Protection of a single dose west nile virus recombinant subviral particle vaccine against lineage 1 or 2 strains and analysis of the cross-reactivity with Usutu virus

Teresa Merino-Ramos; Ana-Belén Blázquez; Estela Escribano-Romero; Rodrigo Cañas-Arranz; Francisco Sobrino; Juan-Carlos Saiz; Miguel A Martín-Acebes

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0108056

Protection of a single dose west nile virus recombinant subviral particle vaccine against lineage 1 or 2 strains and analysis of the cross-reactivity with Usutu virus

PLoS One. 2014 Sep 17;9(9):e108056. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0108056. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Teresa Merino-Ramos¹, Ana-Belén Blázquez¹, Estela Escribano-Romero¹, Rodrigo Cañas-Arranz², Francisco Sobrino², Juan-Carlos Saiz¹, Miguel A Martín-Acebes²

Affiliations

¹ Departamento de Biotecnología, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), Madrid, Spain.
² Departamento de Virología y Microbiología, Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CSIC-UAM), Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain.

Abstract

West Nile virus (WNV) is a neurovirulent mosquito-borne flavivirus. High WNV virulence was mainly associated with lineage 1 strains, but recent outbreaks have unveiled circulation of highly virulent lineage 2 strains. Co-expression of flavivirus prM and E glycoproteins drives the assembly of recombinant subviral particles (RSPs) that share antigenic features with virions. Mouse immunization with lineage 1 WNV RSPs induced a potent humoral response against WNV with production of neutralizing antibodies. A single inoculation of RSPs formulated with Al(OH)3 as adjuvant protected mice against a lethal challenge with WNV strains from lineage 1 or 2. The cross-reactivity of the response elicited by these RSPs was analyzed against the related flavivirus Usutu virus (USUV), which shares multiple ecological and antigenic features with WNV. Immunization with WNV-RSPs increased specific, although low, antibody titers found upon subsequent USUV infection.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Antigens, Viral / immunology
Cross Reactions*
Female
Genetic Variation
HEK293 Cells
HeLa Cells
Humans
Immunity, Humoral
Immunization
Mice
Vaccines, Synthetic / immunology
Viral Envelope Proteins / immunology
West Nile Virus Vaccines / immunology*
West Nile virus / genetics
West Nile virus / immunology*

Substances

Antigens, Viral
Vaccines, Synthetic
Viral Envelope Proteins
West Nile Virus Vaccines

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grant BIO2011-24351 and an institutional grant from Fundación Ramón Areces to F.S., grant RTA2013-0036 to J.-C.S. and by grant ERTA2013-00013-C04-00. M.A.M.-A. is a recipient of a “Junta de Ampliación de Estudios (JAE)”? post-doctoral fellowship from the Spanish Research Council (CSIC). T.M.-R. is a recipient of a “Formación de Personal Investigador (FPI)”? pre-doctoral fellowship from INIA. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.