Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Research project aims to learn more about PRRS
14 Plays2 years ago
Hiep Vu, associate professor of animal science at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is part of a team studying porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus. Vu discusses the project.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Host Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Feed Strategy Podcast.
00:00:02
Speaker
I'm your host, Feed Strategy Senior Reporter Anne Roos.
Guest Introduction: Heap Vu
00:00:06
Speaker
Heap Vu is an Associate Professor of Animal Science at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he's part of a team studying porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus.
00:00:16
Speaker
Also known as PERS, the disease affects pigs causing reproductive failure in sows and major respiratory illness in pigs of all ages.
PERS Study Funded by USDA
00:00:24
Speaker
The study which examines how PERS infects swine macrophages is funded by a three-year grant from the US Department of Agriculture.
00:00:32
Speaker
I recently spoke with Vu who told me more about the project.
00:00:36
Speaker
Hello, Heap.
00:00:36
Speaker
Thanks for being here today.
00:00:38
Speaker
Hi, Anne, and thank you for having me.
Understanding Macrophages
00:00:41
Speaker
You are conducting a research project to examine how PERS virus infects pig macrophages.
00:00:47
Speaker
Please start by explaining what macrophages are and what they do.
00:00:51
Speaker
So macrophage is a kind of white blood cell and their main function is to like engulf the microbes and destroy them.
00:01:02
Speaker
So macrophage is a component of our immune system.
Impact of PERS on Swine Immunity
00:01:06
Speaker
And because first, in fact, macrophage and kill them, so the post virus can weaken the swine immune system.
00:01:16
Speaker
Can you tell me more about this project and what exactly you are studying?
00:01:21
Speaker
Yes, so PERS are like any other viruses that they must enter a cell to replicate.
00:01:28
Speaker
And so for PERS, it must enter a macrophage cell.
00:01:33
Speaker
And in order for a virus to enter a cell, it will need to bind to what we call a cellular receptor.
00:01:40
Speaker
And for PERS, we knew that it required CD163 to infect the cell and macrophage had the
PERS Variant Discovery
00:01:48
Speaker
CD163.
00:01:48
Speaker
That is why the PERS virus infect macrophage.
00:01:52
Speaker
But what is peculiar is that I recently found a variant of PERS that do not really infect macrophage very well.
00:02:02
Speaker
So it's still in fact, but with very, very low efficiency.
00:02:06
Speaker
And so we want to know why
00:02:09
Speaker
the new variant virus do not infect macrophages that well, even though the macrophages still have the CD163, like I said before.
00:02:19
Speaker
So how far are you into the project and what have you learned so far?
00:02:24
Speaker
So we are very, very beginning of the project and this is funded by USDA and we have just been into the project for six months only.
00:02:34
Speaker
And like I just described, the key finding is that we have the new variants of virus that do not replicate in macrophage well.
00:02:44
Speaker
And our goal is to learn more about this variant virus, like why couldn't it infect the macrophage very well.
Unexpected Findings in Cell Replication
00:02:52
Speaker
By the way, I forgot to mention that
00:02:55
Speaker
We had two kinds of cells to grow post virus, the swine macrophage and the other cell line we call the monkey kidney cell line.
00:03:03
Speaker
So the variant virus that I discovered still infect and replicate in the
00:03:10
Speaker
monkey kidney cell very well, but it do not replicate in the macrophage.
00:03:14
Speaker
So we are looking deep into the mechanism why the variant virus can infect well in the kidney cell, but not in the macrophage, so that we hope to learn some difference and understand more about this virus.
00:03:32
Speaker
Have any of your findings so far surprised you?
00:03:35
Speaker
Yes, the finding that the variant virus
00:03:39
Speaker
replicate well in the monkey kidney cell, but not in the macrophage is a surprise.
00:03:47
Speaker
Why study PERS specifically in this way?
Implications for Virus Prevention
00:03:49
Speaker
Can the outcome of the study tell us more about other swine viruses or viruses in general?
00:03:55
Speaker
Yes, so like I said at the beginning, every virus must enter a cell to replicate.
00:04:01
Speaker
And so by controlling or by interfering with the cellular entry, we could prevent the infection.
00:04:11
Speaker
So that is the reason why we devote the time to study how post-virus works.
00:04:17
Speaker
enter the cell because that is a critical step.
00:04:20
Speaker
And when we study PERS, we can use the same knowledge or technology to learn about other viruses.
Vaccine Design and Virus Entry
00:04:27
Speaker
How do you expect to be able to apply this research to vaccine development or other treatment for PERS or other viruses?
00:04:34
Speaker
So for PERS, because it is an animal viruses, so we really focus on vaccine rather than antiviral drug because antiviral drug is not really applicable to swine due to the price.
00:04:48
Speaker
But for vaccine, most of the antiviral vaccine, the target is to prevent the virus from entering the cell because that is a critical step.
00:04:58
Speaker
I hope that the result of this study will give us some insight into how we should design the vaccine to prevent the virus infection.
00:05:07
Speaker
What are the next steps for this project?
Conclusion and Farewell
00:05:09
Speaker
So because this is the very beginning of the project, so we really like look into the way the virus infects the kidney cell, the monkey kidney cell, and the way the virus infects the macrophage.
00:05:23
Speaker
And then we compare between these two processes, and hopefully we learn some new things about this virus.
00:05:31
Speaker
I look forward to seeing what you learn here in your study.
00:05:35
Speaker
Thank you so much for being on the podcast.
00:05:37
Speaker
Thank you for having me.
00:05:39
Speaker
And thank you to the audience for listening.
00:05:41
Speaker
I'm Anne Roos for Feed Strategy.