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Investigation of the pathogenesis of transplacental transmission of Aleutian mink disease parvovirus in experimentally infected mink.

The transplacental transmission of Aleutian mink disease parvovirus (ADV) was studied in experimental infection of 1-year-old female non-Aleutian mink. The ADV-seronegative female mink were inoculated with ADV prior to mating or after the expected implantation of the embryos during pregnancy. A group of uninfected females served as a control group. Animals from each group were killed prior to or shortly after parturition. The in situ hybridization technique with radiolabeled strand-specific RNA probes was used to determine target cells of virus infection and virus replication. In both infected groups, ADV crossed the endotheliochorial placental barrier, although animals infected before mating already had high antibody titers against ADV at the time of implantation. The percentage of dead and resorbed fetuses was much higher in dams infected before mating. In the placentae of these mink, virus DNA and viral mRNA were detected in cells in the mesenchymal stroma of the placental labyrinth and hematoma but only occasionally in the cytotrophoblast of the placental hematoma. Placentae of animals infected during pregnancy showed in addition very high levels of virus and also viral replication in a large number of cytotrophoblast cells in the placental hematoma, which exhibited distinct inclusion bodies. In both groups, neither virus nor virus replication could be detected in maternal endothelial cells or fetal syncytiotrophoblast of the placental labyrinth. Fetuses were positive for virus and viral replication at high levels in a wide range of tissues. Possible routes of transplacental transmission of ADV and the role of trophoblast cells as targets for viral replication are discussed.

Acute Disease↗

Nonsuppurative meningoencephalitis associated with Aleutian mink disease parvovirus infection in ranch mink.

Severe nonsuppurative meningoencephalitis associated with Aleutian mink disease parvovirus (ADV) infection was observed in adult ranch mink. Brain lesions included severe, locally extensive to coalescing lymphoplasmacytic meningoencephalitis with accompanying gliosis, satellitosis, and mild extension of inflammation into the leptomeninges. ADV was identified in mesenteric lymph node, spleen, brain, and liver of affected mink by polymerase chain reaction techniques. Sequences of the ADV isolate (TH5) revealed 2 unique residues in the region of the viral genome that determines pathogenicity. These findings suggest that certain strains of ADV may preferentially cause disease in the nervous system. ADV infection should be considered in the differential diagnosis of neurologic disorders in mink.

Aleutian Mink Disease↗

Aleutian disease of mink: the antibody response of sapphire and pastel mink to Aleutian disease virus.

The specific antiviral antibody response of sapphire and pastel mink to Pullman strain of ADV has been examined. Sapphire mink inoculated with from 300,000-3 LD50 developed high levels of specific antibody and AD. Pastel mink inoculated with parallel doses of ADV also produced antibody but did not develop AD. The low incidence of AD in pastel mink inoculated with Pullman strain of ADV is probably related to factors other than antiviral antibody.

Aleutian Mink Disease↗

Mink cell focus-forming murine leukemia virus killing of mink cells involves apoptosis and superinfection.

Induction of apoptosis by different types of pathogenic retroviruses is an important step in disease development. We have observed that infection of thymic lymphocytes by the mink cell focus-forming murine leukemia virus (MCF MLV) during the preleukemic period resulted in an enhancement of apoptosis of these cells. To further study the ability of MCF MLVs to induce apoptosis and the role of this process in viral pathogenesis, we have developed an in vitro system of virus-induced apoptosis. MCF13 MLV infection of mink epithelial cells resulted in the production of cytopathic foci. In contrast, infection of mink cells with the 4070A amphotropic MLV did not produce any cytopathic effects. Staining of MCF13 MLV-infected cells with propidium iodide and annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate indicated that virus-induced cell death was due to apoptosis. At 6 days postinfection, the percentage of apoptotic MCF13 MLV-infected cells was 27% compared with 2 to 3% for mock- or amphotropic MLV-infected cells, representing a 9- to 14-fold difference. Assays for caspase-3 activation confirmed the detection by flow cytometry of apoptosis of MCF13 MLV-infected cells. Large amounts of unintegrated linear viral DNA were detectable by Southern blot analysis during the acute phase of infection, which indicated that MCF13 MLV is able to superinfect mink cells. Unintegrated viral DNA of only the linear form was detectable in thymic lymphocytes isolated from MCF13 MLV-inoculated mice during the preleukemic period. These results indicated that the ability of MCF13 MLV to induce apoptosis is correlated with its ability to superinfect cells and that this occurs as an early step in thymic lymphoma development.

Animals↗

Genetic polymorphism of IgG in the mink. 7. Expression of the C gamma-allotypes in domestic mink infected with the Aleutian disease virus.

The Aleutian disease (AD), i.e., viral plasmocytosis in mink can be used as a model of the natural development of immune complex pathology in man. The immunogenetic aspect of AD was studied with the help of genetic markers of the constant region of the mink immunoglobulin gamma-heavy chain (the C gamma allotypes H2, H3, H4, H6, H7 and H8). The frequencies of 2 of the 6 allotypes, H3 and H4, were significantly higher in the AD-infected than in normal minks from the same population. This supports and extends the data in the literature indicating that the frequencies of certain human Gm allotypes are significantly higher among patients with multiple sclerosis, some oncological and other diseases compared with normal humans. Individual testing of 110 adult Standard minks before and after artificial inoculation with the AD virus demonstrated that change in allotype frequencies results from the activation of the expression of H3 and/or H4 in many individuals. The obtained results make it possible to consider the regulation of the expression of the two CH genes of immunoglobulins as allotype-specific.

Aleutian Mink Disease↗

Detection and molecular characterization of cultivable caliciviruses from clinically normal mink and enteric caliciviruses associated with diarrhea in mink.

Enteric caliciviruses are emerging pathogens responsible for diarrhea or gastroenteritis in their respective hosts. In this report, mink enteric caliciviruses (MEC) were detected in feces from diarrheic mink by both immune electron microscopy (IEM) and RT-PCR using a broadly reactive primer pair (p289/290) targeting the highly conserved RNA polymerase regions of the enteric caliciviruses, Norwalk-like viruses (NLVs) and Sapporo-like viruses (SLVs). The MEC possess classical caliciviral morphology with typical cup-shaped depressions on the viral surface. Sequence analyses based on nucleotide and predicted amino acid (aa) sequences of the RT-PCR products indicated that MEC is most closely related genetically to SLVs of humans and animals. The MEC shared the highest aa identities (64-71%) in the RNA polymerase region with both human SLVs and the porcine enteric calicivirus (PEC) Cowden strain SLV, indicating that MEC may belong to an individual genogroup or subgroup in the SLV genus. The MEC shared only limited aa identities in the RNA polymerase region with vesiviruses (40-51%) and NLVs (29-33%). The RNA polymerase regions of the cultivable, non-enteric mink caliciviruses (MCV) were also amplified by RT-PCR using the primer pair Pol1/Pol3 based on sequences of vesiviruses, and the primer pair p289/290. Sequence analysis indicated that these MCV shared higher aa identities in the RNA polymerase region with vesiviruses (58-81%) than with SLVs (43-51%) including the MEC, lagoviruses (35-37%) and NLVs (27-35%), suggesting that they are most closely related genetically to vesiviruses. The MEC associated with diarrhea in mink are morphologically similar to but are genetically distinct from the cultivable MCV and likely represent a new member of the SLV genus.

Animals↗

Comparison of the tyrosine aminotransferase cDNA and genomic DNA sequences of normal mink and mink affected with tyrosinemia type II.

Type II tyrosinemia, designated Richner-Hanhart syndrome in humans, is a hereditary metabolic disorder with autosomal recessive inheritance characterized by a deficiency of tyrosine aminotransferase activity. Mutations occur in the human tyrosine aminotransferase gene, resulting in high levels of tyrosine and disease. Type II tyrosinemia occurs in mink, and our hypothesis was that it would also be associated with mutation(s) in the tyrosine aminotransferase gene. Therefore, the transcribed cDNA and the genomic tyrosine aminotransferase gene were sequenced from normal and affected mink. The gene extended over 11.9 kb and had 12 exons coding for a predicted 454-amino-acid protein with 93% homology with human tyrosine aminotransferase. FISH analysis mapped the gene to chromosome 8 using the Mandahl and Fredga (1975) nomenclature and chromosome 5 using the Christensen et al. (1996) nomenclature. The hypothesis was rejected because sequence analysis disclosed no mutations in either cDNA or introns that were associated with affected mink. This suggests that an unlinked gene regulatory mutation may be the cause of tyrosinemia in mink.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Development of immortalized endometrial epithelial and stromal cell lines from the mink (Mustela vison) uterus and their effects on the survival in vitro of mink blastocysts in obligate diapause.

Mink endometrial cell lines were established by stable transfection of a plasmid vector encoding the SV40 large T antigen driven by the human beta-actin promoter. A second plasmid vector, pSV2neo, was employed for selection of transfected cells. Specificity and homogeneity of consequent cell lines were evaluated by immunocytochemistry employing antibodies against cytokeratin, desmin, and vimentin. Cytokeratin was found exclusively in epithelial cells, whereas vimentin appeared primarily in stromal cells. Neither cell line showed detectable desmin activity. These cell lines along with Buffalo rat liver (BRL) cells were employed in coculture with mink embryos in obligate diapause. Mink stromal and BRL cell lines were most effective in enhancing embryo survival in vitro. The percentages of cocultured embryos that survived for 72 h or more were 65% with epithelial cells, 75% with stromal cells, 68% with the combination of stromal and epithelial cells, and 93% with BRL cells. Only 23% of the embryos cultured without cells survived beyond 48 h. Embryo growth was also observed; some embryos in coculture showed trophoblastic outgrowth and adhesion to the cell surfaces. These results demonstrate that mink embryos in obligate delay can survive and develop in culture and that coculture with uterine or BRL cells increases the length and frequency of survival.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

Analysis of experimental mink enteritis virus infection in mink: in situ hybridization, serology, and histopathology.

Strand-specific hybridization probes were used in in situ hybridization studies to localize cells containing mink enteritis virus (MEV) virion DNA or MEV replicative-form DNA and mRNA. Following the experimental MEV infection of 3-month-old unvaccinated mink, a significant increase in serum antibodies to MEV was detected at postinfection day (PID) 6, 2 days after the onset of fecal shedding of virus. Prior to the appearance of virus in feces, viral DNA could be detected in the mesenteric lymph node and intestine. The largest percentage of cells positive for virion DNA was 10% and was detected in the intestine on PID 6. However, replication of the virus apparently peaked at PID 4. The number of MEV replicative-form DNA and mRNA molecules was found to be approximately 250,000 copies per infected lymph node cell or crypt epithelial cell. The localization, levels, and time course of viral replication have important implications for the pathogenesis of MEV-induced disease. The data presented on MEV are correlated with earlier results on the other mink parvovirus, Aleutian mink disease parvovirus, and a possible explanation for the remarkable differences in pathogenesis of disease caused by these two parvoviruses is discussed.

Animals↗

Investigations into shaking mink syndrome: an encephalomyelitis of unknown cause in farmed mink (Mustela vison) kits in Scandinavia.

An apparently novel neurological disease clinically characterized by shaking, tremors, seizures, staggering gait, and ataxia was first observed in farmed mink kits in Denmark in 2000 and subsequently in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland in 2001, and again in Denmark in 2002. Lymphoplasmacytic encephalomyelitis was found in the affected kits. The lesions were most severe in the brainstem and cerebellum and consisted of neuronal degeneration and necrosis, neuronophagia, focal and diffuse gliosis, perivascular cuffs formed by lymphocytes, plasma cells and macrophages, and segmental loss of Purkinje cells. Testing was conducted to determine the cause of the disease, including general virological investigations (virus culture, negative-staining electron microscopy, immunoelectron microscopy, polymerase chain reaction for herpesviruses, adenoviruses, pestiviruses, and coronaviruses), tests for specific viral diseases (canine distemper, Borna disease, Louping ill, West Nile virus infection, tick-borne encephalitis, Aleutian disease), tests for protozoa (Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum, Encephalitozoon cuniculi), bacteria (general culture, listeria, Clamydophila psittaci), and intracerebral inoculation of neonatal mice. The results of all these investigations were negative. One group of 3 mink kits inoculated intracerebrally with brain homogenate of affected mink developed clinical signs and histological lesions similar to those observed in naturally infected mink. Based on the histopathological features, it is postulated that the disease is caused by a yet unidentified virus.

Animals↗

[Interspecies mouse-mink hybridomas as producers of mink immunoglobulin].

The work is aimed at establishing the interspecies mouse-mink hybridomas from the fusion of American mink B-lymphocytes with the murine cell line NSO. The hybridoma (lime 10-B5) continued to secrete mink immunoglobulin L-chains in the culture for 6 months with constant reclonings. The hybridoma clone was characterized by a decrease in the secretory activity of cells. The karyological study et this clone has not reliably revealed the mink chromosomes in the genome of hybrid cells.

Animals↗

[Preferential retention of the mink chromosome group in somatic cell hybrids of Chinese hamster and American mink].

The chromosomal complement was studied in 57 independent clones of hybrid cells obtained in six experiments for fusion of Chinese hamster and American mink cells. Various mink chromosomes in hybrids of concern are lost. It is shown when a small number of mink chromosomes are retained in hybrid clones, chromosomes 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14 and X segregate in a similar way and are preferentially retained in these clones. When a considerable number of mink chromosomes are detained in hybrid clones, the segregation mode is close to a random one.

Animals↗

Studies on viral plasmacytosis (Aleutian disease) of mink. VII. Infection of mink with DNA extracted from diseased spleens.

Lesions considered typical of aleutian disease developed in three of four mink inoculated with DNA extracted from spleens of mink with viral plasmacytosis. Control mink inoculated with buffered saline or DNA treated with specific enzyme (DNAase) remained normal. It is inferred that the infective DNA corresponds to viral DNA. This DNA preparation was used in an attempt to infect tissue cultures from mink testis cells but the results were equivocal.

Animals↗

Characterization of platelets from normal mink and mink with the Chediak-Higashi syndrome.

Bleeding times of mink with the Chediak-Higashi (CH) syndrome was markedly prolonged. Platelet counts were normal but there was an impaired platelet aggregation response to collagen. The metabolic adenine nucleotide pool of platelets from normal and CH mink was labeled with 14C-adenine and the platelets were gel-filtered. Gel-filtered platelets (GFP) from CH mink contained only 37.9% of the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and 9.6% of the adenosine diphosphate (ADP) found in normal platelets and the ATP/ADP ratio was similar to the 14C-ATP/14C-ADP ratio. Platelet content of Ca2+, Mg2+, and in particular 5-hydroxytryptamine was decreased. When GFP were incubated with thrombin to induce maximal secretion, only negligible amounts of ATP and ADP were released. The specific activity of the extracellular nucleotides approximated that within the platelet. These findings suggest that the stored nucleotide pool in CH platelets is virtually absent and that the abnormalities in platelet function may be due, in part, to the essential absence of secretable ADP and serotonin. The release of Ca2+ and Mg2+ by CH platelets was 56% and 27.8% of normal, respectively.

3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine↗

Full protection in mink against mink enteritis virus with new generation canine parvovirus vaccines based on synthetic peptide or recombinant protein.

Two recently developed vaccine--one based on synthetic peptide and one based on recombinant capsid protein--fully protected dogs against heavy experimental canine parvovirus (CPV) infection. The high sequence homology ( > 98%) and antigenic similarity between CPV and mink enteritis virus (MEV), feline panleukopenia virus, and raccoon parvovirus, suggest that both vaccines could protect mink, cats and raccoons against these respective host range variants. This was tested in mink and turned out to be the case. The two vaccines were fully protective and as effective as a conventional commercial vaccine based on inactivated virus. Surprisingly, this protection was obtained after only a single injection. Furthermore, the vaccinal dose of 150 micrograms of conjugated peptide or 3 micrograms of recombinant VP2 particles per animal, are sufficiently low to be cost-effective and applicable on a large scale.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

[Characteristics of the submicroscopic structure of hybrid clone cells obtained by the fusion of mouse hepatoma cells and mink fibroblasts and containing different numbers of mink chromosomes].

Four hybrid clones obtained by fusion of mouse hepatoma cells with mink fibroblasts treated with polyethyleneglycol were studied morphologically and morphometrically using electron microscopy. The clones studied contained a double set of mouse chromosomes and different numbers of mink chromosomes. It is demonstrated that clones containing different mink chromosomes differ considerably from each other and from the parental cells in the manifestation of some morphological characters (form and type of cell growth, form of the nucleus, structure of mitochondria, distribution of membranes of the granular endoplasmic reticulum), as well as in some quantitative parametres of organelles (area of the cut of the cell and of the nucleus, a relative volume of the nucleus). The data obtained witness for the fact that some morphological traits characteristic of cells of a certain parental type may appear in hybrids independently of each other, and that the degree of their manifestation may depend on the number of chromosomes of one of the parents or, possibly, on one particular chromosome.

Animals↗

In situ molecular hybridization for detection of Aleutian mink disease parvovirus DNA by using strand-specific probes: identification of target cells for viral replication in cell cultures and in mink kits with virus-induced interstitial pneumonia.

Strand-specific hybridization probes were utilized in in situ molecular hybridization specifically to localize replicative form DNA of Aleutian mink disease parvovirus (ADV). Throughout in vitro infection, duplex replicative form DNA of ADV was located in the cell nuclei. Single-stranded virion DNA and capsid proteins were present in the nuclei early in infection, but were later translocated to the cytoplasm. In neonatal mink, ADV causes acute interstitial pneumonia, and replicative forms of viral DNA were found predominantly in alveolar type II cells of the lung. Viral DNA was also found in other organs, but strand-specific probes made it possible to show that most of this DNA represented virus sequestration. In addition, glomerular immune complexes containing intact virions were detected, suggesting that ADV virions may have a role in the genesis of ADV-induced glomerulonephritis.

Aleutian Mink Disease Virus↗

Replication of Aleutian mink disease parvovirus in lymphoid tissues of adult mink: involvement of follicular dendritic cells and macrophages.

By using strand-specific in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry, evidence for replication of the Aleutian mink disease parvovirus was observed in cells resembling macrophages and cells resembling follicular dendritic cells at 10 days after infection but only in macrophages at 60 days. Sequestration of the Aleutian mink disease parvovirus in larger numbers of macrophages and follicular dendritic cells was noted at both 10 and 60 days.

Aleutian Mink Disease Virus↗