Determination of the Copy Number of Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses (PERV) in Auckland Island Pigs Repeatedly Used for Clinical Xenotransplantation and Elimination of PERV-C
Auckland Island pigs represent an inbred population of feral pigs isolated on the sub-Antarctic island for over 100 years. The animals have been maintained under pathogen-free conditions in New Zealand; they are well characterized virologically and have been used as donor sources in first clinical t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Microorganisms |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/12/1/98 |
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| author | Uwe Fiebig Luise Krüger Joachim Denner |
| author_facet | Uwe Fiebig Luise Krüger Joachim Denner |
| author_sort | Uwe Fiebig |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Auckland Island pigs represent an inbred population of feral pigs isolated on the sub-Antarctic island for over 100 years. The animals have been maintained under pathogen-free conditions in New Zealand; they are well characterized virologically and have been used as donor sources in first clinical trials of porcine neonatal islet cell transplantation for the treatment of human diabetes patients. The animals do not carry any of the xenotransplantation-relevant viruses, and in the first clinical trials, no porcine viruses, including porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) were transmitted to the human recipients. PERVs pose a special risk in xenotransplantation, since they are part of the pig genome. When the copy number of PERVs in these animals was analyzed using droplet digital PCR and primers binding to a conserved region of the polymerase gene (PERVpol), a copy number typical for Western pigs was found. This confirms previous phylogenetic analyses of microsatellites as well as mitochondrial analyses showing a closer relationship to European pigs than to Chinese pigs. When kidney cells from very young piglets were analyzed, only around 20 PERVpol copies were detected. Using these cells as donors in somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), animals were born showing PERVpol copy numbers between 35 and 56. These data indicate that Auckland Island pigs have a similar copy number in comparison with other Western pig breeds and that the copy number is higher in adult animals compared with cells from young piglets. Most importantly, PERV-C-free animals were selected and the absence of an additional eight porcine viruses was demonstrated. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T09:50:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7d9a752acf934c8b89d4365a3f881310 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2607 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T09:50:57Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Microorganisms |
| spelling | doaj.art-7d9a752acf934c8b89d4365a3f8813102024-01-29T14:06:16ZengMDPI AGMicroorganisms2076-26072024-01-011219810.3390/microorganisms12010098Determination of the Copy Number of Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses (PERV) in Auckland Island Pigs Repeatedly Used for Clinical Xenotransplantation and Elimination of PERV-CUwe Fiebig0Luise Krüger1Joachim Denner2Robert Koch Institute, 13353 Berlin, GermanyRobert Koch Institute, 13353 Berlin, GermanyRobert Koch Institute, 13353 Berlin, GermanyAuckland Island pigs represent an inbred population of feral pigs isolated on the sub-Antarctic island for over 100 years. The animals have been maintained under pathogen-free conditions in New Zealand; they are well characterized virologically and have been used as donor sources in first clinical trials of porcine neonatal islet cell transplantation for the treatment of human diabetes patients. The animals do not carry any of the xenotransplantation-relevant viruses, and in the first clinical trials, no porcine viruses, including porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) were transmitted to the human recipients. PERVs pose a special risk in xenotransplantation, since they are part of the pig genome. When the copy number of PERVs in these animals was analyzed using droplet digital PCR and primers binding to a conserved region of the polymerase gene (PERVpol), a copy number typical for Western pigs was found. This confirms previous phylogenetic analyses of microsatellites as well as mitochondrial analyses showing a closer relationship to European pigs than to Chinese pigs. When kidney cells from very young piglets were analyzed, only around 20 PERVpol copies were detected. Using these cells as donors in somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), animals were born showing PERVpol copy numbers between 35 and 56. These data indicate that Auckland Island pigs have a similar copy number in comparison with other Western pig breeds and that the copy number is higher in adult animals compared with cells from young piglets. Most importantly, PERV-C-free animals were selected and the absence of an additional eight porcine viruses was demonstrated.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/12/1/98porcine endogenous retrovirusesAuckland Island pigsislet cell xenotransplantation |
| spellingShingle | Uwe Fiebig Luise Krüger Joachim Denner Determination of the Copy Number of Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses (PERV) in Auckland Island Pigs Repeatedly Used for Clinical Xenotransplantation and Elimination of PERV-C Microorganisms porcine endogenous retroviruses Auckland Island pigs islet cell xenotransplantation |
| title | Determination of the Copy Number of Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses (PERV) in Auckland Island Pigs Repeatedly Used for Clinical Xenotransplantation and Elimination of PERV-C |
| title_full | Determination of the Copy Number of Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses (PERV) in Auckland Island Pigs Repeatedly Used for Clinical Xenotransplantation and Elimination of PERV-C |
| title_fullStr | Determination of the Copy Number of Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses (PERV) in Auckland Island Pigs Repeatedly Used for Clinical Xenotransplantation and Elimination of PERV-C |
| title_full_unstemmed | Determination of the Copy Number of Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses (PERV) in Auckland Island Pigs Repeatedly Used for Clinical Xenotransplantation and Elimination of PERV-C |
| title_short | Determination of the Copy Number of Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses (PERV) in Auckland Island Pigs Repeatedly Used for Clinical Xenotransplantation and Elimination of PERV-C |
| title_sort | determination of the copy number of porcine endogenous retroviruses perv in auckland island pigs repeatedly used for clinical xenotransplantation and elimination of perv c |
| topic | porcine endogenous retroviruses Auckland Island pigs islet cell xenotransplantation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/12/1/98 |
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