Saalmüller: Role of TR cells in PRRSV infected swine
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) a member of the Artheriviridae (Conzelmann et al., 1993) is widespread among the swine population causing reproductive failure in sow and respiratory disorders in pigs of all ages (Done and Paton, 1995). In post weaning pigs PRRSV infection is combined with high economic losses caused by increased mortality and decreased growth performances (Neumann et al., 2005). Infection with PRRSV is very often combined with viral and bacterial super infections. These super-infections are promoted by an immunosuppressive effect of the virus and the fact that neutralising antibodies and a solid T-cell response develop very late after viral infection (reviewed by Mateu & Diaz, 2008).
Besides NK-cells, cytolytic T-cells and T-helper cells which support an effective antiviral immune response, regulatory T cells –with suppressive activity on the immune system (Käser et al., 2008a, Käser et al., 2008b, Bolzer et al. 2009)- seem to be induced by the PRRSV infection and preliminary data suggest that they play an important role in the down-regulation of the immune response against PRRSV itself and other viral and bacterial pathogens. The detailed mechanisms of the immunosuppression are not clear and content of this research proposal.
Pre-selected, topic-related publications (last 3 years)
- GERNER, W., DENYER, M. S., TAKAMATSU, H.-H., WILEMAN, T. E., WIESMÜLLER, K.-H., PFAFF, E. & SAALMÜLLER, A. (2006). Identification of novel foot-and-mouth disease virus specific T-cell epitopes in c/c and d/d haplotype miniature swine. Virus Research 121, 223-228.
- VOIGT, H., WIENHOLD, D., MERANT, C., BRAUN, A., LEPOTIER, M.-F., SAALMÜLLER, A., PFAFF, E. & BÜTTNER, M. (2007). Efficient priming against classical swine fever with a safe E2 subunit expressing orf virus recombinant (recORFV). Vaccine 25, 5915-5926
- PINTARIC, M., GERNER, W. & SAALMÜLLER, A. (2008). Synergistic effects of IL-2, IL-12 and IL-18 on cytolytic activity, perforin expression and IFN-? production of porcine natural killer cells. Vet. Immunol. Immunopathol., 121, 68-82.
- GERNER, W., KÄSER, T., PINTARIC, M., GROISS, S. & SAALMÜLLER, A. (2008). Detection of intracellular antigens in porcine PBMC by flow cytometry: a comparison of fixation and permeabilisation reagents. Vet. Immunol. Immunopathol., 121, 251-259.
- KÄSER, T., GERNER, W., HAMMER, S. E., PATZL, M. & SAALMÜLLER, A. (2008). Phenotypic and functional characterisation of porcine CD4+CD25high regulatory T cells. Vet. Immunol. Immunopathol., 122, 153–158.
- FACHINGER, V., BISCHOFF, R., JEDIDIA, S. B., SAALMÜLLER, A., SEIDLER, R. & ELBERS, K. (2008). The effect of vaccination against Porcine Circovirus Type 2 in pigs suffering from Porcine Respiratory Disease Complex. Vaccine, 26, 1488-1499.
- KIXMÖLLER, M., RITZMANN, M., EDDICKS, M., SAALMÜLLER, A., ELBERS, K. & FACHINGER, V. (2008). Reduction of PMWS-associated clinical signs and co-infection by vaccination against PCV2. Vaccine 26, 3443-3451.
- KÄSER, T., GERNER, W., HAMMER, S.E., PATZL, M. & SAALMÜLLER, A. (2008) Detection of Foxp3 protein expression in porcine T lymphocytes. Vet. Immunol. Immunopathol., 125, 92-101.
- GERNER, W., KÄSER, T. & SAALMÜLLER, A. (2009). Porcine T lymphocytes and NK cells – an update. Dev. Comp. Immunol. 33, 310-320.
- GERNER, W., HAMMER, S., WIESMÜLLER, K.-H. & SAALMÜLLER, A. (2009) Identification of MHC restriction and anchor residues 1 of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus derived bovine T-cell epitopes. J. Virol. 83, 4039-4050
- BOLZER, K., KÄSER, T., SAALMÜLLER, A. & HAMMER, S.E. (2009). Molecular characterisation of porcine Forkhead-box p3 (Foxp3). Vet. Immunol. Immunopathol., in press