20] Design, construction, and characterization of poliovirus antigen chimeras

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the techniques involved in the construction and use of poliovirus complementary DNA (cDNA) cassette vectors and in the recovery and exploitation of poliovirus antigen chimeras. It presents the detailed knowledge of the structure of the poliovirus in experiments aimed at redesigning the antigenic characteristics of the virus particle. This work started as part of a research into the designing of new improved polio vaccines but has also opened up the possibility of constructing vaccines against other infectious diseases, based on the poliovirus particle. The studies have resulted in the development of poliovirus as an epitope expression vector into which short, well-defined antigenic peptides can be inserted. In practice, the antigenic characterization involves two well documented approaches: (1) single radial immunodiffusion or antigen-blocking assays and (2) the neutralization of virus infectivity. Both assays can be used to demonstrate an interaction between the chimeric virus and antibodies raised against the foreign protein from which the expressed epitope is derived.