Differential diagnosis of feline leukemia virus subgroups using pseudotype viruses expressing green fluorescent...

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Virology
• Molecular Diagnostics
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) is a significant pathogen in cats, classified into three distinct receptor interference subgroups: A, B, and C.
• Accurate differentiation of FeLV subgroups is crucial for effective diagnosis and management of feline leukemia.
• Existing methods for subgroup differentiation can be complex or time-consuming.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a simple and efficient assay for differentiating FeLV subgroups A, B, and C.
• To utilize pseudotype viruses expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) for subgroup identification.
• To validate the assay's performance on both reference strains and field isolates.

Main Methods:

• Preparation of pseudotype viruses (gfp(FeLV-A), gfp(FeLV-B), gfp(FeLV-C)) incorporating envelopes from FeLV subgroups A, B, and C.
• Infection of feline embryonic fibroblast (FEA) cells with pseudotype viruses.
• Assessment of interference patterns between pseudotype viruses and FeLV reference strains.
• Testing the assay's efficacy with field isolates of FeLV.

Main Results:

• The developed gfp pseudotype viruses demonstrated complete interference with homologous FeLV reference strains on FEA cells.
• The assay successfully differentiated FeLV subgroups in tested field isolates.
• The pseudotype virus system provides a clear method for distinguishing between FeLV-A, FeLV-B, and FeLV-C.

Conclusions:

• A simple and effective assay system using GFP-expressing pseudotype viruses has been established for FeLV subgroup differentiation.
• This assay is capable of distinguishing between FeLV subgroups A, B, and C in clinical samples.
• The developed assay holds significant potential for routine use in veterinary diagnostic laboratories for FeLV diagnosis.