Hofmann-Lehmann
Fakultäten » Vetsuisse-Fakultät » Nutztiere, Departement für » Veterinärmedizinisches Labor » Prof. Dr. Regina Hofmann-Lehmann » Hofmann-Lehmann
Completed research project
| Title / Titel | Molecular evolution of feline leukemia virus (FeLV) in long-term infected cats | ||||||
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| Abstract (PDF, 14 KB) | |||||||
| Summary / Zusammenfassung | The present study is based on the feline leukemia virus (FeLV); this gammaretrovirus is on one hand an important model for AIDS and tumor research but on the other hand also of major importance for clinical veterinary medicine. FeLV induces fatal diseases in its natural hosts, the domestic cat, and some closely related wild felid species. The disease spectrum includes immunodeficiency, tumor formation and degenerative diseases of the hematopoietic system. The susceptibility of cats to FeLV infection varies remarkably and different outcomes are known: progressive infection with persistent viremia and regressive infection with transient or undetectable viremia. Recently, we demonstrated that all experimentally FeLV challenged cats turned provirus-positive and that vaccination against FeLV does not induce sterilizing immunity. Retroviruses are highly genetically variable; the reverse transcriptase that transcribes the viral RNA into proviral DNA is error prone and transcription is not followed by a proofreading step. This results in a large population of virus variants within an infected host. The selective pressure on the virus population determines the variants that persist from among the virus pool that arise continually in the infected host. Selective forces may be the immune response but also the limited availability of target cells. The goal of the present study is to characterize FeLV progeny viruses that develop over time in long-term experimentally FeLV-infected cats with different infection and disease outcome. We will concentrate on the FeLV envelope (env) and analyze it in a fist step by sequencing. Further studies may investigate the functional properties of novel env variants. We hope to provide significant further insights into molecular determinants of FeLV pathogenicity and deepen our understanding of host-retrovirus interactions. | ||||||
| Publications / Publikationen | Hofmann-Lehmann, R., V. Cattori, R. Tandon, F. S. Boretti, M. L. Meli, B. Riond, A. C. Pepin, B. Willi, P. Ossent, and H. Lutz. 2007. Vaccination against the feline leukaemia virus: Outcome and response categories and long-term follow-up. Vaccine 25:5531-9.Hofmann-Lehmann, R., E. Holznagel, A. Aubert, P. Ossent, M. Reinacher, and H. Lutz. 1995. Recombinant FeLV vaccine: long-term protection and effect on course and outcome of FIV infection. Vet Immunol Immunopathol 46:127-37.Lehmann, R., M. Franchini, A. Aubert, C. Wolfensberger, J. Cronier, and H. Lutz. 1991. Vaccination of cats experimentally infected with feline immunodeficiency virus, using a recombinant feline leukemia virus vaccine. J Am Vet Med Assoc 199:1446-52. | ||||||
| Keywords / Suchbegriffe | feline leukemia virus, feline immunodeficiency virus, retrovirus, AIDS, viral plasma RNA load, provirus, real-time TaqMan PCR, progressive infection, contained infection | ||||||
| Project leadership and contacts / Projektleitung und Kontakte |
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| Funding source(s) / Unterstützt durch |
SNF (Personen- und Projektförderung) |
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| Duration of Project / Projektdauer | Jan 2006 to Jul 2010 |