0.1 to 152.7 (mean, 20.7) and 0.2 to 171.4 (mean,
18.9),
respectively.
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DISCUSSION |
The identification of serotypes of NLVs has important implications
for the development of immune diagnostics and new vaccines. For the
NLVs, determination of classical serotypes is not possible because the
virus cannot be cultivated to permit traditional neutralization assays,
and the problem is compounded by the genetic diversity of the virus,
with several genogroups and many distinct clusters of strains being
observed. Our goal for the project described here was to use clinical
specimens (both stool and paired serum specimens from persons involved
in outbreaks) to gather insights into the homotypic and heterotypic
immune responses to specific clusters of NLVs. We further believed that
having a collection of seven expressed VLP antigens representing six
distinct genetic clusters would allow us to clearly distinguish
cluster-specific immune responses as a proxy for serotype. Our results
generally support the hypothesis that individuals develop a better
immune response to an antigen expressed from strains of the same
genetic cluster as the infecting strain than to antigens from strains of different genetic clusters. Nonetheless, in individual patients infected with GII viruses, many heterotypic reactions were detected, and we could not unambiguously determine the cluster type of the infecting strain simply from the magnitude of the seroconversion to a
specific VLP. For all GII-related outbreaks except GII/2- and
GII/7-related outbreaks, we observed similar rates of detection of
immune responses using the homologous antigen and at least one
heterologous antigen; homologous antigens were not available for the
GII/2- and GII/7-related outbreaks. Heterologous immune responses were
observed in earlier studies (20) and may reflect previous
exposure to different NLVs with cross-reacting epitopes or minor
antigenic differences between the infecting strain and the homotypic
VLP used for testing. The implication of these observations for
diagnosis is that, to detect recent exposure to NLV by serology, one
needs to screen paired serum specimens with several different antigens.
The implication for vaccines is that challenge studies will have to be
conducted with a variety of heterotypic challenge strains in people
with diverse backgrounds of preexisting antibodies in order to
determine the extent of cross-protection afforded by a single vaccine strain.
The results of the present study extend our previous observations that
a single antigen could be used to detect seroresponses in the majority
of patients infected with GI strains, while multiple antigens would be
required to detect seroresponses in patients infected with different
GII strains. Correspondingly, in the study described in this paper, we
added three GII antigens to our panel, and our results indicate that
although we can detect seroresponses in 55 to 68% of patients involved
in an outbreak, depending on the composition of our panel of antigens,
representatives of clusters GII/2 (SMV) and GII/7 (GV) are still
required to complete the test panel.
By using the BLV, WRV, and FV recombinant antigens, overall,
seroconversions were more common and stronger among patients infected
with a strain belonging to the same genetic cluster as the VLP parent
strain. In our analysis of intracluster reactivity, patient
seroresponses to antigens of BLV and LV, both of which are
representatives of genetic cluster GII/4, were comparable. These
results indicate that strains with up to 4.5% divergence in their ORF2
amino acid sequence are still antigenically related. For the FV
recombinant antigen, detection of the seroresponses to NLVs belonging
to other clusters was more efficient than detection of seroresponses to
viruses from FV-related outbreaks. Seroresponses to rFV were
detected in 31% of patients involved in the three GII/6-related
outbreaks, but seroresponses to rFV were detected in 47, 44, and 38%
of patients involved in GII/5-, GII/3-, and GII/1-related outbreaks,
respectively. The reason for the higher level of heterotypic reactivity
is unknown but may be related to the small sample size and high levels
of preexisting antibodies in patients involved in outbreaks 292 and
330. A total of 11 (57%) of the 19 patients who did not seroconvert
had moderate to high acute-phase titers of 25,000 units or greater,
which may have precluded detection of a fourfold increase.
Our present data that give cumulative frequencies of seroconversions of
55% (categories C and D) and 68% (categories B, C, and D) (Table 3)
support our previous definition for an outbreak of NLV, which requires
that greater than 50% of patients involved in the outbreak show a
fourfold or greater rise in antibody titer by serology
(23). Thus, serological analysis with a panel of representative antigens (in our case, six antigens) could provide a
reliable alternative to reverse transcription-PCR when stool specimens
are unavailable for testing. In contrast, the small number of patients
who demonstrated a homologous response only (category B) and the
predominance of patients with heterologous responses (category C)
indicate that serological analysis alone is inadequate for the typing
of the NLV strain causing the outbreak. Human IgG immune responses to
NLV infections are generally not type specific, with presumably both
preexisting antibody and anamnestic responses playing a role. Although
it has been proposed that the measurement of IgM or IgA seroresponses
might be more type specific (8), to date these assays have
not been widely applied. Biological or chemical removal of IgG is often
required to facilitate direct detection of IgM or IgA, or a
complementary serum sample in which antibody against each recombinant
antigen is raised is required for indirect assay formats.
The second most common category of seroresponses among patients
involved in an outbreak was no seroconversions (category A). One-third
of these patients had high levels of IgG (25,000 to 200,000 units) in
their acute-phase serum samples. This high IgG titer is consistent with
those detected in studies showing a high seroprevalence of NLVs in
human populations and is most likely responsible for our inability to
detect seroconversions in these patients. While we are uncertain of the
reason why we failed to detect conversions in the remaining patients in
category A, for most patients matched stool and serum specimens were
not available for the direct assessment of infection status.
In the present study, we cloned and expressed the ORF2 proteins of
three genetically distinct NLV strains by using the baculovirus system.
VLPs were observed by EM for each construct. Analysis of the purified
VLPs by SDS-PAGE showed that the molecular mass was
approximately 64 kDa, while the calculated molecular mass on the basis
of the sequence was approximately 58 kDa, a difference which may be a
result of electrophoresis conditions. Microsequencing showed the
translation of the 64-kDa protein started at the first methionine
encoded by ORF2 for all constructs. The second protein of 58 kDa, which
was present at a quantity equal to that for the 64-kDa protein
observed for the BLV and WRV constructs, represents a truncated protein
that starts at the alanine located at position 38 in ORF2. The addition
of a protease inhibitor, such as leupeptin, did not prevent the
production of the truncated protein (data not shown). For both
constructs, the presence of the 58-kDa protein more likely reflects a
degradation phenomenon or a specific cleavage of the 64-kDa
protein rather than an internal binding of the ribosome. On the
basis of the amino acid sequence, such cleavage could be due to a
metalloproteinase activity, so chelating agents such as EDTA might
reduce the level of production of this 58-kDa protein. The protein
composition of the capsid as well as the primary and secondary
structures of the capsid protein(s) can affect the stabilities of the
VLPs, as shown by the effects of alkaline buffers on VLPs (31). Although the amino acid sequences of the ORF2
proteins from TV and FV show cleavage sites similar to those for the
ORF2 proteins from BLV and WRV, no 58-kDa proteins were observed, and we were able to produce stable VLPs. Our results suggest that the
overall lower levels of stability of the VLPs of BLV and WRV may be due
to the presence of the truncated protein. Determination of the protein
structure of rNV by X-ray crystallography has indicated that residues
10 to 49 (corresponding to residues 10 to 46 of TV, BLV, WRV, and FV;
Fig. 2B) form the NH2-terminal arm, which faces
the interior of the capsid and which is thought to play a role in
imposing symmetry on the interactions between the S domains in the
icosahedral shell of the calicivirus capsid (28).
The combination of X-ray crystallography data, nucleotide sequences,
and antigenicity data will be helpful in the evolution of simpler
technologies for serological analysis with new synthetic antigens such
as peptides or mosaic proteins presenting common epitopes. Systems that
use such methods would be good alternatives to the present baculovirus
expression systems. Moreover, the study of antigenicity with VLPs will
enable us to detect putative common epitopes between NLV clusters,
which could be used to improve serodiagnostics for these viruses.
 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of the many state
health departments for providing the serum specimens from patients involved in outbreaks analyzed in the study described in this paper. In
addition, we thank Tamara Crew, Biotechnology Core Facility Branch,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for protein sequencing, and
John O'Connor and Anne Mather for editorial assistance.
 |
FOOTNOTES |
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Viral
Gastroenteritis Section, Mail Stop G04, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd., Atlanta, GA 30333. Phone: (404) 639-2391. Fax: (404) 639-3645. E-mail: smonroe{at}cdc.gov.
 |
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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, December 2001, p. 4288-4295, Vol. 39, No. 12
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JCM.39.12.4288-4295.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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