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.
Kordula T, Dubin A, Schooltink H, Koj A, Heinrich PC, Rose-John S.Horse blood leucocytes contain an elastase inhibitor (HLEI) belonging to the serpin family. Poly(A)+RNA isolated from these cells was used to construct a cDNA library in lambda gt10, which was first screened with a synthetic degenerate oligonucleotide probe corresponding to the amino acid sequence of the reactive centre of the inhibitor. Three clones were obtained covering the entire coding region of the protein. Sequencing of these clones showed identity with the amino acid sequence obtained from Edman degradation of the elastase inhibitor. The coding sequence of the HLEI cDNA was cloned into...
Couto MA, Harwig SS, Lehrer RI.Equine neutrophil antimicrobial peptide 2 (eNAP-2), a recently described antimicrobial peptide isolated from equine neutrophils, was found to selectively inactivate microbial serine proteases (subtilisin A and proteinase K) without inhibiting mammalian serine proteases (human neutrophil elastase, human cathepsin G, and bovine pancreatic trypsin). Although the primary structure of eNAP-2 resembled that of several known antiproteases that belong to the 4-disulfide core peptide family, this pattern of selectivity is unique. eNAP-2 formed a noncovalent complex with native subtilisin A or proteinas...
Räsänen LA, Karvonen U, Pösö AR.In situ hybridization was used to localize xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) mRNA in horse skeletal muscle. Capillary endothelial cells were found to express XDH, but muscle cells did not give any signal. The digoxigenin-labelled probe was produced by PCR with primers based on the cDNA sequence of mouse XDH and horse lung cDNAs. A 4.3 kb mRNA was detected in a Northern blot.
Coyne CP, Fenwick BW, Iandola J, Williams D, Griffith G.Objectives of this investigation were to extract and isolate protein fractions inhibitory to the cytotoxic properties of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). In this context, mixed populations of WBC were harvested from equine blood and were stimulated with a combination of a synthetic chemotactic peptide and a calcium ionophore. Several methods were subsequently applied for the initial preparation of cell-free crude protein extracts, including fractional precipitation with gradient concentrations of ammonium sulfate and preparative-scale isoelectric focusing. In addition, protein fraction...
Zientara S, Sailleau C.The authors briefly review the clinical forms of equine rhinopneumonitis and indicate changes in the nomenclature of equine herpesviral infections. The value of restriction profiles for epidemiological studies is described, taking as an example the strains of virus isolated in France. A technique is given for preparing molecular probes, as well as the application of these probes in direct diagnosis from biological specimens.
Moslemi S, Dintinger T, Dehennin L, Silberzahn P, Gaillard JL.The ability of human and equine placental microsomes to aromatize 7 alpha-methyl-19-nortestosterone (MNT) was studied. Kinetic analysis indicates that MNT shares the androgen-binding site of human and equine placental microsomal aromatases. Human placental microsomal estrogen synthetase had about a 2.5-fold higher relative affinity for MNT than the equine placental enzyme (KiMNT/Km androstenedione of 32 versus 87). However, MNT was not metabolized by human placental microsomes, whereas it was very actively metabolized by equine placental microsomes. Further studies using purified equine cytoch...
Bakst M, Hadick S, Proudman J, Maruyama K.This study was conducted to determine the crossreactivity of antisera to human prolactin (PRL), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and growth hormone (GH) to turkey pituicytes. In addition, crossreactivities of the above antisera and antiserum to turkey GH to pituicytes of turkey, cat, rabbit, horse, owl monkey, and human were evaluated. Results of the immunocytochemical localizations showed that with one exception antisera to human hormones were positive for each species tested. Turkey pituicytes failed to crossreact with antiserum to human GH. Likewise, antiserum to turkey GH failed to cros...
Szalai G, Bailey E, Gerber H, Lazary S.The genetic diversity at the ELA DQ beta locus was investigated using polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequencing. Based upon serological methods 16 class II homozygous animals were selected and their genomic DNA was used. A DQ beta gene from an equine cDNA library was also sequenced. Our methodology and the similarity between the genomic and the cDNA sequences suggest that the studied locus is expressed on equine lymphocytes. In the predicted amino acid sequence the most extensive variation is located at residues 56-60. The pattern of these five amino acids is strongly correlated to the sero...
Post F, Doster W, Karvounis G, Settles M.The geminate recombination kinetics of CO-myoglobin strongly deviates from single exponential behavior in contrast to what is expected for unimolecular reactions (1). At low temperatures, this result was attributed to slowly exchanging conformational states which differ substantially in barrier height for ligand binding. Above 160 K the kinetics apparently slow down with temperature increase. Agmon and Hopfield (2) explain this result in terms of structural relaxation perpendicular to the reaction coordinate, which enhances the activation energy. In their model, structural relaxation homogeniz...
Carpenter MA, Broad TE.The cDNA sequence of horse transferrin was determined by sequencing clones isolated from a horse liver cDNA library and clones obtained by PCR. The 2305 bp horse transferrin cDNA sequence included part of the 5' untranslated region and extended to the poly(A) tail. It had 80% sequence identity with the human transferrin cDNA, and encoded a protein of 706 residues, including a signal sequence of 19 amino acids. The horse transferrin sequence had the duplicated structure and conserved iron binding and cysteine residues which are characteristic of the transferrin family.
de Haas GH, Dijkman R, Lugtigheid RB, Dekker N, Van den Berg L, Egmond MR, Verheij HM.The inhibitory power (Z) of a number of (R)-1-alkyl-2-acylamino phospholipid analogues was determined for three mammalian phospholipases A2 from pig, ox and horse pancreas. All three enzymes display a clear preference for anionic (phosphoglycol) inhibitors over the zwitterionic (phosphocholine) derivatives; this effect is most pronounced for the bovine enzyme. Upon variation of the 1-alkyl chain length, the bovine and equine phospholipases, like the porcine enzyme in previous studies, show an optimum in Z for a six-carbon alkyl group. The introduction of a double bond in the 2-acylamino group ...
Kai K, Tateyama S, Miyoshi N, Yamaguchi R, Uchida K, Rostami M.Genomic DNAs of cattle, horses, pigs, dogs, cats and chickens were surveyed using Southern blot hybridization analysis, with a human EGFR cDNA fragment. Several bands with different numbers and molecular weights were observed under the condition of low stringency in the individual animal species. The bands showing DNA polymorphism were observed among bovine genomic PstI-digested DNAs from 4 individuals and EcoRI-digested genomic DNAs from 4 chickens. These results may provide basic data which are useful for analysis of tumorigenetic mechanisms in domestic animals.
Inaba M, Goto I, Sato K, Maede Y.This report describes a unique response of the anion transporter in equine erythrocytes to the fluorescent substrate N-(2-aminoethyl sulfonate)-7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-3-diazole (NBD-taurine). Equine erythrocytes showed fluxes of NBD-taurine both inward and outward at rates considerably slower than those in human cells. These fluxes were completely abolished by a typical anion transport inhibitor, 4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonate. Furthermore, NBD-taurine competitively inhibited the uptake of phosphate in equine red cells with an inhibition constant of phosphate that was slightly higher ...
Chopineau M, Maurel MC, Combarnous Y, Durand P.In order to localize the epitopes of equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) involved in interaction with luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) receptors, we used 14 monoclonal anti-eCG antibodies (mAbs). Different effects of these mAbs on the bioactivities of eCG were observed in in vitro bioassays, but the effects of each mAb on the two bioactivities were similar for all but four mAbs. All mAbs were found to inhibit the binding of eCG to LH receptors except 3A3 mAb, in radioreceptor assay. Six mAbs, which were strong inhibitors of eCG binding to LH receptors and of both...
Carvalho M, Derse D.Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) is a lentivirus that causes a chronic disease of horses characterized by cyclic episodes of fever, anemia, and viremia. Although the genome and promoter of EIAV are much less complex than those of its relatives the primate immunodeficiency viruses, the cellular proteins that activate and regulate transcription of EIAV have not yet been identified. In this report, we show by electrophoretic mobility shift assays and DNase I footprinting that the EIAV promoter contains multiple binding sites for ubiquitous, cell type-specific, and inducible cellular proteins...
Massanyi L, Janisch R.According to the distribution of IMP, three different regions can be recognized on PF of the post-acrosomal plasma membrane of bull, ram, and boar spermatozoa. They are: (1) a region with linear aggregation of IMP, (2) a region with fewer and scattered IMP, and (3) a region with more numerous IMP. In the last two regions IMPs are randomly distributed or a clustering of certain particles is visible. In stallion spermatozoa the last two areas are undistinguishable. There are evident interspecies differences in the arrangement of linear aggregations of IMP which are characteristic for each specie...
Oriol JG, Betteridge KJ, Clarke AJ, Sharom FJ.The equine embryonic capsule replaces the zona pellucida and envelopes the conceptus during the second and third weeks of pregnancy. Although this capsule was described more than 100 years ago, its molecular structure has not been characterized. Here we present evidence that the glycoprotein(s) of the equine capsule resembles those of the mucin glycoprotein family. The resistance of the capsule to chemical and enzymatic solubilization was confirmed, and, as in mucins, protein constituted only 35-40% of its total dry mass. Determination of the sugar composition of the capsule using colorimetric...
Hoffman DW, Colvin RA, Garcia-Blanco MA, White SW.A 25-nucleotide RNA with the sequence of the trans-activation response (TAR) element of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) was analyzed by biochemical methods and by one- and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy. NMR, nuclease probing, and polyacrylamide gel migration rates show that the RNA consists of an A-helical stem capped by two non-Watson-Crick U-G base pairs and a compact four-nucleotide loop. The loop is stabilized by base stacking, with loop nucleotides C12 and C15 stacked upon U11 and G16, respectively. Near the 5' end of the molecule, the stem contains a bulge at nucleotide C2, most...
Henry JS, Lance VA, Conlon JM.Within the order Perissodactyla, the primary structure of insulin has been strongly conserved. Insulin from Przewalski's horse and the mountain zebra (suborder Hippomorpha) is the same as that from the domestic horse and differs from insulin from the white rhinoceros and mountain tapir (suborder Ceratomorpha) by a single substitution (Gly-->Ser) at position 9 in the A-chain. A second molecular form of Przewalski's horse insulin isolated in this study was shown to represent the gamma-ethyl ester of the Glu17 residue of the A-chain. This component was probably formed during the extraction of the...
Rode HJ, Janssen W, Rösen-Wolff A, Bugert JJ, Thein P, Becker Y, Darai G.A gene was identified within the DNA sequences of the EcoRI DNA fragment N (4.3 kbp) of the genome of equine herpesvirus type 2 (EHV-2) coding for a protein (179 amino acid residues) homologous to the cytokine synthesis inhibitory factor (CSIF; interleukin 10) of the human and mouse, and to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) protein BCRF1. This finding is further significant evidence that the interleukin 10 (IL-10) and/or IL-10-like gene can indeed be present in the genomes of members of the herpesviral family.
Nitta K, Tsuge H, Iwamoto H.Unfolding profiles of two calcium-binding lysozymes, equine milk lysozyme and pigeon egg-white lysozyme, were obtained by circular dichroism and proton NMR measurements. Equine lysozyme unfolds through a stable molten globule intermediate. The molten globule of equine lysozyme was characterized as more ordered than that of bovine alpha-lactalbumin. On the other hand, pigeon lysozyme unfolds by a two-state mechanism and the intermediate could not be observed in guanidine or thermal unfolding, the same as with conventional non-calcium-binding lysozymes. Thus, from the point of view of the unfold...
Beisel CE, Edwards JF, Dunn LL, Rice NR.Transcription of pathogenic equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) in an acutely infected horse was examined by using the polymerase chain reaction and nucleotide sequencing. Four spliced transcripts were identified in liver tissue, in contrast to the multiplicity of alternatively spliced messages reported for in vitro-propagated human immunodeficiency virus, simian immunodeficiency virus, and, to a lesser extent, EIAV. Nucleotide sequence analysis demonstrated that three of these mRNAs encode known viral proteins: the envelope precursor, the product of the S2 open reading frame, and the regula...
Uhlenbruck F, Sinowatz F, Amselgruber W, Kirchhoff C, Ivell R.cDNA probes derived from genes expressed specifically in the human epididymis were used to examine gene expression in the epididymides of boar, bull and stallion by Northern hybridization. Two probes for the HE1 and HE4 gene products were found to recognize tissue-specific transcripts in all three species, with a regionally differential distribution within the epididymis. Additionally, antibodies recognizing the HE4 protein were shown to react specifically in the epididymis of the boar and bull. An extensive study of the boar showed that, whereas mRNA for the HE1-homologue was up-regulated mar...
Simmons TR, Cook JA, Moore JN, Halushka PV.Thromboxane (TX) A2 has been implicated as an important pathophysiologic mediator of a variety of cardiovascular diseases. Monocytes synthesize TXA2 and it modulates their function. This study sought to characterize monocyte TXA2 receptors. Radioligand binding studies were performed on membranes prepared from equine peripheral blood monocytes using [125I]BOP, a TXA2 receptor agonist. [125I]BOP bound to a single class of binding sites (Kd = 1.0 +/- 0.3 nM and Bmax = 389 +/- 191 fmol/mg protein; n = 5). Several TXA2 receptor agonists and antagonists competed for binding with [125I]BOP. I-BOP pro...
Smith PL, Bousfield GR, Kumar S, Fiete D, Baenziger JU.Equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) and lutropin (eLH) are heterodimeric glycoprotein hormones which are synthesized in the placenta and pituitary, respectively. The beta subunits of eCG and eLH, like their alpha subunits, arise from a single gene and have identical amino acid sequences. In contrast, the beta subunits of CG and LH in primates arise from different genes and differ in sequence. We have examined the structures of the Asn-linked oligosaccharides on eCG and eLH. eCG bears di- and tri-branched Asn-linked oligosaccharides terminating with Sia alpha 2,3 or 6Gal beta 1,4GlcNAc. In cont...
Wilke K, Weimann M, Jung M, Geldermann H.10 different oligonucleotide probes were evaluated for DNA fingerprinting in horses. Five probes were able to detect polymorphic bands. The probes (GT)(8) , (GTG)(5) and (GGAT)(4) are most informative for individual identification and were used to analyze a population of Hannoveranian horses. The probability that two individuals have the same DNA fingerprint pattern is 1.2 × 10(-8) , 5.2 × 10(-10) and 1.5 × 10(-7) respectively. Using a combination of the three probes, paternity tests were performed with exclusion probabilities between 0.08% and 4%. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Oligonukleotide-Sonden fÃ...
Knox A, Beddoe T. subspecies , commonly referred to as "strangles", poses a significant biosecurity challenge across equine farms worldwide. The continuous prevalence and highly transmissibility of strangles necessitates a rapid and accurate diagnostic procedure. However, current "gold-standard" techniques, such as cultures and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), are unreliable or inaccessible, and require lengthy periods between sample collection and results. Moreover, the lack of a standardized detection protocol can lead to variations in results. This study aimed to develop a reproducible and fie...
Sasaki M, Fukumoto N, Fukumoto S.A two-year-old male Japanese draft horse (known as a "Ban'ei horse") excreted eight cestodes. Based on their morphological features, they were identified as Anoplocephala perfoliata. The partial mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) sequences of the worms were nearly identical to A. perfoliata isolated from horses in Europe. The results of phylogenetic analyses of COI revealed that our samples and the European isolates formed the same clade, which was separate from Chinese and Australian isolates. Ban'ei horses were developed by crossbreeding draft horses imported from European co...
Gonzalez-Obando J, Zuluaga-Cabrera A, Moreno I, Úsuga J, Ciuderis K, Forero JE, Diaz A, Rojas-Arbeláez C, Hernández-Ortiz JP, Ruiz-Saenz J.Equine influenza is a viral disease caused by the equine influenza virus (EIV), and according to the WOAH, it is mandatory to report these infections. In Latin America and Colombia, EIV risk factors have not been analyzed. The objective of this research is to perform an epidemiological and molecular analysis of the EIV in horses with respiratory symptoms from 2020 to 2023 in Colombia. Molecular EIV detection was performed using RT-qPCR and nanopore sequencing. A risk analysis was also performed via the GEE method. A total of 188 equines with EIV respiratory symptoms were recruited. The positiv...
Köhne M, Diel E, Packeiser EM, Böttcher D, Tönissen A, Unruh C, Goericke-Pesch S, Ulrich R, Sieme H.In the past, most research in equine reproduction has been performed in vivo but the use of in vitro and ex vivo models has recently increased. This study aimed to evaluate the functional stability of an ex vivo hemoperfused model for equine uteri with molecular characterization of marker genes and their proteins. In addition, the study validated the respective protein expression and the aptness of the software QuPath for identifying and scoring immunohistochemically stained equine endometrium. After collection, uteri (n = 12) were flushed with preservation solution, transported to the labor...
Tong P, Yang E, Liu B, Tian S, Suo Y, Pan J, Dang Y, Palidan N, Jia C, Kuang L, Xie J.Varicellovirus equidalpha1 (formerly Equid alphaherpesvirus 1, EqAHV-1) is among the most important viruses responsible for respiratory disease outbreaks among horses throughout the world. No reports to date have detailed the association between EqAHV-1 and respiratory disease among horses in China. This study described one such outbreak among a population of horses in north Xinjiang that occurred from April 2021 - May 2023. Results: qPCR revealed that EqAHV-1 was detectable in all samples and this virus was identified as a possible source of respiratory disease, although a limited subset of t...
Equine influenza (EI) is a highly contagious viral disease of equids characterized by pyrexia and respiratory signs. Like other influenza A viruses, antigenic drift or shift could lead to a vaccine-induced immunity breakdown if vaccine strains are not updated. The aim of this study was to genetically characterize EIV strains circulating in Italy, detected in PCR-positive samples collected from suspected cases, especially in the absence of formal active surveillance. Methods: Between February and April 2019, blood samples and nasal swabs collected from each of the 20 symptomatic horses from Nor...
Bubenikova J, Plasil M, Futas J, Stejskalova K, Klumplerova M, Oppelt J, Suchentrunk F, Burger PA, Horin P.The immunogenome is the part of the genome that underlies immune mechanisms and evolves under various selective pressures. Two complex regions of the immunogenome, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and natural killer cell receptor (NKR) genes, play an important role in the response to selective pressures of pathogens. Their importance is expressed by their genetic polymorphism at the molecular level, and their diversity associated with different types of diseases at the population level. Findings of associations between specific combinations of MHC/NKR haplotypes with different diseases i...
Tuomisto L, Virtanen J, Kegler K, Levanov L, Sukura A, Sironen T, Kareskoski M.Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common genital, ocular and gastric tumour in horses. Equus caballus papillomavirus type 2 (EcPV2) DNA has been detected in several studies in equine penile squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) and precursor lesions providing evidence of a causal role of EcPV2 in equine genital SCCs. Recently, EcPV2 E6/E7 nucleic acids were also detected in equine gastric SCCs, but further studies are required to determine the role of EcPV2 infection in the pathogenesis of gastric SCC. EcPV2 nucleic acids have been rarely described in ocular SCCs and precursor lesions. To investig...
Nakase M, Thapa J, Batbaatar V, Khurtsbaatar O, Enkhtuul B, Unenbat J, Lkham B, Fujita S, Koshikawa A, Tuanyok A, Saechan V, Higashi H, Hayashida K....Glanders and melioidosis are contagious zoonotic diseases caused by Burkholderia mallei and B. pseudomallei, respectively. Bacterial isolation and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) have been used to detect these bacteria in animals suspected of infection; however, both methods require skilled experimental techniques and expensive equipment. These obstacles make it difficult to diagnose B. mallei and B. pseudomallei infections in areas where reagents and equipment are difficult to procure. To solve this problem, we developed an easy and ready-to-use dried-format diagnostic tool based on loop-medi...
Cutarelli A, De Falco F, Serpe F, Izzo S, Fusco G, Catoi C, Roperto S.BPV1, BPV2, BPV13, and BPV14 are all genotypes of bovine delta papillomaviruses (δPV), of which the first three cause infections in horses and are associated with equine sarcoids. However, BPV14 infection has never been reported in equine species. In this study, we examined 58 fresh and thawed commercial semen samples from healthy stallions. In 34 (58.6%), bovine δPV DNA was detected and quantified using droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR). Real time quantitative PCR (qPCR) was able to identify bovine δPV DNA in 5 samples (8.6%). Of the BPV-infected semen samples, 15 were posi...
Hrala M, Andrla P, Bosák J, Fedrová P, Mugutdinov A, KarpÃÅ¡ková R, Nedbalcová K, Raichová J, Faldyna M, HoÅ™Ãn P, Å majs D.Taylorella equigenitalis is the causative agent of sexually transmitted contagious equine metritis. Infections manifest as cervicitis, vaginitis and endometritis and cause temporary infertility and miscarriages of mares. While previous studies have analyzed this organism for various parameters, the evolutionary dynamics of this pathogen, including the emergence of antibiotic resistance, remains unresolved. The aim of this study was to isolate contemporary strains, determine their genome sequences, evaluate their antibiotic resistance and compare them with other strains. We determined nine comp...
Nayel M, Kasem S, Fukushi N, El-Habashi N, Elsify A, Salama A, Hassan H, Yanai T, Ohya K, Fukushi H.Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) causes rhinopneumonitis, abortion, and neurological outbreaks (equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy, EHM) in horses. EHV-1 also causes lethal encephalitis in small laboratory animals such as mice and hamsters experimentally. EHV-1 ORF76 is a homolog of HSV-1 US9, which is a herpesvirus kinase. Starting with an EHV-1 bacterial artificial chromosome clone of neuropathogenic strain Ab4p (pAb4p BAC), we constructed an ORF76 deletion mutant (Ab4p∆ORF76) by replacing ORF76 with the rpsLneo gene. Deletion of ORF76 had no influence on replication, cell-to-cell spr...
Walter J, Colleoni S, Lazzari G, Fortes C, Grossmann J, Roschitzki B, Laczko E, Naegeli H, Bleul U, Galli C.Assisted reproductive technologies are an emerging field in equine reproduction, with species-dependent peculiarities, such as the low success rate of conventional IVF. Here, the 'cumulome' was related to the developmental capacity of its corresponding oocyte. Cumulus-oocyte complexes collected from slaughterhouse ovaries were individually matured, fertilized by ICSI, and cultured. After maturation, the cumulus was collected for proteomics analysis using label-free mass spectrometry (MS)-based protein profiling by nano-HPLC MS/MS and metabolomics analysis by UPLC-nanoESI MS. Overall, a total o...
Yuen NKY, Eng M, Hudson NJ, Sole-Guitart A, Coyle MP, Bielefeldt-Ohmann H.Our current understanding of the pathogenesis of Ross River virus (RRV) infection has been derived from murine models, which do not reproduce clinical disease as experienced by infected humans and horses. This prompted us to establish more relevant host model systems to study host-virus interactions using ex vivo peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and in vitro primary synovial fibroblast and epidermal keratinocyte cultures. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that the expression of the transmembrane protein matrix remodelling associated 8 (mxra8), recently found to be responsible for RRV ...
Ma X, Zhang Y, Na L, Qi T, Ma W, Guo X, Wang XF, Wang X.African horse sickness (AHS) is an acute, fatal, contagious disease of animals of the family Equidae and is caused by infection with the African horse sickness virus (AHSV). Based on the outer capsid protein VP2, AHSV is classified into nine serotypes (AHSV-1 to -9) with little or no serological cross-reactivity between them. In 2020, AHS outbreaks caused by AHSV-1 were reported in Thailand and Malaysia, marking the first occurrences of AHS in Southeast Asia. However, little is known about the antigenic profile of AHSV-1 VP2. In this study, a recombinant VP2 protein was expressed in and used ...
Hu X, Xu J, Wang X, Tian Z, Guan G, Luo J, Yin H, Du J.African horse sickness (AHS) is an acute and subacute infectious disease of equine species caused by the African horse sickness virus (AHSV). The VP7 of AHSV is a group-specific protein conserved in all serotypes and is an excellent candidate for the serological diagnosis and an AHS vaccine component. However, to date, B-cell epitopes on the AHSV VP7 recognized by humoral immune responses remain unclear. This study expressed the recombinant AHSV VP7 soluble in Escherichia coli and purified it for mouse immunization. Four monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were screened and identified by hybridoma ce...
Ichikawa Y, Borjigin L, Enkhtuul B, Khurtsbaatar O, Aoshima K, Kobayashi A, Batbaatar V, Kimura T.Glanders, a highly contagious and often fatal disease affecting equids, is caused by Burkholderia mallei. Although sporadic cases of equine glanders have recently been documented in Mongolia, genome sequencing and molecular studies of the bacteria within this region are lacking. This study provided the first molecular characterization of B. mallei isolated from four native Mongolian horses from two different provinces in 2019 and 2022 by applying whole-genome sequencing with two SNP types (previously developed genotyping with 15 SNP markers that provide global coverage of the B. mallei populat...
Harkin EE, Browne JA, Murphy BA.Hair follicles provide an easily accessible tissue for interrogating gene expression for multiple purposes in mammals. RNAlater® is a liquid storage solution that stabilises and preserves cellular RNA, eliminating the need to immediately process or freeze tissue specimens. The manufacturer advises storage of samples at 2-8°C overnight before transfer to -20°C. This study aimed to evaluate RNA integrity in hair follicle samples collected from horses, stabilized in RNAlater®, and stored under three short-term storage conditions. Mane hair samples complete with follicles were collected from f...
Muroni G, Serra E, Biggio GP, Sanna D, Cherchi R, Taras A, Appino S, Foxi C, Masala G, Loi F, Chisu V.The members of the family are important pathogens that infect a wide range of vertebrate hosts, including humans. Among them, , historically considered as an avian agent, has recently been identified in livestock, primarily sheep and cattle, but also in horses, with the infection being linked to reproductive disorders, such as abortion, absorption of embryos, stillbirth, and the birth of weak foals. Much less is known about chlamydial infections in the Sardinian equine population. This study aimed to identify the chlamydial diversity in genital samples from asymptomatic Sardinian horses. Howe...
Faber E, van Schalkwyk A, Ivy Tshilwane S, Van Kleef M, Pretorius A.The viral proteins VP1-1, VP2, VP4, VP7 and NS3, of African horse sickness virus serotype 4 (AHSV4), have previously been identified to contain CD8+ T cell epitopes. In this study, overlapping peptides spanning the entire sequences of these AHSV4 proteins were synthesized and used to map epitopes. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) isolated from five horses immunized with an attenuated AHSV4 were stimulated in vitro with the synthesized peptides. Various memory immune assays were used to identify the individual peptides that contain CD8+ T cell epitopes, CD4+ T cell epitopes and linear ...
Bai B, Zhang X, Zhang M, Ma W, Li J, Zhang H, Na L, Guo X, Lin Y, Wang XF, Wang X.Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) is an important model for the study of pathogenesis in lentiviruses. Studies of viral genome organization and replication mechanisms are fundamental to the understanding of virus pathogenicity. In this study, we identified an unique transcript from EIAV in vivo and in vitro by Sanger sequencing and Northern blotting. The transcript contains a complete open reading frame and has length 369 nt. We named the protein encoded by this transcript S4 and demonstrated its expression in EIAV-infected cells. An S4-deficient EIAV infectious clone displayed obviously i...
The emergence of new strains in the Mediterranean region poses a challenge for both veterinary medicine and public health, as it can lead to more complex diagnostic and treatment strategies. Species related to and , two important tick-borne pathogens, have been reported in several Mediterranean countries. However, the data on their presence in Sardinia remain limited. This study aimed to such as or , in Using various molecular approaches targeting the and genes, the results confirm the presence of () and reveal the emergence of () and an -like strain, designated as -like 2, in Sardi...
Luff J, Weingart S, May S, Murphy B.The aetiology of oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in horses is unknown, but papillomavirus infection as well as chronic periodontal disease are suspected to play a pathogenic role. In humans, some oropharyngeal cancers develop in association with human papillomaviruses. Equus caballus papillomavirus 2 (EcPV2) is suspected to play a causal role in the development of equine genital SCC. Given that association, we hypothesized that EcPV2 is associated with the development of oral SCC in horses. We performed standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and in-situ hybridization (ISH) for EcPV2 on 31...
Sakura JD, Rupley JA.Reaction of horse methemoglobin with O-methylisourea at pH 10.2 results in 95% conversion of lysine residues to homoarginine. Analysis of the chymotryptic peptides showed that no single ϵ-amino group was unreactive. Guanidination decreases the dependence of the sedimentation coefficient on hydrogen ion concentration in the range of pH 8 to 11 and did not affect the dependence on protein concentration at pH 7. These results support the conclusion that the lysine side chains involved in subunit contacts have sufficient freedom to accommodate the small changes in bulk and geometry associated wit...
