Equine arteritis virus cDNA and Antigen

Equine arteritis virus (EAV) is a virus that primarily affects horses and other equine species such as donkeys and mules. EAV is a member of the arterivirus genus within the family Arteriviridae. It is responsible for causing a disease called equine viral arteritis (EVA), which can result in a wide range of clinical signs including fever, respiratory disease, and in some cases, abortion, and infertility in mares.

EAV is primarily spread through the respiratory route, but also can be spread through direct contact with infected animals, semen, or contaminated equipment. The virus can also be spread through the placenta from an infected mare to her foal.
Clinical signs of EVA can range from mild to severe, and include fever, nasal discharge, and inflammation of the blood vessels. The most severe cases can result in abortion, low birth weight foals, and infertility in mares.

The genome of Equine arteritis virus (EAV) is the complete set of genetic information that makes up the virus. The EAV genome is made up of single-stranded, positive-sense RNA. EAV genome is relatively small, with a size of around 14.5 kb, and contains three open reading frames (ORFs) encoding various viral proteins.

Equine arteritis virus (EAV) antigen refers to a specific protein or other component of the EAV virus that can stimulate an immune response in horses and other equine species. EAV antigen can be used as a diagnostic tool to detect the presence of the virus in a horse’s blood or other bodily fluids, using techniques such as ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) or PCR (polymerase chain reaction). EAV antigen can also be used as a component in a vaccine to help stimulate an immune response and protect against infection with the virus. EAV vaccines are typically inactivated or subunit vaccines, which are made from a specific part of the virus, such as a protein, rather than the whole virus. The EAV virion is composed of several structural proteins, including:

Large envelope glycoprotein (LGP) – a glycosylated protein that forms spike-like projections on the viral surface and mediates viral entry into host cells.

Small envelope protein (SEP) – a smaller, non-glycosylated protein that is also involved in viral entry.

GP3, GP4, and GP5 – three additional envelope glycoproteins that are thought to be involved in viral attachment and entry.

Nucleocapsid protein – a structural protein that binds to the viral RNA and forms the core of the virion.

Protein M – a membrane protein that helps to anchor the envelope glycoproteins to the viral membrane.

Together, these structural proteins allow EAV to infect and replicate within host cells, leading to the development of equine viral arteritis.

The use of recombinant proteins/cDNA in academic research and therapeutic applications has skyrocketed. However, in heterologous expression systems, successful recombinant protein expression is dependent on a variety of factors, including codon preference, RNA secondary structure, and GC content. When compared to pre-optimization, more and more experimental results demonstrated that the expression level was dramatically increased, ranging from two to hundred times depending on the gene. Bioclone has created a proprietary technology platform that has resulted in the creation of over 6,000 artificially synthesized codon-optimized cDNA clones (cloned in E. coli expression Vector), which are ready for production of the recombinant proteins.