High Level Expression of Biologically Active Canine Interferon-.ALPHA. Subtype 4 Using a Baculovirus

Type I interferons in the pathogenesis and treatment of canine diseases

Type I interferons (IFNs) such as IFN-α, IFN-β, IFN-ε, IFN-κ, and IFN-ω represent cytokines, which are deeply involved in the regulation and activation of innate and adaptive immune responses. They possess strong antiviral, antiproliferative, and immunomodulatory activities allowing their use in the therapy of different viral diseases, neoplasms, and immune-mediated disorders, respectively. Initially, treatment strategies were based on nonspecific inducers of type I IFNs, which were soon replaced by different recombinant proteins. Drugs with type I IFNs as active agents are currently used in the treatment of hepatitis B and C virus infection, lymphoma, myeloid leukemia, renal carcinoma, malignant melanoma, and multiple sclerosis in humans. In addition, recombinant feline IFN-ω has been approved for the treatment of canine parvovirus, feline leukemia virus, and feline immunodeficiency virus infections. However, the role of type I IFNs in the pathogenesis of canine diseases remains largely undetermined so far, even though some share pathogenic mechanisms and clinical features with their human counterparts. This review summarizes the present knowledge of type I IFNs and down-stream targets such as Mx and 2',5'-oligoadenylate synthetase proteins in the pathogenesis of infectious and immune-mediated canine diseases. Moreover, studies investigating the potential use of type I IFNs in the treatment of canine lymphomas, melanomas, sarcomas, and carcinomas, canine distemper virus, parvovirus, and papillomavirus infections as well as immune-mediated keratoconjunctivitis sicca and atopic dermatitis are presented. A separate chapter is dedicated to the therapeutic potential of IFN-λ, a type III IFN, in canine diseases. However, further future studies are still needed to unravel the exact functions of the different subtypes of type I IFNs and their target genes in healthy and diseased dogs and the full potential action of type I IFNs as treatment strategy.

Inhibition of virus replication and induction of human tetherin gene expression by equine IFN-α1

Type I interferons (IFNs) play important roles in the defense of host cells against viral infection by inducing the expression of a diverse range of antiviral factors. IFNs from different animals likely share similar features with human IFNs, and some of them have cross-species activities. Equine IFN-α was proved effective in both equine and human cells. However, the previous studies mostly focused on the inhibition of virus induced cytopathic effects. In this study, we used virus-specific assays to demonstrate the antiviral activities of equine IFN-α1 in both equine and human cells. Equine IFN-α1 inhibited the expression of viral structural proteins and the production of virions of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) and equine arteritis virus (EAV) in equine cells. In addition, equine IFN-α1 inhibited the production of EIAV virus-like particles (VLP) from human 293T cells. An IFN-inducible human gene, tetherin, was induced in 293T cells by equine IFN-α1. Its induction correlated with the inhibition of VLP release from the cell membrane. This result indicates that equine IFN-α1 shares a similar mechanism of action with human IFN-α in regulating antiviral genes expression in human cells.

Ability of orally administered IFN-α4 to inhibit naturally occurring gingival inflammation in dogs

It has been reported that type I interferons (IFN-α/β) play an important role in innate immune responses against viral and bacterial infections. In this study, we used and examined naturally occurred canine periodontal disease to show the therapeutic efficacy of low dose oral administration (LDOA) of canine IFN-α subtype 4 (CaIFN-α4). We administered purified recombinant CaIFN-α4 expressed in a baculovirus system to dogs with or without gingival inflammation. We found that LDOA of CaIFN-α4 reduce periodontopathic bacterial counts. LDOA induced improvement of naturally occurring gingival inflammation, and reduction of the stress marker responses was also observed after LDOA. These results suggest that LDOA of CaIFN-α4 has effectiveness for improvement of naturally occurring gingival inflammation in dogs.

Efficient production of canine interferon-alpha in silkworm Bombyx mori by use of a BmNPV/Bac-to-Bac expression system

We exploited the silkworm Bombyx mori for the production of recombinant canine interferon-alpha (CaIFN-alpha). The recombinant baculovirus harboring canine interferon gene was rapidly generated by the BmNPV/Bac-to-Bac system that was recently developed. In B. mori-derived cell lines, the expression of the recombinant protein reached maximal levels around 72-96 h post-infection. For the isolation of the expressed recombinant protein from B. mori larvae, the whole bodies of the infected larvae were homogenized, and the expressed protein was purified by affinity chromatography. Based on the fact that the recombinant CaIFN-alpha showed two bands on the sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis pattern, the expressed protein was thought to be glycosylated. The rCaIFN-alpha yield was about 528 microg per larva, showing that the expression in silkworm was successful. Furthermore, the recombinant protein was proven to be able to inhibit the infection of Madin-Darby canine kidney cells by the vesicular stomatitis virus, indicating that it is biologically active in vitro. The method established in this study provides an efficient way to produce a large amount of CaIFN-alpha and paves the way for further utilization of this protein as a therapeutic agent or vaccine adjuvant in dogs.