Indirect ELISA with Recombinant GP5 for Detecting Antibodies to Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome is caused by the PRRS virus (PRRSV),which has six structural proteins (GP2,GP3,GP4,GP5,M and N). GP5 and N protein are important targets for serological detection by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and other methods. Toward this goal,we developed an indirect ELISA with recombinant GP5 antigens and this method was validated by comparison to the LSI PRRSV-Ab ELISA kit. The results indicated that the optimal concentration of coated recombinant antigen was 0.2 μg/well for a serum dilution of 1:40. The rate of agreement with the LSI PRRSV-Ab kit was 88.7% (266/300). These results support the potential use of recombinant GP5 as an antigen for indirect ELISA to detect PRRSV antibodies in pigs.

Development of a Novel PmpD-N ELISA for Chlamydia psittaci Infection

Objective Chlamydia psittaci is an avian respiratory pathogen and zoonotic agent. The wide prevalence of C. psittaci poses a threat to the poultry industry and its employees. However, few commercial kits are available for detecting avian antibodies excluding the in-house ELISA kit. In this study, we developed a novel ELISA kit for detecting antibodies against C. psittaci based on the N-terminal fragment of polymorphic outer membrane protein D （PmpD-N） as the coating antigen. Methods The antigen concentrations, primary antibody, and cut-off value were determined and optimized. The ELISA, designated PmpD-N ELISA, was assessed for sensitivity, specificity, and concordance using sera samples from 48 experimentally infected and 168 uninfected SPF chickens. Results The sensitivity and specificity of PmpD-N ELISA were 97.9%, 100%, respectively, while the concordance was 98.1% as compared to that of MOMP-ELISA. No cross-reaction with positive sera for other avian pathogens was found. Using PmpD-N ELISA, 799/836 clinical samples were positive, including 93.0% and 98.1% positivity in layers and broilers, respectively. Conclusion These data indicate that indirect ELISA with PmpD-N as the antigen candidate is a promising approach for the surveillance of C. psittaci infection.

An Indirect ELISA of Classical Swine Fever Virus Based on Quadruple Antigenic Epitope Peptide Expressed in E.coli

In this study,a synthesized quadruple antigenic epitope gene region of the classical swine fever virus (CSFV)E2 glycoprotein was expressed in E.coli to a obtain target protein.This target protein was used as a coating antigen to establish an indirect ELISA for specifically detecting anti-CSFV antibodies in serum samples from pigs.The P/N cut-off value of this assay was 1.92 by receiver operating characteristic curve(ROC)analysis based on 30 negative sera and 80 positive samples.The test gave 97.5%sensitivity and 96.7%specificity compared with the indirect hemagglutination(IHA)test.The inter-assay and intra-assay coefficients of variation (CVs)for 16 sera were both≤6.8%.No cross-reactivity between the coating antigen and anti-bovine viral diarrhoea virus(BVDV)antibodies was observed.

Secretory Expression of E2 Main Antigen Domain of CSFV C Strain and the Establishment of Indirect ELISA Assay

The sequence encoding an E2 main antigen glycoprotein of the C strain of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) was highly expressed in the host cell E. coli BL21–CodonPlus (DE3)–RIL using the pGEX-4T-1 expression vector and the soluble recombinant product was purified with Glutathione Sepharose TM4B by centrifugation. The soluble recombinant protein showed good immune reactions and was confirmed by Western blot using anti-CSFV-specific antibodies. Then an indirect ELISA with the purified E2 protein as the coating antigen was established to detect antibody against CSFV. The result revealed that the optimal concentration of coated antigen was 0.6 μg/well and the optimal dilution of serum was 1:80. The positive cut-off value of this ELISA assay was OD tested serum / OD negative serum≥2.1. The E2-ELISA method was evaluated by comparison with the indirect hemagglutination test (IHAT). When a total of 100 field serum samples were tested the sensitivity and specificity were 90.3% and 94.7% respectively. Specificity analysis showed that there were no cross-reactions between BVD serum and the purified E2 protein in the E2-ELISA.

Development of a recombinant pB602L-based indirect ELISA assay for detecting antibodies against African swine fever virus in pigs

African swine fever(ASF),caused by the African swine fever virus(ASFV),is a devastating disease of domestic and wild pigs.There is no effective vaccine,and the control of the disease relies mainly on surveillance and early detection of infected pigs.Previously,serological assays,such as ELISA,have been developed mainly based on recombinant structural viral proteins of ASFV,including p72,p54,and p30.However,the antibodies against these proteins do not provide efficient protection against ASFV infection in pigs.Therefore,new serological assays that can be applied for clinical diagnosis and evaluating serological immune response in vaccinated pigs are still required.In this study,we expressed and purified a recombinant p B602 L protein.The purified p B602 L protein was then used as an antigen to develop an indirect ELISA assay.This assay has no cross-reaction with the anti-sera against the 15 most common pig pathogens in China,such as classical swine fever virus,pseudorabies virus,and porcine parvovirus.This assay and a commercial ELISA kit were then used to detect 60 field pig serum samples,including an unknown number of antiASFV sera.The coincidence of the two assays was 95%.Furthermore,the p B602 L-based ELISA was employed to test the antibody responses to the seven-gene-deleted ASFV strain HLJ/18-7 GD in pigs.The results showed that the antibody levels in all vaccinated pigs,starting from the 10 th day post-inoculation,have increased continuously during the observation period of 45 days.Our results indicate that this p B602 L-based indirect ELISA assay can be employed potentially in the field of ASFV diagnosis.

Establishment of Indirect ELISA Diagnosis Technique based on the VP1 Protein of Foot and Mouth Disease Virus Serotype A

The VP1 protein of foot-and-mouth disease virus serotype A was prokaryotically expressed and purified to replace the traditional virus antigen for estab- lishing a fast, safe, effective indirect ELISA method, so as to detecting antibody of foot-and-mouth disease virus serotype A. Western-Blot test showed that the VP1 recombinant protein could be used as detective antigen as it can be specifically recognized by bovine positive serum of FMDV serotype A. By employing matrix titra- tion method, the optimal parameters were obtained as follows： 1 mg/L VP1 protein as coating antigen, Vserum：Vblocking solution = 1：50 dilution for serum and Vsecondary enzyme-linked antibedies：Vblocking solution ---1：2 000 for enzyme combined antibodies. The results showod that the sensitivity and specificity of this method were 94.32% and 99.09% respectively, the coefficients of variations in intra-assay and inter-assay reproducibility tests was lower than 8%. Compared with liquid phase blocking ELISA kits, the agreement of 201 serum samples reached 92.54%. The VP1-ELISA method established here is specific, sensitive, stable and simple, which can be used to monitor the antibody level of FMD serotype A.

Study of Immunoassay Methods for Recombinant Human Erythropoietin (rhEPO) Using Competitive ELISA

Two different immunoassay methods, competitive indirect enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay (CI-ELISA) and amplificative competitive indirect ELISA (ACI-ELISA) using biotin-avidin complex system were studied to detect rhEPO. The linear ranges were 50-20000 ng/mL and 10-50000 ng/mL for CI-ELISA and ACI-ELISA, respectively. The low detection limits of CI-ELISA and ACI-ELISA were 62.8 ng/mL and 8.5 ng/mL, respectively.

Efficient and Soluble Expression of N Protein of Peste Des Petits Ruminants Virus and Development of Indirect ELISA

[ Objective] The paper was to get effective soluble N protein to establish indirect ELISA method for Peste des petits ruminants （PPR）. [ Method] Soluble N protein with high expression was obtained from Escherichia coli expression system through codon optimization and optimization of expression conditions, and indirect ELISA detection method based on N protein was further established. [ Result] The assay had no cross reaction with other sheep pathogens. The intra- and inter-batch variation coefficients were less than 9%, indicating the method had good repeatability. Furthermore, totally 480 clinical serum samples were detec- ted by the assay, and the agreement rate with commercial ELISA kit （IDVET） was 98.33%. [ Conclusion] The study laid a foundation for further development of mature PPRV antibody detection kits.

Secretory Expression of Mycoplasma hyopneu-moniae P97R1 Gene in Pichia pastoris and Primary Application of the Expression Product

[Objective] This study aimed to investigate the secretory expression of P97R1 gene of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae（Mhp） in Pichia pastoris expression system and the primary application; of the expression product. [Method] A pair of specific primers was designed to conduct PCR according to the Mhp P97R1 gene sequence in Genbank, and the amplified P97R1 gene was cloned into the pPICZa-A yeast expression vector to construct the secretory recombinant expression vector pPICZa-A-P97R1. The plasmid pPICZa-A-p97R1 linearized by Sac I was transformed into P. pastoris GSl15 by electroporation. Positive transformant identified by PCR was incubated to express P97R1 protein after methanol induction. And the expression product was identified using SDS-PAGE and Western-blotting anal.wsis. [Result] P97R1 protein was successfully expressed in the P. pastoris system, with a secre- tory amount of 499μg/ml, and revealed good reactogenicity. Meanwhile, an indirect ELISA method was established with P97R1 protein after the optimization of each reaction factor, which showed good specificity and repeatability according to repeated tests. [Conclusion] This study provides bases for developing the ELISA Kit for anti- body detection and genetically engineered vaccine to Mhp.

Rapid detection of virulent protease secreted by Vibrio anguillarum by dot enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

Dot enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （dot-ELISA）, indirect ELISA and Westem blot were performed to detect the virulent protease secreted by Vibrio anguillarum which was isolated from the diseased left-eyed flounder, Paralichthys olivaceous. Sensitivity results showed that dot-ELISA is a more sensitive, rapid and simple technique for the protease detection. The minimal detectable amount of protease is about 7 pg in the dot-ELISA test, while 7.8 ng in the indirect ELISA and 6.25 ng in the Westem blot respectively. Protease could be detected 2 h after incubation of V. anguillarum in the 2216E liquid medium but enzyme activity was very low at that period. From 6 to 12 h, the amount and enzyme activity of protease increased markedly and reached maximum at stationary phase. Analysis of serum samples periodically collected from the infected flounders showed that after 2 h of infection by V. anguillarum, the pathogenic bacteria could be detected in the blood of the infected flounders but no protease was found. It was 5-6 h after infection that the protease was detected in blood and then the amount increased as infection advanced. Quantitative detection of protease either incubation in the medium or from the blood of infected flounders could be accomplished in virtue of positive controls of quantificational protease standards （＂marker＂） so that the alterations ofprotease secretion both in vitro and in vivo could be understood generally. In addition, the indirect ELISA and dot-ELISA were also performed to detect V. anguillarum cells. Results indicated that the sensitivity of indirect ELISA to bacteria cells is higher than that of the dot-ELISA, and that the minimal detectable amount is approximately 10^4 cell/mL in the indirect ELISA, while 10^5 cell/mL in the dot-ELISA.

Spatial Trend of Foot and Mouth Disease Virus (FMDV) Serotypes in Cattle and Buffaloes, Pakistan

The present study describes the frequency of Foot and Mouth Disease （FMD） virus serotypes （O, A and Asia-l） in major regions （all provinces） of Pakistan using Indirect Sandwich ELISA. Also, spatial distribution of various FMD serotypes and their comparison is discussed. A total of 590 samples （Epithelial tissue） have been analyzed during a period of five years （2005-2009）. Out of 590 samples, 180 were found positive, giving an overall confirmation of FMDV about 33.2 %. Of the prevalent serotypes, FMDV ＇O＇ serotype caused most outbreaks （20.7 %）, followed by serotype A （6.6 %） and serotype Asia-1 （4.6 %） while there was no positive case of type ＇C＇. The study clearly showed that the disease was more frequent in the agro-climatic zones than in hilly areas. Based on the data of 590 samples （〉50 outbreaks）, the overall prevalence of FMDV in cattle and buffaloes in Pakistan was 33.2 %, while in cattle alone, it was 37.1%, higher than in buffalo （28.7 %）. There were eight cases of mixed serotypes infection, indicating the presence of endemic state of disease. Another significant feature was the change over time. In phase-I （2005-2007）, there was an overall prevalence of 29.4 %, while the occurrence of the serotype O, A and Asia-1 was 20.4 %, 2.9 % and 4.7 %, respectively. During phase-II （2008-2009）, the overall prevalence was 59.21%, while those of serotype O, A and Asia-1 were 22.4 %, 31.6 % and 4.0 %, respectively. This clearly indicated a shift from serotype O to A, which may help to explain the occurrence of more severe outbreaks, despite vaccination.

Correlation analysis of the total IgY level in hen serum, egg yolk and offspring serum

The correlation between IgY levels of the serum and the yolk has been well documented in wild and domestic birds. The levels of total yolk IgY can be an index of the general health status of birds and may contribute to breeding programs when fitness of the offspring is a concern. We measured the levels of total serum IgY and yolk IgY in three different breeds （White Leghorn, Silkie and Dongxiang blue-shell） using indirect ELISA, and found that there was a significantly positive correlation between the levels of total serum IgY and total yolk IgY in all three breeds （White Leghorn： r = 0.404, P 〈 0.001, n = 100; Silkie： r = 0.561, P 〈 0.001, n = 70; Dongxiang blue-shell： r = 0.619, P 〈 0.001, n = 30）. We also measured the total serum IgY levels in the 3-day-old offspring hatched from the Silkie hens and results were significantly correlated for serum IgY levels （r = 0.535, P 〈 0.001, n = 70） and the yolk IgY levels （r = 0.481, P 〈 0.001, n = 70）. The regression analysis showed simple linear regression between IgY levels in hen serum, yolk and offspring serum. Our results suggest that total IgY level could be used as an index for chicken fitness.

Indirect Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Based on the Nucleocapsid Protein of SARS-like Coronaviruses

The nucleocapsid protein(N) is a major structural protein of coronaviruses. The N protein of bat SARS-like coronavirus(SL-CoV) has a high similarity with that of SARS-CoV. In this study,the SL-CoV N protein was expressed in Escherichia coli,purified and used as antigen. An Indirect Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay(indirect ELISA) was developed for detection of SARS-or SL-CoV infections in bat populations. The detection of 573 bat sera with this indirect ELISA demonstrated that SL-CoVs consistently circulate in Rhinilophus species,further supporting the proposal that bats are natural reservoirs of SL-CoVs. This method uses 1-2 μl of serum sample and can be used for preliminary screening of infections by SARS-or SL-CoV with a small amount of serum sample.

Development and Validation of a Recombinant Envelop Glycoprotein Based Indirect Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay to Detect the Antibody to REV

Based on the antigenic analysis of Reticuloendotheliosis virus （REV） envelop glycoprotein （env） protein, an alternative indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） for detection of REV antibody was developed using a truncated env protein of REV produced in Escherichia coli. This assay was validated by comparison with an indirect immunofluorescence assay （IFA） and a REV-based ELISA. The diagnostic sensitivity （DSN）, specificity （DSP） and accuracy of the env indirect-ELISA （ienv-ELISA） were 93.7, 93.3 and 93.6% compared with IFA on 1 380 field serum samples, and 84.8, 95.2 and 91.7% compared with the REV-based ELISA on 96 field sera, respectively. Cross-reactivity assay showed that this assay was REV-specific. Repeatability test revealed that the coefficients of variation of positive sera within and between runs were less than 15%. This method is simpler to produce and perform, time-saving and suitable for large scale survey of REV antibody at low cost.

Epidemiological Study of Hepatitis E Virus Infection in Pigs in Zhejiang Province

The study was aimed at establishing an indirect ELISA for epidemiological investigation of hepatitis E viral(HEV) infection in pigs from the major pig-producing regions of Zhejiang Province. The gene fragment covering the immunogenic epitopes of HEV ORF2 was synthesized and expressed in Escherichia coli.Western blot analysis revealed that the purified protein reacted to HEV positive sera,but not to positive sera from some other common viruses that infect pigs.An indirect ELISA system was then developed using truncated HEV ORF2 protein as the coating antigen and had diagnostic accuracy of 91.5% as compared with a diagnostic kit for HEV antibodies.A total of 1 330 serum samples were collected from 46 pig farms in Zhejiang Province from 2005-2008 and tested for sero-prevalence of HEV using the indirect ELISA.The average HEV-positive rate was 55.7%(741/1 330).The positive rate of 2005 and 2006 was 62.7%(175/279) and 61.4%(301/490) respectively,much higher than those of 2007(43.0%,59/137) and 2008(48.6%,206/424).Pigs aged 66-100 days had a statistically higher positive rate(58.2%,110/189) when compared to that of pigs aged 30-65 days(39.7%,73/184) or 101-160 days(44.1%,83/188).Only three herds in the study were HEV antibody-negative,indicating high sero-prevalence of HEV in the pig populations in Zhejiang Province.

MIC17A is a novel diagnostic marker for feline toxoplasmosis

Toxoplasma gondii is a widespread parasitic pathogen that infect humans and all warm-blooded animals,causing abortion and stillbirth in pregnant women and animals,as well as life threatening toxoplasmosis in immune compromised individuals.Felines are the only defnitive hosts of Toxoplasma and oocysts shed by infected felines are the major source of infection for humans and other animals.Given the critical role of felines for T.gondii transmission,control of feline toxoplasmosis has signifcant impacts on reducing the overall prevalence of animal and human toxoplasmosis.However,reliable diagnosis of feline toxoplasmosis is still challenging.In this study,we found that the putative micronemal protein 17A(MIC17A)that was abundantly expressed in Toxoplasma merozoites is a good diagnostic marker for serological diagnosis of Toxoplasma infection in felines.T.gondii encodes four paralogs of MIC17A in total and the expression of three of them is drastically upregulated in merozoites than in tachyzoites.In contrast,when proteins like GRA1 and MIC3 that are more abundantly expressed in tachyzoites than in merozoites were used as diagnostic antigens to test feline toxoplasmosis,they reacted with Toxoplasma specifc IgG antibodies poorly.Taken together,these results suggest that merozoite antigens are better suited for the diagnosis of feline toxoplasmosis than antigens that are highly expressed at tachyzoite or bradyzoite stages.

Monoclonal Antibody-Based Enzyme Immunoassay for Epidemiological Studies of Asymptomatic Dengue Infection

Dengue virus (DENV) is the world most prevalent mosquito-transmitted virus. The incidence of dengue infection has been increasing and most of the infected people are asymptomatic or have non specific febrile illness. Laboratory test is essential to confirm dengue infection in epidemiological studies. We developed an indirect ELISA test based on monoclonal immunoglobulin against all four DENV serotypes and evaluated the test for the diagnosis of asymptomatic dengue infection in paired annual serum samples. The indirect ELISA was found to have a sensitivity 87.5% and specificity 78.3% at optimized cut off. The results from indirect ELISA demonstrate an incidence of asymptomatic dengue infection from children aged 4 - 11 years in Ratchaburi province, Thailand (2006-2009). These findings indicate that the indirect ELISA is suitable for serodiagnosis and seroepidemiological studies of asymptomatic dengue infection.

Development of an Indirect Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for Seromonitoring Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia Using Recombinant Lipoprotein LppQ of Mycoplasma mycoides subsp mycoides SC as Antigen

Mycoplasma mycoides subsp mycoides SC （MmmSC） is the etiological agent of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia （CBPP）. The lipoprotein LppQ encoded by lppQ gene is specific to MmmSC and is found in the type strain and in field strains isolated in Europe, Africa, and Australia, as well as in vaccine strains. No serological cross-reactions were observed with the related mycoplasmas of the Mycoplasma mycoides cluster. The N-terminal domain of the mature lipoprotein LppQ is hydrophilic, and it induces a strong, specific, early, and persistent immune response in naturally and experimentally infected animals. Mycoplasma-specific TGA （Trp） codons are utilized as stop codons in most other organisms. The lppQ N-terminal fragment from MmmSC HVRI X strain, the Chinese strain for CF antigen production, was mutated with one-step overlapping extension PCR. Sequence analysis confirmed the successful mutation from A to G in codon 198 in the lppQ gene. The fragment containing the mutation site was subcloned into the pET32a expression vector. The recombinant protein with molecular weight of 42 kDa was purified using the Ni-NTA His.Bind purification kit, with a purity of up to 95%. Western blot indicated that the standard positive serum of CBPP could react with the recombinant protein. The purified protein was diluted to 0.35 μg mL^-1, and coated to microtiter enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） plates. Indirect ELISA reaction conditions were optimized. The value of P/N was determined to be 4.8 （0.934/0.193）, the sensitivity to be 95.8% （46/48）, and the specificity to be 98.9% （161/163）. 3 817 cattle serum samples from three different provinces were detected by the indirect ELISA and CFT. The Kappa value is 0.63, which is middle or high agreement between the two methods.

Development of a class-specific polyclonal antibody-based indirect competitive ELISA for detecting fluoroquinolone residues in milk

Modified 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide(EDC)method was employed to synthesize the artificial antigen of norfloxacin(NOR),and New Zealand rabbits were used to produce anti-NOR polyclonal antibody(pAb).Based on the checkerboard titration,an indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(icELISA) standard curve was established.This assay was sensitive and had a working range from 0.12 to 68.40 ng/ml,with the half maximal inhibitory concentration(IC50)and limit of detection(LOD)values of 2.7 ng/ml and 0.06 ng/ml,respectively.The produced pAb exhibited high cross-reactivity to fluoroquinolones(FQs)tested,and the IC50 values to enoxacin,ciprofloxacin,and pefloxacin were 3.1,3.4,and 4.1 ng/ml,respectively.It also indicated that the concentrations of NaOH and methanol in assay buffer should not be higher than 10%and 30%.When spiked in milk at 5,20,and 50 ng/ml,the recoveries for NOR,enoxacin,ciprofloxacin,and pefloxacin ranged 90.5%-98.0%,84.0%-95.2%,94.0%-106.0%,and 89.5%-100.0%,respectively.The results suggest that this class-specific pAb-based icELISA could be utilized for the primary screening of FQ residues in animal-original products.

Development of an indirect competitive ELISA for simultaneous detection of enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin

Modified 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropy) carbodiimide(EDC) method was employed to synthesize the artificial antigen of enrofloxacin(ENR),and New Zealand rabbits were used to produce anti-ENR polyclonal antibody(pAb).Based on the checkerboard titration,an indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) standard curve was established.This assay was sensitive and had a linear range from 0.6 to 148.0 μg/kg(R2=0.9567),with the half maximal inhibitory concentration(IC50) and limit of detection(LOD) values of 9.4 μg/kg and 0.2 μg/kg,respectively.Of all the competitive analogues,the produced pAb exhibited a high cross-reactivity to ciprofloxacin(CIP)(87%),the main metabolite of ENR in tissues.After optimization,the matrix effects can be ignored using a 10-fold dilution in beef and 20-fold dilution in pork.The overall recoveries and coefficients of variation(CVs) were in the ranges of 86%-109% and 6.8%-13.1%,respectively.It can be concluded that the established ELISA method is suitable for simultaneous detection of ENR and CIP in animal tissues.