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Viruses
Volume 17
Issue 2
10.3390/v17020164
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Open AccessArticle
by Hina Jhelum SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar Dusan Kunec SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar Vasileios Papatsiros SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar Benedikt B. Kaufer SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar Joachim Denner SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar Hina Jhelum
Dusan Kunec
Vasileios Papatsiros
,
Benedikt B. Kaufer
and
Joachim Denner
1
Institute of Virology, Free University Berlin, 14163 Berlin, Germany
2
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Clinic of Medicine (Farm Animal Medicine), University of Thessaly, GR 43100 Karditsa, Greece
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Viruses 2025, 17(2), 164; https://doi.org/10.3390/v17020164
Submission received: 18 December 2024 / Revised: 17 January 2025 / Accepted: 22 January 2025 / Published: 24 January 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Porcine Viruses 2024)
Abstract
Porcine endogenous retrovirus C (PERV-C) is a gammaretrovirus present in the genome of many, but not all, pigs. It is an ecotropic virus, able to infect only pig cells. In contrast, PERV-A and PERV-B, which are present in all pigs, can infect cells of multiple host species, including humans, thereby posing a risk for xenotransplantation when pigs are used as donor animals. Notably, PERV-C can recombine with PERV-A to produce PERV-A/C recombinants that can infect human cells and replicate to higher titers compared to the paternal PERV-A. The objective of this study is to evaluate the reliability of both existing and newly developed polymerase chain reactions (PCR) methods for detecting PERV-C, with the aim of selecting PERV-C-free pigs to be used for xenotransplantation. To detect PERV-C by PCR, specific primers targeting the region of the envelope protein gene, which differs from that of PERV-A and PERV-B due to its unique receptor binding site, must be employed. In this study, new PCR assays were developed to detect PERV-C and a total of ten PCR assays and one real-time PCR assay were evaluated for their reliability in detecting PERV-C. These assays were used to screen indigenous Greek black pigs, Auckland Island pigs, and German slaughterhouse pigs. Two of the PCR assays consistently yielded reliable results, whereas the other PCRs and the real-time PCR gave false positive results. Using the reliable assays, it was shown that one out of four indigenous Greek black pigs (using the same method in a previous publication 11 of 21 pigs were found PERV-C-negative), one out of ten German slaughterhouse pigs, the pig kidney cell line PK15, and all the Auckland Island pigs were PERV-C-negative. The reliable PCR assays will enable the screening of PERV-C-negative donor pigs to be used in xenotransplantation. Most importantly, all the Auckland Island pigs that were genetically modified in Germany for use in clinical trials were PERV-C-negative.
Keywords: porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs); PERV-C; polymerase chain reactions (PCR) methods; real-time PCR; xenotransplantation; porcine viruses; Auckland Island pigs
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MDPI and ACS Style
Jhelum, H.; Kunec, D.; Papatsiros, V.; Kaufer, B.B.; Denner, J. Reliable Polymerase Chain Reaction Methods for Screening for Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses-C (PERV-C) in Pigs. Viruses 2025, 17, 164. https://doi.org/10.3390/v17020164
AMA Style
Jhelum H, Kunec D, Papatsiros V, Kaufer BB, Denner J. Reliable Polymerase Chain Reaction Methods for Screening for Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses-C (PERV-C) in Pigs. Viruses. 2025; 17(2):164. https://doi.org/10.3390/v17020164
Chicago/Turabian Style
Jhelum, Hina, Dusan Kunec, Vasileios Papatsiros, Benedikt B. Kaufer, and Joachim Denner. 2025. "Reliable Polymerase Chain Reaction Methods for Screening for Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses-C (PERV-C) in Pigs" Viruses 17, no. 2: 164. https://doi.org/10.3390/v17020164
APA Style
Jhelum, H., Kunec, D., Papatsiros, V., Kaufer, B. B., & Denner, J. (2025). Reliable Polymerase Chain Reaction Methods for Screening for Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses-C (PERV-C) in Pigs. Viruses, 17(2), 164. https://doi.org/10.3390/v17020164
Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Jhelum, H.; Kunec, D.; Papatsiros, V.; Kaufer, B.B.; Denner, J. Reliable Polymerase Chain Reaction Methods for Screening for Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses-C (PERV-C) in Pigs. Viruses 2025, 17, 164. https://doi.org/10.3390/v17020164
AMA Style
Jhelum H, Kunec D, Papatsiros V, Kaufer BB, Denner J. Reliable Polymerase Chain Reaction Methods for Screening for Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses-C (PERV-C) in Pigs. Viruses. 2025; 17(2):164. https://doi.org/10.3390/v17020164
Chicago/Turabian Style
Jhelum, Hina, Dusan Kunec, Vasileios Papatsiros, Benedikt B. Kaufer, and Joachim Denner. 2025. "Reliable Polymerase Chain Reaction Methods for Screening for Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses-C (PERV-C) in Pigs" Viruses 17, no. 2: 164. https://doi.org/10.3390/v17020164
APA Style
Jhelum, H., Kunec, D., Papatsiros, V., Kaufer, B. B., & Denner, J. (2025). Reliable Polymerase Chain Reaction Methods for Screening for Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses-C (PERV-C) in Pigs. Viruses, 17(2), 164. https://doi.org/10.3390/v17020164
Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
Viruses, EISSN 1999-4915, Published by MDPI
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