Journal article
Lack of antiviral antibody response in koalas infected with koala retroviruses (KoRV)
Virus Research, Vol.198, pp.30-34
2015
Abstract
Many wild koalas are infected with the koala retrovirus, KoRV, some of which suffer from lymphoma and chlamydial disease. Three subgroups, KoRV-A, KoRV-B and KoRV-J, have so far been described. It is well known that other closely related gammaretroviruses can induce tumours and severe immunodeficiencies in their respective hosts and a possible role for KoRV infection in lymphoma and chlamydial disease in koalas has been suggested. In many wild koalas, KoRV-A has become endogenised, i.e., it is integrated in the germ-line and is passed on with normal cellular genes. In this study, sera from koalas in European zoos and from wild animals in Australia were screened for antibodies against KoRV-A. These naturally infected animals all carry endogenous KoRV-A and two zoo animals are also infected with KoRV-B. The antibody response is generally an important diagnostic tool for detecting retrovirus infections. However, when Western blot analyses were performed using purified virus or recombinant proteins corresponding to KoRV-A, none of the koalas tested positive for specific antibodies, suggesting a state of tolerance. These results have implications for koala vaccination, as they suggest that therapeutic immunisation of animals carrying and expressing endogenous KoRV-A will not be successful. However, it remains unclear whether these animals can be immunised against KoRV-B and immunisation of uninfected koalas could still be worthwhile.
Details
- Title
- Lack of antiviral antibody response in koalas infected with koala retroviruses (KoRV)
- Authors
- Uwe Fiebig (Author) - Robert Koch Institute, GermanyMartina Keller (Author) - Robert Koch Institute, GermanyAnnekatrin Moller (Author) - Robert Koch Institute, GermanyPeter Timms (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and EngineeringJoachim Denner (Author) - Robert Koch Institute, Germany
- Publication details
- Virus Research, Vol.198, pp.30-34
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Date published
- 2015
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.virusres.2015.01.002
- ISSN
- 0168-1702
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2015. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Centre for Bioinnovation
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99448792902621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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