Neonatal gnotobiotic pigs orally inoculated with virulent (intestinal-suspension) Wa strain human rotavirus (which mimics human natural infection) developed diarrhea, and most pigs which recovered (87% protection rate) were immune to disease upon homologous virulent virus challenge at postinoculation day (PID) 21. Pigs inoculated with cell culture-attenuated Wa rotavirus (which mimics live oral vaccines) developed subclinical infections and seroconverted but were only partially protected against challenge (33% protection rate). Isotypespecific antibody-secreting cells (ASC) were enumerated at selected PID in intestinal (duodenal and ileal lamina propria and mesenteric lymph node [MLN]) and systemic (spleen and blood) lymphoid tissues by using enzyme-linked immunospot assays. At challenge (PID 21), the numbers of virus-specific immunoglobulin A (IgA) ASC, but not IgG ASC, in intestines and blood were significantly greater in virulent-Wa rotavirusinoculated pigs than in attenuated-Wa rotavirus-inoculated pigs and were correlated (correlation coefficients: for duodenum and ileum, 0.9; for MLN, 0.8; for blood, 0.6) with the degree of protection induced. After challenge, the numbers of IgA and IgG virus-specific ASC and serum-neutralizing antibodies increased significantly in the attenuated-Wa rotavirus-inoculated pigs but not in the virulent-Wa rotavirus-inoculated pigs (except in the spleen and except for IgA ASC in the duodenum). The transient appearance of IgA ASC in the blood mirrored the IgA ASC responses in the gut, albeit at a lower level, suggesting that IgA ASC in the blood of humans could serve as an indicator for IgA ASC responses in the intestine after rotavirus infection. To our knowledge, this is the first report to study and identify intestinal IgA ASC as a correlate of protective active immunity in an animal model of human-rotavirus-induced disease. . † Approved as Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center manuscript 179-95. 3076 YUAN ET AL. J. VIROL. 3080 YUAN ET AL. J. VIROL.

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Previous studies of epithelial immune responses to rotavirus infection have been conducted in transformed cell lines. In this study, we evaluated a non-transformed porcine jejunum epithelial cell line (IPEC-J2) as an in-vitro model of rotavirus infection and probiotic treatment. Cell-culture-adapted porcine rotavirus (PRV) OSU strain, or human rotavirus (HRV) Wa strain, along with Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA) or Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) were used to inoculate IPEC-J2 cells. LA or LGG treatment was applied pre- or post-rotavirus infection. We demonstrated that IPEC-J2 cells were productively infected by PRV. LA or LGG treatment of the cells did not reduce virus replication. PRV infection increased MUC3 mucin secretion. LGG treatment post-rotavirus infection reduced the mucin secretion response induced by PRV; LGG alone increased the production of membrane-associated MUC3 mucin. LA treatment prior to rotavirus infection significantly increased PRV replication and the IL-6 response to PRV infection, which is consistent with the adjuvant effect of LA. LGG treatment post-rotavirus infection downregulated the IL-6 response, confirming the anti-inflammatory effect of LGG. IPEC-J2 cells expressed toll-like receptor (TLR) 2, TLR3, and TLR9 constitutively. TLR2 expression was upregulated by LGG and peptidoglycan, corresponding to the decreased IL-6 response, indicating that the protective effect of LGG is associated with upregulation of TLR2 expression on intestinal epithelial cells. The IPEC-J2 cell model of PRV infection is a completely homologous system. It is a valuable model for studying the interactions among rotavirus-host-probiotics, and the mechanisms behind the immunomodulating effect of probiotic bacteria on innate immune responses.

To understand the role of cytokines during rotavirus infection, we assessed the kinetics of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-␣) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) (proinflammatory) ,

Summary. Gnotobiotic piglets serve as a useful animal model for studies of human rotavirus infections, including disease pathogenesis and immunity. An advantage of piglets ov~r laboratory animal models is their prolonged susceptibility to human rotavirus-induced disease, permitting cross-protection studies and an analysis of active immunity. Major advances in rotavirus research resulting from gnotobiotic piglet studies include: 1) the adaptation of the first human rotavirus to cell culture after passage and amplification in piglets; 2) delineation of the independent roles of the two rotavirus outer capsid proteins (VP4 and VP7) in induction of neutralizing antibodies and cross-protection; and 3) recognition of a potential role for a nonstructural protein (NSP4) in addition to VP4 and VP7, in rotavirus virulence. Current studies of the pathogenesis of group A human rota virus infections in gnotobiotic piglets in our laboratory have confirmed that villous atrophy is induced in piglets given virulent but not cell culture attenuated human rotavirus (Gl, PIA, Wa strain) and have revealed that factors other than villous atrophy may contribute to the early diarrhea induced. A comprehensive ~xamination of these factors, including a proposed role for NSP4 in viral-induced cytopathology, may reveal new mechanisms for induction of viral diarrhea. Finally, to facilitate and improve rotavirus vaccination strategies, our current emphasis is on the identification of correlates of protective active immunity in the piglet model of human rotavirus-induced diarrhea.Comparison of cell-mediated and antibody immune responses induced by infection with a virulent human rotavirus (to mimic host response to natural infection) with those induced by a live attenuated human rota virus (to mimic attenuated oral vaccines) in the context of homotypic protection has permitted an analysis of correlates of protective immunity. Results of these studies have indicated that the magnitude of the immune response is greatest in lymphoid tissues adjacent to the local site of viral replication (small intestine). Secondly, there was a direct correlation between the degree of protection induced and the level of the intestinal immune response, with significantly higher local immune responses and complete protection induced only after primary exposure to 154 L. J. Saif et al. virulent human rotavirus. These studies thus have established basic parameters related to immune protection in the piglet model of human rotavirus-induced disease, verifying the usefulness of this model to examine new strategies for the design and improvement of human rota virus vaccines.

Application of genetically engineered (GE) large animals carrying multi-allelic modifications has been hampered by low efficiency in production and extended gestation period compared to rodents. Here, we rapidly generated RAG2/IL2RG double knockout pigs using direct injection of CRISPR/Cas9 system into developing embryos. RAG2/IL2RG deficient pigs were immunodeficient, characterized by depletion of lymphocytes and either absence of or structurally abnormal immune organs. Pigs were maintained in gnotobiotic facility and evaluated for human norovirus (HuNoV) infection. HuNoV shedding lasted for 16 days in wild type pigs, compared to 27 days (until the end of trials) in RAG2/IL2RG deficient pigs. Additionally, higher HuNoV titers were detected in intestinal tissues and contents and in blood, indicating increased and prolonged HuNoV infection in RAG2/IL2RG deficient pigs and the importance of lymphocytes in HuNoV clearance. These results suggest that GE immunodeficient gnotobiotic pigs serve as a novel model for biomedical research and will facilitate HuNoV studies.

Group A rotaviruses are the most common cause of dehydrating diarrhea in infants and young children worldwide, with more than 2 million hospitalizations yearly and approximately 440,000 deaths. It is estimated that 82% of rotavirus deaths occur in children in the poorest countries (23). Rotavirus transmission occurs mainly by the fecal-oral route, although respiratory transmission has been suggested to occur (7).Rotavirus infection was thought to be limited to the gastrointestinal tract. However, respiratory symptoms and rotavirus shedding in nasopharyngeal secretions have been reported in children with and without gastrointestinal symptoms (19,26,42). Rotavirus antigen was detected in the lung of 1 of 13 experimentally infected 3-week-old conventional pigs at postinoculation day 2 (30) and in liver and kidney specimens from immunodeficient children (9). Rotavirus RNA has also been detected in cerebrospinal fluid and blood of children with central nervous system disease (20,34). Recently, Blutt and colleagues (2) detected rotavirus antigenemia in the serum of children, mice, rabbits, and calves. They further demonstrated that serum from infected mice induced rectal rotavirus antigen shedding after oral inoculation of rotavirus-negative adult mice with the serum. Previously, another enteric virus, the porcine enteric calicivirus (PEC), has also been associated with transient viremia (infectious virus in serum) after oral inoculation of gnotobiotic pigs (11).We choose gnotobiotic pigs because they constitute an animal model of HRV-induced disease. Their gastrointestinal tract physiology and their development of mucosal immunity resemble that of humans. These similarities with HRV infections of infants allow us to establish correlations which could be applied for rotavirus vaccine development (14,25) The question addressed in our study was whether an attenuated human rotavirus and virulent HRV causes upper respiratory tract infections or viremia in naïve neonatal gnotobiotic pigs after various routes of inoculation. In this study we evaluated nasal and rectal virus shedding and viremia after oral, intranasal, feeding tube (gavage), and intravenous inoculation of neonatal gnotobiotic pigs with the Wa strain of attenuated HRV or virulent HRV. The presence of infectious virus in serum of gnotobiotic pigs after oral inoculation with Wa HRV was also investigated by oral and intravenous reinoculation of gnotobiotic pigs with a pool of the HRV-positive sera. MATERIALS AND METHODSVirus. The attenuated cell culture-adapted Wa strain HRV (P1A [8]G1), derived from the 27th HRV passage in African Green monkey kidney cells (MA104) and the virulent Wa HRV from pooled intestinal contents of gnotobiotic pigs were used for inoculation of the gnotobiotic pigs at doses of 5 ϫ 10 7

Background Strain-specific effects of probiotics in pro- or anti-inflammatory immune responses have been well recognized. Several proinflammatory Lactobacillus strains have been shown to act as adjuvants to enhance the immunogenicity of vaccines. However, dose effects of probiotics in modulating immune responses are not clearly understood. This study examined the dose effects of Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA) NCFM strain on T cell immune responses to rotavirus vaccination in a gnotobiotic (Gn) pig model. Methods Frequencies of IFN-γ producing CD4+ and CD8+ T cell and IL-10 and TGF-β producing CD4+CD25+ and CD4+CD25- regulatory T (Treg) cell responses were determined in the intestinal and systemic lymphoid tissues of Gn pigs vaccinated with an oral human rotavirus vaccine in conjunction with low dose (5 feedings; up to 106 colony forming units [CFU]/dose) or high dose (14 feedings; up to 109 CFU/dose) or without LA feeding. Results Low dose LA significantly promoted IFN-γ producing T cell responses and down-regulated Treg cell responses and their TGF-β and IL-10 productions in all the tissues compared to the high dose LA and control groups. To the contrary, high dose LA increased the frequencies of Treg cells in most of the tissues compared to the control groups. The dose effects of LA on IFN-γ producing T cell and CD4+CD25- Treg cell immune responses were similar in the intestinal and systemic lymphoid tissues and were independent from the vaccination. Conclusion Thus the same probiotic strain in different doses can either promote or suppress IFN-γ producing T cell or Treg cell immune responses. These findings have significant implications in the use of probiotic lactobacilli as immunostimulatory versus immunoregulatory agents. Probiotics can be ineffective or even detrimental if not used at the optimal dosage for the appropriate purposes.