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. 2022 Dec 21;96(24):e0115822.
doi: 10.1128/jvi.01158-22. Epub 2022 Dec 1.

Proteomic Comparison of Three Wild-Type Pseudorabies Virus Strains and the Attenuated Bartha Strain Reveals Reduced Incorporation of Several Tegument Proteins in Bartha Virions

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Proteomic Comparison of Three Wild-Type Pseudorabies Virus Strains and the Attenuated Bartha Strain Reveals Reduced Incorporation of Several Tegument Proteins in Bartha Virions

Jonas L Delva et al. J Virol. .

Abstract

Pseudorabies virus (PRV) is a member of the alphaherpesvirus subfamily and the causative agent of Aujeszky's disease in pigs. Driven by the large economic losses associated with PRV infection, several vaccines and vaccine programs have been developed. To this day, the attenuated Bartha strain, generated by serial passaging, represents the golden standard for PRV vaccination. However, a proteomic comparison of the Bartha virion to wild-type (WT) PRV virions is lacking. Here, we present a comprehensive mass spectrometry-based proteome comparison of the attenuated Bartha strain and three commonly used WT PRV strains: Becker, Kaplan, and NIA3. We report the detection of 40 structural and 14 presumed nonstructural proteins through a combination of data-dependent and data-independent acquisition. Interstrain comparisons revealed that packaging of the capsid and most envelope proteins is largely comparable in-between all four strains, except for the envelope protein pUL56, which is less abundant in Bartha virions. However, distinct differences were noted for several tegument proteins. Most strikingly, we noted a severely reduced incorporation of the tegument proteins IE180, VP11/12, pUS3, VP22, pUL41, pUS1, and pUL40 in Bartha virions. Moreover, and likely as a consequence, we also observed that Bartha virions are on average smaller and more icosahedral compared to WT virions. Finally, we detected at least 28 host proteins that were previously described in PRV virions and noticed considerable strain-specific differences with regard to host proteins, arguing that the potential role of packaged host proteins in PRV replication and spread should be further explored. IMPORTANCE The pseudorabies virus (PRV) vaccine strain Bartha-an attenuated strain created by serial passaging-represents an exceptional success story in alphaherpesvirus vaccination. Here, we used mass spectrometry to analyze the Bartha virion composition in comparison to three established WT PRV strains. Many viral tegument proteins that are considered nonessential for viral morphogenesis were drastically less abundant in Bartha virions compared to WT virions. Interestingly, many of the proteins that are less incorporated in Bartha participate in immune evasion strategies of alphaherpesviruses. In addition, we observed a reduced size and more icosahedral morphology of the Bartha virions compared to WT PRV. Given that the Bartha vaccine strain elicits potent immune responses, our findings here suggest that differences in protein packaging may contribute to its immunogenicity. Further exploration of these observations could aid the development of efficacious vaccines against other alphaherpesvirus vaccines such as HSV-1/2 or EHV-1.

Keywords: Aujeszky’s disease virus; Bartha; Becker; Kaplan; NIA3; PRV; data-dependent acquisition; data-independent acquisition; mass spectrometry; proteome; proteomics; pseudorabies virus; suid herpesvirus 1; tegument.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

FIG 1
FIG 1
Purity assessment of virions by Western blotting and Coomassie blue staining. Infected cell (A) or virus particle (B) lysates were separated by SDS-PAGE and analyzed by Western blotting with antibodies against VP5, gE, and tubulin. (C) Virion lysates were separated by SDS-PAGE and visualized by Coomassie blue before extraction and processing for mass spectrometry. Several abundant proteins were annotated based on previous observations (50).
FIG 2
FIG 2
Normalized abundance of viral proteins in virions of the four tested PRV strains. Viral proteins for each strain were quantified based on a data set of conserved peptides and normalized to the major capsid protein VP5. Error bars represent the standard deviations for the different replicates (n = 6 for Kaplan, NIA3, and Bartha; n = 5 for Becker).
FIG 3
FIG 3
Normalized protein abundance in virions for each strain set relative to the normalized abundance in Kaplan virions. The average normalized abundance of each viral protein was set relative to that in Kaplan virions. Viral proteins were categorized according to their virion localization and displayed in a descending order of maximum fold change between strains. Error bars represent propagated standard deviations (n = 6 for Kaplan, NIA3, and Bartha; n = 5 for Becker).
FIG 4
FIG 4
Volcano plots of the six pairwise comparisons of the four PRV strains. Log2-fold changes are represented in function of the –log10 q value of each pairwise comparison. Significantly different proteins are marked with a filled circle and have a –log(q) value of >1.3 (marked by the dashed line); nonstatistically significant different proteins are marked with an open circle.
FIG 5
FIG 5
Western blot analysis of purified virions. ST cells were infected (MOI of 10) with the indicated PRV strains, and virions were purified at 24 hpi (A) or at 12 or 24 hpi (B). Virion lysates were fractionated and analyzed by Western blotting. The membranes were incubated with antibodies directed against VP5, IE180, pUS3, VP16, and/or gE.
FIG 6
FIG 6
Cell fractionation assays demonstrate similar subcellular distribution of IE180 in Bartha- versus Kaplan-infected cells. ST cells were infected with Bartha or Kaplan PRV (MOI of 10) and lysed at the indicated time points. Nuclear and cytoplasmic fractions were separated and analyzed by Western blotting with antibodies directed against IE180, histone H3, and tubulin.
FIG 7
FIG 7
Bartha virions are morphologically different from WT PRV virions. Bartha or Kaplan virions were analyzed by TEM. The area (A) and circularity (B) of Kaplan and Bartha virions were calculated. (C) Representative pictures are shown for virions of both strains. Scale bar, 50 nm.
FIG 8
FIG 8
Normalized abundances of host proteins that display significant differences in abundance in virion preparations between viral strains, set relative to the respective normalized abundance of the Kaplan strain. Error bars represent propagated standard deviations determined on the replicate values (n = 6 for NIA3, Kaplan, and Bartha; n = 5 for Becker). Protein annotations are represented as their human homologue UniProt entry names (e.g., PP1A_HUMAN).

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