Romito, M.Du Plessis, D.H.Viljoen, G.J.Verwoerd, Daniel Wynand2012-10-082012-10-0820121999Romito, M, Du Plessis, DH & Viljoen, GJ 1999, 'Immune responses in a horse inoculated with the VP2 gene of African horsesickness virus’. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, vol. 66, no. 2, pp. 139-144.0330-2465http://hdl.handle.net/2263/20083The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat v.9 was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.The ability of a DNA vaccine to elicit an immune response in a horse was evaluated. The outer capsid protein VP2 of African horsesickness virus is known to elicit protective immunity in horses. Reverse transcribed DNA of the gene encoding VP2 was placed under the transcriptional control of the cytomegalovirus immediate-early enhancer/promoter and was injected on several occasions intramuscularly into a horse. Low antibody levels could be detected by ELISA. Antibodies directed against VP2 alone were shown by Western blot while low levels of neutralizing antibodies were detected by a 50% plaque reduction assay. In contrast to a relatively poor humoral response, a significant lymphoproliferative response in the presence of whole virus proteins, as well as a cytotoxic cellular reaction against virus-infected syngeneic target cells was shown.en© ARC-Onderstepoort (original). © University of Pretoria. Dept of Library Services (digital).Veterinary medicineAfrican horsesickness virus (AHSV)DNA vaccinesVP2 geneVeterinary medicine -- South AfricaAfrican horse sickness -- South AfricaHorses -- Virus diseasesArticle