Molecular biology in horses involves the study of molecular processes and genetic mechanisms that underpin equine physiology and health. This field encompasses the analysis of DNA, RNA, proteins, and other biomolecules to understand gene expression, genetic variation, and cellular functions in horses. Techniques such as genomic sequencing, gene expression profiling, and molecular diagnostics are employed to explore topics like hereditary diseases, performance traits, and immune responses in equines. This page assembles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that investigate the molecular biology of horses, focusing on genetic research, molecular techniques, and their applications in equine science.
Godard S, Vaiman A, Schibler L, Mariat D, Vaiman D, Cribiu EP, Guérin G.The purpose of this study was to increase the number of genes assigned by in situ hybridization to equine chromosomes and thus the number of links for comparative mapping with other species. Forty-four new sequences were added to the horse cytogenetic map by FISH mapping of BAC clones containing genes (35) or ESTs (9). Three approaches were developed: use of horse BAC clones screened with (i) horse EST primers, (ii) interspecific consensus intraexonic primers, and (iii) use of goat BAC containing genes previously localized on goat chromosomes. Present data suggest that the second approach is t...
Bulone V, Rademaker GJ, Pergantis S, Krogstad-Johnsen T, Smestad-Paulsen B, Thomas-Oates J.Separation of horse dander allergens using two-dimensional PAGE resulted in the identification of 16 proteins that react with allergic patient sera. A sensitive method has been developed for analysing the structures of the glycan chains of individual glycoprotein allergens transferred to blots following two-dimensional PAGE, and has allowed the structural identification of the glycan chains of the most abundant isoforms of Equ c 1, a glycosylated horse dander major allergen. The method involves separation of the allergens by two-dimensional PAGE, transfer to polyvinylidene difluoride membranes...
Poyet JL, Srinivasula SM, Alnemri ES.vCLAP, the E10 gene product of equine herpesvirus-2, is a caspase-recruitment domain (CARD)-containing protein that has been shown to induce both apoptosis and NF-kappaB activation in mammalian cells. vCLAP has a cellular counterpart, Bcl10/cCLAP, which is also an activator of apoptosis and NF-kappaB. Recent studies demonstrated that vCLAP activates NF-kappaB through an IkappaB kinase (IKK)-dependent pathway, but the underlying mechanism remains unknown. In this report, we demonstrate that vCLAP associates stably with the IKK complex through direct binding to the C-terminal region of IKKgamma....
Sutcliffe IC, Trigg J, Harrington D.Using preparative electrophoresis, a low molecular weight protein has been partially purified from a cell extract of the equine pathogen Streptococcus equi susp. equi. N-terminal sequence analysis and Western blotting revealed the protein to be HPr, a central component of the phosphoenolpyruvate:sugar phosphotransferase system (PTS). Interestingly, the only form of the HPr protein detected in S. equi was one with the amino-terminal methionine removed, a modification that has previously been associated with surface localization of streptococcal HPr proteins.
Hamilton A, Harrington D, Sutcliffe IC.Acid phosphatases hydrolyse phosphomonoesters at acidic pH in a variety of physiological contexts. The recently defined class C family of acid phosphatases includes the 32 kDa LppC lipoprotein of Streptococcus equisimilis. To define further the distribution of acid phosphatases in the genus Streptococcus we have examined the equine pathogens Streptococcus equi subsp. equi and Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus. Whole cell assays indicated that these organisms possess two acid phosphatases with activity optima at pH 5.0 and pH 6.0-6.5 and that only the former of these was, like LppC, resis...
Boerboom D, Pilon N, Behdjani R, Silversides DW, Sirois J.Steroidogenic factor-1 (SF-1, NR5A1a) is a member of the NR5A nuclear receptor subfamily and has been implicated as a key transcriptional regulator of all ovarian steroidogenic genes in vitro. To establish links between the expression of SF-1 and that of the steroidogenic genes in vivo, the objectives of this study were to clone equine SF-1 and examine the regulation of its messenger RNA (mRNA) in follicular cells during human CG (hCG)-induced ovulation. The equine SF-1 primary transcript was cloned by a combination of RT-PCR techniques. Results showed that the transcript was composed of a 5'-...
Guy JS, Breslin JJ, Breuhaus B, Vivrette S, Smith LG.A coronavirus was isolated from feces of a diarrheic foal and serially propagated in human rectal adenocarcinoma (HRT-18) cells. Antigenic and genomic characterizations of the virus (isolate NC99) were based on serological comparison with other avian and mammalian coronaviruses and sequence analysis of the nucleocapsid (N) protein gene. Indirect fluorescent-antibody assay procedures and virus neutralization assays demonstrated a close antigenic relationship with bovine coronavirus (BCV) and porcine hemagglutinating encephalomyelitis virus (mammalian group 2 coronaviruses). Using previously des...
Suzuki Y, Ito T, Suzuki T, Holland RE, Chambers TM, Kiso M, Ishida H, Kawaoka Y.The distribution of sialic acid (SA) species varies among animal species, but the biological role of this variation is largely unknown. Influenza viruses differ in their ability to recognize SA-galactose (Gal) linkages, depending on the animal hosts from which they are isolated. For example, human viruses preferentially recognize SA linked to Gal by the alpha2,6(SAalpha2,6Gal) linkage, while equine viruses favor SAalpha2,3Gal. However, whether a difference in relative abundance of specific SA species (N-acetylneuraminic acid [NeuAc] and N-glycolylneuraminic acid [NeuGc]) among different animal...
Hinton TM, Li F, Crabb BS.Equine rhinitis A virus (ERAV) has recently been classified as an aphthovirus, a genus otherwise comprised of the different serotypes of Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV). FMDV initiates translation via a type II internal ribosomal entry site (IRES) and utilizes two in-frame AUG codons to produce the leader proteinases Lab and Lb. Here we show that the ERAV 5' nontranslated region also possesses the core structures of a type II IRES. The functional activity of this region was characterized by transfection of bicistronic plasmids into BHK-21 cells. In this system the core type II structures, ...
Stewart F, Kennedy MW, Suire S.Horses, donkeys, and therefore, probably all equids, secrete a nonglycosylated, progesterone-dependent, 19-kDa protein (P19) into the uterine lumen during early pregnancy, and significant quantities of it are taken up by the developing conceptus. Sequence analysis and structural modelling have identified P19 as a lipocalin with greatest similarity to the murine major urinary protein lipocalins. However, lack of strong identity with any particular group of lipocalins and several unusual structural features, including a unique amino acid triplet within one of the invariant domains and an unusual...
Marshall DE, Mortishire-Smith RJ, Houghton E, Gower DB.Oestradiene-3,17-diol and oestratriene-3,17-diol (or the diol of Heard's ketone (3-hydroxy-5(10),6,8-oestratriene-17-one) have been extracted on a large scale from pooled urines and allantoic fluid obtained from pregnant mares. Initial purification was achieved using column chromatography, and further purification by high performance liquid chromatography or silver nitrate (argentation) thin layer chromatography. The steroids were characterised using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Positions of the double bonds in ring B of oestradienediol were deduced on the basis of results of ultravio...
Hasegaw T, Sato F, Ishida N, Fukushima Y, Mukoyama H.A quick method for sex determination of horses was developed. Simultaneous amplification of the equine sex-determining region of the Y chromosome gene (SRY) and amelogenin gene (AMEL) accomplished the determination of the presence of both the Y chromosome and SRY gene. In agarose gel electrophoresis, a normal stallion showed 1 SRY band and 3 AMEL (AMELX, AMELY, and AMELX/AMELY heteroduplex) bands, and a normal mare showed a single AMELX band. In XY-mares, 3 AMEL bands were detected as in a normal stallion, but no SRY band. The present method enables a quick diagnosis for XY-mare prior to cytog...
Taylor KC, Vitello LB, Erman JE.The ionization of 4-nitroimidazole to 4-nitroimidazolate was investigated as a function of ionic strength. The apparent pKa varies from 8.99 to 9.50 between 0.001 and 1.0 M ionic strength, respectively, at 25 degrees C. The ionic strength dependence of this ionization is anomalous. The binding of 4-nitroimidazole by horse metmyoglobin was studied between pH 5.0 and 11.5 and as a function of ionic strength between 0.01 and 1.0 M. The association rate constant is pH-dependent, varying from 24 M(-1)s(-1) at pH 5 to a maximum value of 280 M(-1)s(-1) at pH 9.5 and then decreasing to 10 M(-1)s(-1) a...
Yuki N, Shimazaki T, Kushiro A, Watanabe K, Uchida K, Yuyama T, Morotomi M.Selective adhesion to only certain epithelia is particularly common among the bacterial members of the indigenous microflora of mammals. We have found that the stratified squamous epithelium of the nonsecreting area of horse stomach is colonized by gram-positive rods. The microscopic features of a dense layer of these bacteria on the epithelium were found to be similar to those reported in mice, rats, and swine. Adhering microorganisms were isolated and identified as Lactobacillus salivarius, L. crispatus, L. reuteri, and L. agilis by DNA-DNA hybridization and 16S rRNA gene sequencing techniqu...
Sato F, Hasegawa T, Katayama Y, Iwanaga T, Yanaihara N, Kanno T, Ishida N.Chromogranin A (CGA) is a member of a family of highly acidic proteins co-stored and co-released with catecholamines in the adrenal medullary cells as well as in other neurons and paraneurons. The nucleotide sequence encoding equine CGA was determined using RT-PCR and rapid amplification of complementary DNA (cDNA) ends (RACE) techniques. A total 1,828 bp of the nucleotide sequence reveals that equine CGA is a 448-residue protein preceded by an 18-residue signal peptide. Comparison of the amino acid sequence of equine CGA with those of human, porcine, bovine, mouse, rat and frog CGA showed hig...
Cacciò S, Cammà C, Onuma M, Severini C.A fragment of the beta-tubulin gene was polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplified from genomic DNAs of Babesia bovis, Babesia bigemina, Babesia divergens, Babesia major, Babesia caballi, Babesia equi, Babesia microti, Theileria annulata and Theileria sergenti. Single amplification products were obtained for each of these species, but the size of the amplicons varied from 310 to 460 bp. Sequence analysis revealed that this variation is due to the presence of a single intron, which ranged from 20 to 170 bp. The extensive genetic variability at the beta-tubulin locus has been exploited to develop...
Wang LF, Yu M, Hansson E, Pritchard LI, Shiell B, Michalski WP, Eaton BT.An outbreak of acute respiratory disease in Hendra, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia, in September 1994 resulted in the deaths of 14 racing horses and a horse trainer. The causative agent was a new member of the family Paramyxoviridae. The virus was originally called Equine morbillivirus but was renamed Hendra virus (HeV) when molecular characterization highlighted differences between it and members of the genus Morbillivirus. Less than 5 years later, the closely related Nipah virus (NiV) emerged in Malaysia, spread rapidly through the pig population, and caused the deaths of over 100 people. W...
Sabeur K, Vo AT, Ball BA.Angiotensin II is a hormone with a wide array of physiological effects that exerts its effect via interaction with two major subtypes of receptor. The results of this study show that angiotensin II (from 1 to 100 nmol l(-1)) initiates acrosomal exocytosis in equine spermatozoa that have undergone capacitation in vitro in a TALP-TEST (Tyrode's albumin lactate pyruvate; 188.7 mmol TES l(-1), 84.8 mmol Tris l(-1)) buffer with cAMP. The acrosome reaction and sperm viability were assessed with fluorescein isothiocyanate-Pisum sativum agglutinin (FITC-PSA) and Hoechst 33258, respectively. The initia...
Bice DE, Seagrave J, Green FH.Asthma is now recognized to be a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the whole lung. Incidence appears to be increasing despite improved treatment regimens. There is substantial epidemiological evidence suggesting a relationship between the incidence and severity of asthma (e.g., hospitalizations) and exposure to increased levels of air pollution, especially fine and ultrafine particulate material, in susceptible individuals. There have been a few studies in animal models that support this concept, but additional animal studies to test this hypothesis are needed. However, such studies mu...
Semotok CA, Johnson WH, LaMarre J, Gentry PA.This study was designed to evaluate the amounts of coagulation factors and to determine whether the protein profile in pre-ovulatory ovarian follicular fluid aspirated from ovaries collected from mares at slaughter are representative of that in follicular fluid collected from live animals. The proteins evaluated included, (i) albumin, ceruloplasmin and fibronectin, (ii) the procoagulant plasma proteins, Factor V (FV), Factor VII (FVII), Factor X (FX) and prothrombin, and (iii) the anticoagulant plasma proteins, antithrombin and alpha2-macroglobulin. The amounts of the individual proteins were ...
Molenkamp R, Greve S, Spaan WJ, Snijder EJ.Equine arteritis virus (EAV), the prototype arterivirus, is an enveloped plus-strand RNA virus with a genome of approximately 13 kb. Based on similarities in genome organization and protein expression, the arteriviruses have recently been grouped together with the coronaviruses and toroviruses in the newly established order Nidovirales. Previously, we reported the construction of pEDI, a full-length cDNA copy of EAV DI-b, a natural defective interfering (DI) RNA of 5.6 kb (R. Molenkamp et al., J. Virol. 74:3156-3165, 2000). EDI RNA consists of three noncontiguous parts of the EAV genome fused ...
Worster AA, Nixon AJ, Brower-Toland BD, Williams J.To determine the morphologic and phenotypic effects of transforming growth factor beta1 (TGFbeta1) on cultured equine mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) and articular chondrocytes. Methods: Bone marrow aspirates and articular cartilage samples from a 2-year-old and two 8-month-old horses. Methods: After initial isolation and culture, MSC and chondrocytes were cultured in Ham's F-12 medium supplemented with TGF-beta1 at a concentration of 0, 1, 5, or 10 ng/ml. Medium was exchanged on day 2, and cells were harvested on day 4. Medium was assayed for proteoglycan (PG) content. Total RNA was isolated fro...
Dunowska M, Holloway SA, Wilks CR, Meers J.Seventeen New Zealand isolates of equine herpesvirus 5 (EHV-5) were compared to the Australian prototype strain. PCR primers were designed to amplify EHV-5 glycoprotein B (gB) gene, and Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) was used to detect differences between cloned PCR products. EHV-5 isolates from different horses showed a high degree of heterogeneity. However, EHV-5 isolates from individual horses remained homogeneous when examined over a period of time or isolated from different sites. A single EHV-5 gB RFLP profile was detected in isolates from each individual horse but one. ...
Hung GC, Chilton NB, Beveridge I, Gasser RB.In order to maximise the positional homology in the primary sequence alignment of the second internal transcribed spacer for 30 species of equine strongyloid nematodes, the secondary structures of the precursor ribosomal RNA were predicted using an approach combining an energy minimisation method and comparative sequence analysis. The results indicated that a common secondary structure model of the second internal transcribed spacer of these nematodes was maintained despite significant interspecific differences (2-56%) in primary sequences. The secondary structure model was then used to refine...
Fehr JE, Trotter GW, Oxford JT, Hart DA.To determine relative amounts of mRNA expression of aggrecan, type-II collagen, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 1, and MMP3 in articular cartilage and synovial membrane samples from healthy equine joints and joints with osteoarthritis (OA) and to compare results of Northern blot hybridization with results of a reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. Methods: Articular cartilage samples from 8 pairs of joints (1 with OA and 1 healthy) from 6 horses and synovial membrane samples from 6 pairs of joints from 5 horses. Methods: RNA was extracted from samples by use of a modif...
Ivanova Z, Petrova V, Grigorova N, Vachkova E.Obtaining accurate and reliable gene expression results in real-time RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) data analysis requires appropriate normalization by carefully selected reference genes, either a single or a combination of multiple housekeeping genes (HKGs). The optimal reference gene/s for normalization should demonstrate stable expression across varying conditions to diminish potential influences on the results. Despite the extensive database available, research data are lacking regarding the most appropriate HKGs for qRT-PCR data analysis in rabbit and horse adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs). Therefore,...
Bae JW, Hwang JM, Lee WJ, Kim DH, Yi JK, Ha JJ, Oh DY, Kwon WS.The selection of superior sires is paramount for enhancing the efficiency of animal production in the livestock industry. However, semen quality assessment still relies on conventional semen analysis techniques in both animals and humans. Despite extensive efforts to develop various biomarkers for more accurate and precise predictions of male fertility potential, more effective physiological indicators and advance potential biomarkers are needed. Herein, we aimed to develop new potential biomarkers related to sperm motion kinematics for male fertility prediction. We first evaluated sperm motio...
El Brini Z, Cullinane A, Garvey M, Fassi Fihri O, Fellahi S, Amraoui F, Loutfi C, Sebbar G, Paillot R, Piro M.This study aimed to investigate the molecular prevalence and genetic characterization of EHV-1 and EHV-4 in equid populations in Morocco. A total of 154 equids (114 horses, 9 donkeys, and 31 mules) were sampled, with nasal swabs and tissue samples subjected to multiplex real-time PCR for the detection of EHV-1 and EHV-4. Additionally, an isolate from the tissue of an aborted horse fetus was included in the analysis. A subset of EHV-positive samples underwent virus isolation followed by whole-genome sequencing. PCR assays revealed that 42 samples (27%) tested positive for EHV-4, while only 3 sa...
Scholtz M, Guthrie AJ, Newton R, Schulman ML.Three bacteria extensively acknowledged as venereal pathogens with the potential to induce endometritis include Taylorella equigenitalis, the causative agent of contagious equine metritis (CEM), specific strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and certain capsule types of Klebsiella pneumoniae. The United Kingdom's Horserace Betting Levy Board recommends pre-breeding screening for these bacteria in their International Codes of Practice and >20 000 samples are tested per annum in the United Kingdom alone. While the pathogenesis and regulatory importance of CEM are well established, an evaluation...
Khan A, Olajide E, Friedrich M, Holt A, Goehring LS.Equid alphaherpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) is a highly contagious respiratory tract pathogen of horses, and infection may be followed by myeloencephalopathy or abortion. Surveillance and early detection have focused on PCR assays using less tolerated nasal swabs. Here, we assess non-invasive non-contact sampling techniques as surveillance tools in naturally equid gammaherpesvirus 2-shedding horses as surrogates for EHV-1. Horses were individually housed for 10 h periods on 2 consecutive days. Sampling included nasal swabs, nostril wipes, environmental swabs, droplet-catching devices, and air sampling. T...
Maniego J, Harding C, Habershon-Butcher J, Hincks P, Ryder E.Gene doping, which includes the non-therapeutic use of genes or genetic elements that have the capacity to enhance athletic performance, is prohibited in horseracing and equestrian sports. To provide a comprehensive assessment of matrix and detection techniques, a custom adeno-associated virus serotype 8 vector was designed to include PCR binding sites for multiple target genes and assay types. The vector was injected via an intramuscular route into two Thoroughbred horses and matrices collected at defined timepoints. DNA was analysed using 3 detection methods: qPCR, digital PCR, and NGS. Over...
Ryt-Hansen P, Johansen VK, Cuicani MM, Larsen LE, Hansen S.Equine herpesvirus 4 (EHV-4) causes respiratory disease in horses, and the virus is considered endemic in the global equine population. However, outbreaks can occur when several horses are gathered in relation to shows, competitions, breeding units and at hospitals. In the spring year 2022, an EHV-4 outbreak occurred at the Large Animal Teaching Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Nine horses were tested EHV-4 positive during the outbreak, which lasted approx. seven weeks. In addition, a tenth horse "Eq10" tested EHV-4 positive almost three weeks after the last of the outbreak horses ...
Fortier C, El-Hage C, Normand C, Hue ES, Sutton G, Marcillaud-Pitel C, Jeffers K, Bamford N, Oden E, Paillot R, Hartley C, Gilkerson J, Pronost S.Reports of newly discovered equine hepatotropic flavi- and parvoviruses have emerged throughout the last decade in many countries, the discovery of which has stimulated a great deal of interest and clinical research. Although commonly detected in horses without signs of disease, equine parvovirus hepatitis (EqPV-H) and equine hepacivirus (EqHV) have been associated with liver disease, including following the administration of contaminated anti-toxin. Our aim was to determine whether EqPV-H and EqHV are present in Australian horses and whether EqPV-H was present in French horses and to examine ...
Atabek B, Zhyldyz A, Aitakin K, Rysbek N, Jailobek O, Ahedor B, Mumbi NNM, Ma Y, Otgonsuren D, Perera WPPSI, Guswanto A, Sivakumar T, Yokoyama N.Equine piroplasmosis is caused by Theileria equi and Babesia caballi, which are hemoprotozoan parasites. Understanding the epidemiology and genotypes of T. equi and B. caballi is crucial for developing effective control strategies in endemic countries. However, the endemic status of these two parasite species remains uncertain in Kyrgyzstan due to lack of surveys. Our study, therefore, aimed to detect T. equi and B. caballi infections in Kyrgyzstan and identify their genotypes. Blood samples were collected from 226 horses across all seven provinces of Kyrgyzstan, namely Chuy, Issyk-Kul, Naryn,...
Öhrmalm J, Cholleti H, Theelke AK, Berg M, Gröndahl G.Equid alphaherpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) is a ubiquitous and significant viral pathogen in horses worldwide, causing a range of conditions, including fever, respiratory disease, abortion in pregnant mares and the severe neurological disease called equine herpes myeloencephalopathy (EHM). Despite that EHV-1 is a notifiable animal disease in Sweden, there is limited knowledge about the circulating strains. This study aimed to analyze the genetic diversity of EHV-1 strains in equine samples from different Swedish outbreaks by partial genome sequencing. Genotyping based on three selected open reading fram...
Finding EJT, Faulkner A, Nash L, Wheeler-Jones CPD.Understanding the factors which control endothelial cell (EC) function and angiogenesis is crucial for developing the horse as a disease model, but equine ECs remain poorly studied. In this study, we have optimised methods for the isolation and culture of equine aortic endothelial cells (EAoECs) and characterised their angiogenic functions in vitro. Mechanical dissociation, followed by magnetic purification using an anti-VE-cadherin antibody, resulted in EC-enriched cultures suitable for further study. Fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) increased the EAoEC proliferation rate and stimulated scra...
Pryor AJE, Ameen C, Liddiard R, Baker G, Kanne KS, Milton JA, Standish CD, Hambach B, Orlando L, Chauvey L, Schiavinato S, Calvière-Tonasso L....This paper reports a high-resolution isotopic study of medieval horse mobility, revealing their origins and in-life mobility both regionally and internationally. The animals were found in an unusual horse cemetery site found within the City of Westminster, London, England. Enamel strontium, oxygen, and carbon isotope analysis of 15 individuals provides information about likely place of birth, diet, and mobility during the first approximately 5 years of life. Results show that at least seven horses originated outside of Britain in relatively cold climates, potentially in Scandinavia or the West...
Raza A, Ijaz M, Mehmood K, Ahmed A, Javed MU, Anwaar F, Rasheed H, Ghumman NZ.Theileria equi is 1 of the emerging and prevailing tick-borne hemoprotozoans adversely affecting the equids worldwide, including Pakistan. The current study aimed to investigate the prevalence and molecular characterization of T. equi in working horses (n = 194), the comparative efficacy of different diagnostic tests, associated risk factors, and hematobiochemical analysis. The blood samples of horses were subjected to microscopic examination, cELISA, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the results revealed a prevalence of 9.79, 21.13, and 13.40%, respectively, for T. equi in working horse...
Switonski M, Szczerbal I, Nowacka-Woszuk J.Identification of chromosomal abnormalities is an important issue in animal breeding and veterinary medicine. Routine cytogenetic diagnosis of domestic animals began in the 1960s with the aim of identifying carriers of centric fusion between chromosome 1 and 29 in cattle. In the 1970s, chromosome banding techniques were introduced, and in the 1980s, the first cytogenomic techniques, based on the development of locus- and chromosome-specific probes, were used. Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, molecular techniques (such as polymorphism of microsatellite markers, droplet digital P...
Venter A, Vorster I, Nkosi NF, Sibeko-Matjila KP, Bhoora RV.Babesia caballi is an intra-erythrocytic parasite causing equine piroplasmosis. Three B. caballi genotypes (A, B, and C) have been identified based on the 18 S rRNA and rhoptry-associated protein (rap-1) gene sequences. These variant parasite genotypes compromise the diagnostic utility of the WOAH-recommended serological assays in declaring horses free of equine piroplasmosis. Although a gene encoding a spherical body protein 4 (sbp4) has recently been identified as a potential antigen for the serological detection of B. caballi, the ability of this antigen to detect the different geographic...
Normand C, Thieulent CJ, Fortier C, Sutton G, Senamaud-Beaufort C, Jourdren L, Blugeon C, Vidalain PO, Pronost S, Hue ES.Equid herpesvirus 4 (EHV-4) is a common respiratory pathogen in horses. It sporadically induces abortion or neonatal death. Although its contribution in neurological disorders is not clearly demonstrated, there is a strong suspicion of its involvement. Despite preventive treatments using vaccines against EHV-1/EHV-4, the resurgence of alpha-EHV infection still constitutes an important threat to the horse industry. Yet very few studies have been conducted on the search for antiviral molecules against EHV-4. A screening of 42 antiviral compounds was performed in vitro on equine fibroblast cells ...
Villalba R, Tena-Tomás C, Ruano MJ, Valero-Lorenzo M, López-Herranz A, Cano-Gómez C, Agüero M.The African horse sickness virus (AHSV) belongs to the Genus Orbivirus, family Sedoreoviridae, and nine serotypes of the virus have been described to date. The AHSV genome is composed of ten linear segments of double-stranded (ds) RNA, numbered in decreasing size order (Seg-1 to Seg-10). Genome segment 2 (Seg-2) encodes outer-capsid protein VP2, the most variable AHSV protein and the primary target for neutralizing antibodies. Consequently, Seg-2 determines the identity of the virus serotype. An African horse sickness (AHS) outbreak in an AHS-free status country requires identifying the seroty...
Schroeder E, Wollmer A, Kubicki J, Ohlenbusch HD.The effect of proton concentration upon the subunit dissociation of horse methemoglobin has been investigated at two ionic strengths by light scattering photometry at 700 nm. Differential refractometry revealed a slight but systematic decrease of the specific refractive index increment with decreasing protein concentration for solutions in dialytic equilibrium with the solvent. In the pH range 4.8-7.2 the dissociation can be described by a simple equilibrium between tetramers and dimers. The dissociation constant Kd of the met derivative is found to be very similar to those of the O2- and CO-l...
Hart LT, Braymer HD, Larson AD, Broussard EA.Equine infectious anemia (EIA) antigen extracted from the spleen of horses infected with EIA virus was purified by pH treatment, (NH4)2SO4 fractionation and affinity chromatography. The homogeneity of the antigen was indicated by sedimentation rate and sedimentation equilibrium experiments. A S20,w of 0.51 was determined and a molecular weight of 7600 was calculated from sedimentation equilibrium analysis. The amino acid composition of the pure antigen indicated the antigen is an acidic protein. Employing radical immunodiffusion (RID) and pure antigen a method for quantitating antigen content ...
Legere RM, Allegro AR, Affram Y, Silveira BPD, Fridley JL, Wells KM, Oezguen N, Burghardt RC, Wright GA, Pollet J, Bordin AI, Figueiredo P....To examine the susceptibility of cultured primary equine bronchial epithelial cells (EBECs) to a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pseudovirus relative to human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs). Methods: Primary EBEC cultures established from healthy adult horses and commercially sourced human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs) were used as a positive control. Methods: Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) expression by EBECs was demonstrated using immunofluorescence, western immunoblot, and flow cytometry. EBECs were transduced with a lentivirus pseudotyped with ...
Seybert DW, Moffat K, Gibson QH, Chang CK.Horse globin has been recombined with 2,4-dimethyldeuteroheme and 2,4-dibromodeuteroheme to yield the corresponding reconstituted hemoglobins, and the ligand binding reactions of these reconstituted hemoglobins have been examined in detail. Both hemoglobins exhibit relatively high n values, but 2,4-dimethyldeuterohemoglobin displays a consistently higher oxygen affinity than native hemoglobin, whereas the oxygen affinity of 2,4-dibromodeuterohemoglobin is consistently lower than that of native hemoglobin. The rate constants l’, and 1’4 for the binding of the first and fourth molecules of C...
Swiderski CE, Sobol G, Lunn DP, Horohov DW.Equine interleukin-6 (IL-6) cDNA was amplified from mitogen-stimulated equine peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) using consensus sequence primers. The 727bp amplified cDNA contains the entire coding region for equine IL-6 and includes 118 bases in the 3' non-translated region. The coding sequence translates to a protein of 208 amino acids with a predicted 28 amino acid leader sequence. The mature protein of 180 amino acids has a predicted molecular mass of 20471Da without post-translational modifications. The amino acid sequence of equine IL-6 displays between 46 and 84% similarity to o...
Jirgensons B, de Haas GH.Conformation of porcine, bovine, and equine pancreatic phospholipases A2 (EC 3.1.1.4) and their zymogens was studied by the circular dichroism (CD) probe in the far and near ultraviolet spectral zones.
All these phospholipases and their zymogens displayed CD curves suggesting the presence of moderate amounts of α-helical conformation. However, on the basis of known primary structure and recent X-ray structural analysis of prophospholipase A2 crystals (Drenth, J., Enzing, C.M., Kalk, K.H. and Vessies, J.C.A. (1976) Nature 264, 373–377), it has to be concluded that the positive CD band cen...
Meskers SC, Dekkers HP.For mitochondrial ferricytochrome c from horse, cow and tuna and for bacterial cytochrome c-550 from Paracoccus versutus, the pressure and temperature dependence of their quenching of racemic Tb(DPA)3(3-) and Eu(DPA)3(3-) (DPA = pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate) luminescence in aqueous solution is investigated. Of these energy transfer reactions the activation volumes (delta V#) and energies (Ea) are determined for the ranges P = 0-3 kbar and T = 15-40 degrees C. For the lambda enantiomers of Tb(DPA)3(3-) and Eu(DPA)3(3-), delta V# and Ea are almost the same for all proteins: 0.4 < or = delta V# < o...
