4.7 Article

Plant-Produced Antigen Displaying Virus-Like Particles Evokes Potent Antibody Responses against West Nile Virus in Mice

Journal

VACCINES
Volume 9, Issue 1, Pages -

Publisher

MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/vaccines9010060

Keywords

West Nile virus; virus-like particle (VLP); plant-made vaccine; vaccine; envelope protein; domain III (DIII)

Funding

  1. NIAID [U01 AI075549, R21 AI101329]

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The study developed a VLP vaccine based on HBcAg displaying WNV Envelope protein wDIII, which showed high immunogenicity and potential as an effective, safe, and low-cost option for WNV vaccines.
In this study, we developed a hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg)-based virus-like particle (VLP) that displays the West Nile virus (WNV) Envelope protein domain III (wDIII) as a vaccine candidate for WNV. The HBcAg-wDIII fusion protein was quickly produced in Nicotiana benthamiana plants and reached a high expression level of approximately 1.2 mg of fusion protein per gram of leaf fresh weight within six days post gene infiltration. Electron microscopy and gradient centrifugation analysis indicated that the introduction of wDIII did not interfere with VLP formation and HBcAg-wDIII successfully assembled into VLPs. HBcAg-wDIII VLPs can be easily purified in large quantities from Nicotiana benthamiana leaves to >95% homogeneity. Further analysis revealed that the wDIII was displayed properly and demonstrated specific binding to an anti-wDIII monoclonal antibody that recognizes a conformational epitope of wDIII. Notably, HBcAg-wDIII VLPs were shown to be highly immunogenic and elicited potent humoral responses in mice with antigen-specific IgG titers equivalent to that of protective wDIII antigens in previous studies. Thus, our wDIII-based VLP vaccine offers an attractive option for developing effective, safe, and low-cost vaccines against WNV.

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