Egg yolk IgY against RHDV capsid protein VP60 promotes rabbit defense against RHDV infection

VP60 capsid protein is the major structural and immunogenicity protein of RHDV (Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus, RHDV), and has been implicated as a main protein antigen in RHDV diagnosis and vaccine design. In this report, egg yolk antibody (IgY) against N-terminal of VP60 was evaluated and developed as a new strategy for RHDV therapy. Briefly, N-terminal of VP60 (∼250aa) fragment was cloned and inserted into pET28a expression vector, and then the resultant plasmid, pET28a/VP60-N, was transformed into E. coli BL21(DE3) for recombinant VP60-N protein (rVP60-N) expression. Next, the rVP60-N was purified by Ni+-affinity purification chromatography and identified by Western blotting with RHDV antiserum. After immunizing the chickens with rVP60-N, the anti-rVP60-N IgY was isolated, and the activity and specificity of the IgY antibody were analyzed by ELISA and Western blotting. In our results, the rVP60-N could be expressed in E. coli as soluble fraction, and the isolated anti-rVP60-N IgY demonstrated a high specificity and titer (1:22,000) against rVP60-N antigen. For further evaluation of the IgY efficacy in vivo, rabbits were grouped randomly and challenged with RHDV, and the results showed that anti-rVP60-N IgY could significantly protect rabbits from virus infection and promote the host survival after a sustained treatment with anti-rVP60-N IgY for 5 days. Taken together, our study demonstrates evidence that production of IgY against VP60 could be as a novel strategy for the RHDV therapy.