Antibodies and PMBC from EIAV infected carrier horses recognize gp45 and p26 synthetic peptides

Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) is a lentivirus causing a persistent infection in horses characterized by recurrent febrile episodes and high levels of viremia associated with a novel antigenic strain of the virus. The virus contains two envelope glycoproteins, gp90 and gp45, and four internal proteins, p26, p15, p11 and p9. Considering that the most infected horses are able to restrict EIAV replication to very low levels and that gp45 and p26 contain highly conserved epitopes among lentiviruses, it would be necessary to identify those conserved epitopes stimulating cellular and humoral responses. The aims of this study were to determine if the synthetic peptides identified as gp45 (aa 523-547) and p26 (aa 318-346) representing two highly conserved and immunodominant regions of EIA virus are recognized by PBMC and antibodies to EIAV adult mixed-breed naturally infected carrier horses, and if these peptides are able to induce immune responses in mice. Antibodies from 100% of carrier horses, evaluated by ELISA, recognized both peptides; PBMC from 80% of carrier horses, evaluated by lymphoproliferation assay, recognized, at least, one peptide. Furthermore, immunization with 100 μg of each peptide elicited humoral and cellular responses in BALB/c mice, antibodies appeared at 48 or 63 days of immunization with gp45 or p26, respectively. Although the kinetics of gp45- and p26-specific antibody responses were similar, percentage of positivity was higher for gp45. The lymphoproliferation assay, evaluated by BrdU uptake, was higher in mice immunized with gp45 or p26 than in the control group (P < 0.05). Based on our findings, we consider that both peptides could be included in an effective vaccine design to induce long-term immunological memory.