AIV polyantigen epitope expressed by recombinant baculovirus induces a systemic immune response in chicken and mouse models

Lei Yu,Yunshan Zhang,Xiaolong Hu,Zi Liang,Mengsheng Jiang,Chengliang Gong,Renyu Xue,Min Zhu,Jun Pan,Guangli Cao,Xing Zhang

doi:10.1186/s12985-020-01388-w

Lei Yu, Yunshan Zhang + Show 9 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12985-020-01388-w

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Abstract

BackgroundThe protective efficacy of avian influenza virus (AIV) vaccines is unsatisfactory due to the presence of various serotypes generated by genetic reassortment. Thus, immunization with a polyantigen chimeric epitope vaccine may be an effective strategy for protecting poultry from infection with different AIV subtypes.MethodsBaculovirus has recently emerged as a novel and attractive gene delivery vehicle for animal cells. In the present study, a recombinant baculovirus BmNPV-CMV/THB-P10/CTLT containing a fused codon-optimized sequence (CTLT) of T lymphocyte epitopes from H1HA, H9HA, and H7HA AIV subtypes, and another fused codon-optimized sequence (THB) of Th and B cell epitopes from H1HA, H9HA, and H7HA AIV subtypes, driven by a baculovirus P10 promoter and cytomegalovirus CMV promoter, respectively, was constructed.ResultsWestern blotting and cellular immunofluorescence demonstrated that the CTLT (THB) can be expressed in rBac-CMV/THB-P10/CTLT-infected silkworm cells (mammalian HEK293T cells). Furthermore, the recombinant virus, rBac-CMV-THB-CTLT, was used to immunize both chickens and mice.ConclusionsThe results of an indirect ELISA, immunohistochemistry, and T lymphocyte proliferation assay indicated that specific humoral and cellular responses were detected in both chicken and mice. These results suggest that rBac-CMV/THB-P10/CTLT can be developed as a potential vaccine against different AIV subtypes.

Highlights

The protective efficacy of avian influenza virus (AIV) vaccines is unsatisfactory due to the presence of various serotypes generated by genetic reassortment
The results of the present study indicate that specific humoral and cellular responses can be detected in chickens and mice following the administration of rBac-CMV/Th and B cell (THB)-P10/ CTL multipleepitope antigens (CTLT), suggesting that rBac-CMV/THB-P10/CTLT can be developed as a potential vaccine against different AIV subtypes
Th and B cell (THB) epitope prediction Th cell epitopes prediction was performed with Support Vector Machine (SVM), Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Hidden Markov Model (HMM) methods, B cell epitopes prediction was performed with BepiPred [20] and PREDICTED ANTIGENIC

Summary

Introduction

The protective efficacy of avian influenza virus (AIV) vaccines is unsatisfactory due to the presence of various serotypes generated by genetic reassortment. Immunization with a polyantigen chimeric epitope vaccine may be an effective strategy for protecting poultry from infection with different AIV subtypes. Avian influenza (AI) is caused by AI virus (AIV) infections and is one of the most important diseases affecting the poultry industry. Yu et al Virology Journal (2020) 17:121 specific, a single AI vaccine cannot protect poultry from infections with various AIV subtypes [47]. Using reverse genetic systems for AIV [15, 33], custom-made inactivated AI vaccines that match circulating viruses can be created within a relative short period of time [48]. The use of inactivated AI vaccines is limited due to the high labor cost for intramuscular or subcutaneous vaccine injection

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