表达绿色荧光蛋白的重组CVI988病毒的构建及特性

提取马立克氏病毒Ⅰ型疫苗毒株CVI988的总DNA为模板,利用PCR技术扩增出病毒生长非必需的US2基因并克隆入T—easy载体。将CMV启动子和增强子控制的含GFP基因表达盒克隆入US2基因中,成功构建了含GFP基因的转移质粒载体pGUS2GFP。用脂质体将其与CVI988株共转染CEF细胞,用96孔板稀释法得到纯化的表达绿色荧光蛋白的重组CVI988病毒株rCVIGFP,并分别测定其在体内和体外的生长情况。表达EGFP基因的重组病毒在细胞上生长曲线与亲本毒CVI988类似,体外实验表明,1日龄腹腔接种该重组毒后,可以从鸡体内分离到表达绿色荧光的病毒。     

表达绿色荧光蛋白的重组CVI988病毒的构建及特性

提取马立克氏病毒I型疫苗毒株CVI988的总DNA为模板,利用PCR技术扩增出病毒生长非必需的US2基因并克隆入T-easy载体.将CMV启动子和增强子控制的含GFP基因表达盒克隆入US2基因中,成功构建了含GFP基因的转移质粒载体pGUS2GFP.用脂质体将其与CVI988 株共转染CEF细胞,用96孔板稀释法得到纯化的表达绿色荧光蛋白的重组CVI988病毒株rCVIGFP,并分别测定其在体内和体外的生长情况.表达EGFP基因的重组病毒在细胞上生长曲线与亲本毒CVI988类似,体外实验表明,1日龄腹腔接种该重组毒后,可以从鸡体内分离到表达绿色荧光的病毒.     

Construction and Characterization of a Streptococcus suis Serotype 2 Recombinant Expressing Enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein

Streptococcus suis serotype 2 (S. suis 2) is an important pathogen, responsible for diverse diseases in swine and humans. To obtain a S. suis 2 strain that can be tracked in vitro and in vivo, we constructed the Egfp-HA9801 recombinant S. suis 2 strain with egfp and spc(r) genes inserted via homologous recombination. To assess the effects of the egfp and spc(r) genes in HA9801, the biochemical characteristics, growth features and virulence in Balb/C mice were compared between the recombinant and the parent HA9801 strain. We detected the EGFP expression from Egfp-HA9801 by epifluorescence microscopy. The results showed that the biochemical characterization and growth features of the Egfp-HA9801 recombinant were highly similar to that of the parent HA9801. We did not find significant differences in lethality (50% lethal dose), morbidity and mortality between the two strains. Furthermore, the bacterial counts in each various tissues of Egfp-HA9801-infected mice displayed similar dynamic compared with the HA9801-infected mice. Our results also showed that the Egfp-HA9801 cells grown at 37°C for 36 h displayed greater green fluorescence signals than the cells grown at 28°C for 36 h and 37°C for 24 h. The fluorescence in the tissue cryosections of Egfp-HA9801-injected mice was also stronger than that of the HA9801 group. Together, these results indicate that the egfp and spc(r) insertions into the Egfp-HA9801 recombinant did not significantly change the virulence when compared with HA980, and this EGFP labeled strain can be used for future S. suis 2 pathogenesis research.     

In Vivo Tracking of Campylobacter jejuni by Using a Novel Recombinant Expressing Green Fluorescent Protein

Campylobacter jejuni is a leading cause of food-borne disease in developed countries. The goal of this study was to develop a plasmid-based reporter system with green fluorescent protein (GFP) to facilitate the study of C. jejuni in a variety of niches. C. jejuni transformants harboring the pMEK91 GFP gene (gfp)-containing vector were readily detectable by both fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. Given the ease of detecting these organisms, additional experiments were performed in which BALB/c mice were injected intraperitoneally with C. jejuni harboring the gfp-containing vector. Four hours after injection of the mice, flow cytometry analyses determined that C. jejuni synthesizing GFP were predominantly associated with granulocytes. More specifically, the proportion of CD11b⁺ Gr-1⁺ lavage neutrophils with green fluorescence ranged from 99.7 to 100%, while the proportion of CD11b⁺ Gr-1⁻ lavage macrophages ranged from 77.0 to 80.0%. In contrast, few CD11b⁻ CD45R⁺ B lymphocytes from the lavage of the C. jejuni-injected mice were associated with green-fluorescent C. jejuni (proportions ranged from 0.75 to 0.77%). Cell-free C. jejuni was recovered from tissue homogenates after intraperitoneal injection. Macrorestriction profiling with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis identified a genotypic variant of the C. jejuni F38011 wild-type isolate. In vivo this variant displayed a phenotype identical to that of the wild-type isolate. In summary, we demonstrate that C. jejuni associates with marker-defined cellular subsets in vivo with a novel gfp reporter system and that C. jejuni genotypic variants can be isolated from both in vitro and in vivo systems.     

Rescue and Preliminary Application of a Recombinant Newcastle Disease Virus Expressing Green Fluorescent Protein Gene

Based on the complete genome sequence of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) ZJI strain, seven pairs of primers were designed to amplify a cDNA fragment for constructing the plasmid pNDV/ZJI, which contained the full-length cDNA of the NDV ZJI strain. The pNDV/ZJI, with three helper plasmids, pCIneoNP, pCIneoP and pCIneoL, were then cotransfected into BSR-T7/5 cells expressing T7 RNA polymerase. After inoculation of the transfected cell culture supernatant into embryonated chicken eggs from specific-pathogen-free (SPF) flock, an infectious NDV ZJI strain was successfully rescued. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene was amplified and inserted into the NDV full-length cDNA to generate a GFP-tagged recombinant plasmid pNDV/ZJIGFP. After cotransfection of the resultant plasmid and the three support plasmids into BSR-T7/5 cells, the recombinant NDV, NDV/ZJIGFP, was rescued. Specific green fluorescence was observed in BSR-T7/5 and chicken embryo fibroblast (CEF) cells 48h post-infection, indicating that the GFP gene was expressed at a relatively high level. NDV/ZJIGFP was inoculated into 10-day-old SPF chickens by oculonasal route. Four days post-infection, strong green fluorescence could be detected in the kidneys and tracheae, indicating that the recombinant GFP-tagged NDV could be a very useful tool for analysis of NDV dissemination and pathogenesis.     

表达绿色荧光蛋白突变体的重组伪狂犬病毒的构建及其增殖特性

将绿色荧光蛋白突变体M 1(EGFPS14 7/P)基因融合到伪狂犬病毒 (PRV)非必需糖蛋白 gG的第 8个氨基酸下游 ,通过同源重组、空斑纯化和PCR筛选获得能表达M 1并导致gG基因部分缺失的重组病毒 gG-/M1 。重组病毒经Southern杂交、Western印迹和荧光观察证实构建正确。纯化的重组病毒以低感染指数接种PK 15细胞 ,在感染早期 (6h)就能观察到荧光 ,随着病毒的增殖 ,荧光逐渐增强 (2 4～ 36h) ,直至完全病变 ,荧光淬灭。进一步对重组病毒gG-/M1 与亲本株gG-/LacZ 、野毒株的增殖特性进行比较 ,发现 3种毒株在增殖滴度上无显著差异。上述结果表明构建的PRVgG-/M1 突变株能作为活细胞示踪实时监测病毒感染的动态分析。     

表达狂犬病病毒糖蛋白的重组犬2型腺病毒的构建

本试验以犬2型腺病毒全基因组重组质粒pPolyⅡCAV 2及其E3 区重组质粒pVAX E3 为基础,通过DraⅢ和SspⅠ双酶切,缺失第25097bp 26141bp共1044bp的E3区片段,按与编码链相同转录方向插入由CMV启动子、狂犬病病毒SRV9 株糖蛋白基因、SV40 polyA基因构成的总长2424bp的表达盒,获得重组基因组质粒pPolyⅡCAV 2 CGS(34.7kb)。以AscⅠ和ClaⅠ双酶切,游离重组基因组(32.7kb),在脂质体LipofectamineTM 2000 介导下,转染MDCK细胞系,获得了E3 缺失区携带狂犬病病毒糖蛋白表达盒的重组犬2 型腺病毒CAV 2 CGS。Western印迹试验表明,CAV 2 CGS表达了狂犬病病毒糖蛋白。初步接种试验显示,重组病毒可以诱导犬产生狂犬病病毒特异性抗体。     

表达狂犬病病毒糖蛋白的重组犬2型腺病毒的构建

本试验以犬2型腺病毒全基因组重组质粒pPolyⅡ-CAV-2及其E3区重组质粒pVAX-E3为基础,通过DraⅢ和SspⅠ双酶切,缺失第25097bp-26141bp共1044bp的E3区片段,按与编码链相同转录方向插入由CMV启动子、狂犬病病毒SRV\-9株糖蛋白基因、SV40 polyA基因构成的总长2424bp的表达盒,获得重组基因组质粒pPolyⅡ-CAV-2-CGS(34.7kb).以AscⅠ和ClaⅠ双酶切,游离重组基因组(32.7kb),在脂质体Lipofectamine TM 2000介导下,转染MDCK细胞系,获得了E3缺失区携带狂犬病病毒糖蛋白表达盒的重组犬2型腺病毒CAV-2-CGS.Western印迹试验表明,CAV-2-CGS表达了狂犬病病毒糖蛋白.初步接种试验显示,重组病毒可以诱导犬产生狂犬病病毒特异性抗体.     

一株新的狂犬病重组痘苗病毒某些生物学性质的研究

对表达狂犬病毒糖蛋白的重组痘苗病毒ＶＶＭ１１ＫＲＧ株生物学性质进行了研究,该重组病毒的特点是：（１）糖蛋白基因插入到痘苗病毒天坛株基因组ＨｉｎｄⅢＭ片段中;（２）启动子为痘苗病毒天坛株Ｐ１１晚期启动子;（３）不含外源ｌａｃ基因。该重组病毒在ＣＶ－１细胞和鸡胚细胞上繁殖滴渡略高于另一株重组痘苗病毒ＶＶＴＫ１１ＫＲＧ,在鸡胚细胞中繁殖滴度第三天达到最高,在ＣＶ－１细胞中第二天达到最高。温度稳定性与天坛株相比没有明显改变。重组病毒在家兔皮内的毒力比亲本株（天坛株）低。间接免疫荧光和Ｗｅｓｔｅｒｎｂｌｏｔ都证明了狂犬病毒糖蛋白有良好的表达。通过Ｓｏｕｔｈｅｒｎｂｌｏｔ证实糖蛋白基因准确地插入到ＨｉｎｄⅢＭ片段中。重组痘苗病毒启动子与部分糖蛋白基因克隆到ｐＧＥＭ３ｚｆ（－）质粒上,对该段ＤＮＡ序列分析表明不会产生移码和融合蛋白,从而为该重组病毒的使用提供了明确的基因背景资料。     

表达绿色荧光蛋白嵌合狂犬病病毒HEP-GFP株的拯救

狂犬病毒(Rabies Virus,RV)是人和犬、猫等多种动物狂犬病的病原,其基因组是单股负链RNA,基因组结构为3'-核蛋白(N)基因-磷蛋白(P)基因-基质蛋白(M)基因-糖蛋白(G)基因-大蛋白(L)基因-5'.     

Visualizing the Replication Cycle of Bunyamwera Orthobunyavirus Expressing Fluorescent Protein-Tagged Gc Glycoprotein

The virion glycoproteins Gn and Gc of Bunyamwera virus (BUNV), the prototype of the Bunyaviridae family and also of the Orthobunyavirus genus, are encoded by the medium (M) RNA genome segment and are involved in both viral attachment and entry. After their synthesis Gn and Gc form a heterodimer in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and transit to the Golgi compartment for virus assembly. The N-terminal half of the Gc ectodomain was previously shown to be dispensable for virus replication in cell culture (X. Shi, J. Goli, G. Clark, K. Brauburger, and R. M. Elliott, J. Gen. Virol. 90:2483-2492, 2009.). In this study, the coding sequence for a fluorescent protein, either enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) or mCherry fluorescent protein, was fused to the N terminus of truncated Gc, and two recombinant BUNVs (rBUNGc-eGFP and rBUNGc-mCherry) were rescued by reverse genetics. The recombinant viruses showed bright autofluorescence under UV light and were competent for replication in various mammalian cell lines. rBUNGc-mCherry was completely stable over 10 passages, whereas internal, in-frame deletions occurred in the chimeric Gc-eGFP protein of rBUNGc-eGFP, resulting in loss of fluorescence between passages 5 and 7. Autofluorescence of the recombinant viruses allowed visualization of different stages of the infection cycle, including virus attachment to the cell surface, budding of virus particles in Golgi membranes, and virus-induced morphological changes to the Golgi compartment at later stages of infection. The fluorescent protein-tagged viruses will be valuable reagents for live-cell imaging studies to investigate virus entry, budding, and morphogenesis in real time.Bunyamwera virus (BUNV) is the prototype of both the family Bunyaviridae and the genus Orthobunyavirus. The characteristic features shared by all viruses in the family (known as bunyaviruses) include spherical virion morphology, possession of a tripartite, single-stranded RNA genome of negative or ambisense polarity, cytoplasmic site of virus replication, and assembly and budding of progeny particles at membranes of the Golgi complex (6, 27). The family includes a number of significant human pathogens such as La Crosse virus (LACV), Hantaan virus (HTNV), Sin Nombre virus (SNV), Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) (7). All bunyaviruses encode four structural proteins, two surface glycoproteins called Gn and Gc, and two internal proteins, N (nucleocapsid protein that encapsidates the genomic RNA segments) and L (RNA-dependent RNA polymerase). In addition, the majority of bunyaviruses also encode nonstructural proteins. The sizes of the viral proteins vary considerably across the family though they are relatively well conserved between viruses within a particular genus. The glycoproteins form spikes on the virion surface and are involved in viral attachment and cell fusion (35). They are encoded by the medium (M) RNA genome segment as a polyprotein precursor (Gn at the N terminus and Gc at the C terminus) that is cleaved cotranslationally to yield the mature virion glycoproteins. Both glycoproteins are type I integral transmembrane (TM) proteins and are modified by N-linked glycosylation. Gn and Gc form a heterodimer in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) prior to trafficking and retention in the Golgi compartment for virus assembly (31, 35). The BUNV M segment additionally encodes a nonstructural protein termed NSm that is sandwiched between Gn and Gc (19). BUNV NSm is also an integral membrane protein, and the N-terminal domain, at least, of NSm is required for virus assembly (42). BUNV Gn is able to target to the Golgi complex alone, whereas correct folding, maturation, and Golgi complex targeting of the Gc protein depends on the chaperone-like assistance of Gn (18, 38, 44).The BUNV Gn protein consists of 302 residues with a rather long predicted cytoplasmic tail (CT) of 78 residues, while the larger Gc protein comprises 957 residues with a CT of only 25 residues (Fig. ​(Fig.1)1) (8, 19). The CT domains of both Gn and Gc play crucial roles in BUNV-mediated membrane fusion, virus assembly, and morphogenesis (43). Functional analysis of deletion mutants of BUNV Gc indicated that nearly half of its N-terminal ectodomain (453 residues out of 909 residues) is dispensable for Golgi trafficking, cell fusion, and virus replication in cell culture (41). Similarly, characterization of mutants of the related Maguari virus (MAGV) also showed that the N-terminal domain of Gc was not essential for growth in cell culture (33). These data suggested that it might be possible to insert foreign sequences, e.g., those encoding an autofluorescent protein, in place of the N-terminal domain to generate recombinant viruses expressing a tagged Gc protein (41).Open in a separate windowFIG. 1.Schematic diagrams of eGFP- and mCherry-tagged BUNV glycoproteins. The layout of the wt BUNV glycoprotein precursor (Gn, NSm, and Gc) is shown at the top, with positions of amino acid residues marking the protein boundaries indicated. Below is shown the structure of the chimeric Gc protein, with substitution of the N terminus of Gc (residues 500 to 826) with the coding sequence of either enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) or mCherry fluorescent protein (mC) attached to truncated Gc. The predicted topology of Gn and eGFP/mCherry-tagged Gc on the viral envelope is shown at the bottom. SS, signal peptide; TMD, transmembrane domain. The filled diamonds indicate glycosylation sites.In this paper we report the successful insertion of the coding region of either the enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) or mCherry red fluorescent protein into the BUNV glycoprotein precursor to replace the dispensable region at the N terminus of the Gc ectodomain. Viable viruses with Gc tagged by either eGFP or mCherry were rescued by reverse genetics, and fluorescent extracellular virions were detectable by conventional fluorescence or confocal microscopy. The processes of virus attachment and internalization and budding of progeny virions could be visualized in infected cells.     

A Novel Rabies Vaccine Based on a Recombinant Parainfluenza Virus 5 Expressing Rabies Virus Glycoprotein

Untreated rabies virus (RABV) infection leads to death. Vaccine and postexposure treatment have been effective in preventing RABV infection. However, due to cost, rabies vaccination and treatment have not been widely used in developing countries. There are 55,000 human death caused by rabies annually. An efficacious and cost-effective rabies vaccine is needed. Parainfluenza virus 5 (PIV5) is thought to contribute to kennel cough, and kennel cough vaccines containing live PIV5 have been used in dogs for many years. In this work, a PIV5-vectored rabies vaccine was tested in mice. A recombinant PIV5 encoding RABV glycoprotein (G) (rPIV5-RV-G) was administered to mice via intranasal (i.n.), intramuscular (i.m.), and oral inoculation. The vaccinated mice were challenged with a 50% lethal challenge dose (LD₅₀) of RABV challenge virus standard 24 (CVS-24) intracerebrally. A single dose of 10⁶ PFU of rPIV5-RV-G was sufficient for 100% protection when administered via the i.n. route. The mice vaccinated with a single dose of 10⁸ PFU of rPIV5-RV-G via the i.m. route showed very robust protection (90% to 100%). Intriguingly, the mice vaccinated orally with a single dose of 10⁸ PFU of rPIV5-RV-G showed a 50% survival rate, which is comparable to the 60% survival rate among mice inoculated with an attenuated rabies vaccine strain, recombinant LBNSE. This is first report of an orally effective rabies vaccine candidate in animals based on PIV5 as a vector. These results indicate that rPIV5-RV-G is an excellent candidate for a new generation of recombinant rabies vaccine for humans and animals and PIV5 is a potential vector for oral vaccines.     

Identification of Infected B-Cell Populations by Using a Recombinant Murine Gammaherpesvirus 68 Expressing a Fluorescent Protein

Infection of inbred mice with murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV68) has proven to be a powerful tool to study gammaherpesvirus pathogenesis. However, one of the limitations of this system has been the inability to directly detect infected cells harvested from infected animals. To address this issue, we generated a transgenic virus that expresses the enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (YFP), driven by the human cytomegalovirus immediate-early promoter and enhancer, from a neutral locus within the viral genome. This virus, MHV68-YFP, replicated and established latency as efficiently as did the wild-type virus. During the early phase of viral latency, MHV68-YFP efficiently marked latently infected cells in the spleen after intranasal inoculation. Staining splenocytes for expression of various surface markers demonstrated the presence of MHV68 in distinct populations of splenic B cells harboring MHV68. Notably, these analyses also revealed that markers used to discriminate between newly formed, follicular and marginal zone B cells may not be reliable for phenotyping B cells harboring MHV68 since virus infection appears to modulate cell surface expression levels of CD21 and CD23. However, as expected, we observed that the overwhelming majority of latently infected B cells at the peak of latency exhibited a germinal center phenotype. These analyses also demonstrated that a significant percentage of MHV68-infected splenocytes at the peak of viral latency are plasma cells (ca. 15% at day 14 and ca. 8% at day 18). Notably, the frequency of virus-infected plasma cells correlated well with the frequency of splenocytes that spontaneously reactivate virus upon explant. Finally, we observed that the efficiency of marking latently infected B cells with the MHV68-YFP recombinant virus declined at later times postinfection, likely due to shut down of transgene expression, and indicating that the utility of this marking strategy is currently limited to the early stages of virus infection.Gammaherpesviruses are characterized by their ability to establish life-long infection in lymphocytes of their host as well as their oncogenic potential. The human gammaherpesviruses, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8; also known as Kaposi''s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus [KSHV]), are associated with a variety of neoplasms. EBV has been implicated in Burkitt''s lymphoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and non-Hodgkin''s lymphoma (15, 27, 33). HHV-8 has been associated with Kaposi''s sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma, and multicentric Castleman''s disease (4, 5, 7, 24).Research on the human gammaherpesvirus is hindered by their strict species specificity, and thus has been limited mostly to in vitro analyses. Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV68) is a closely related gammaherpesvirus that naturally infects rodents and provides a useful small animal model to study aspects of gammaherpesvirus pathogenesis that cannot be addressed for the human herpesviruses (3, 22, 25). In addition, the viral genome has been cloned as a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) and can readily be manipulated in Escherichia coli (1) and, coupled with the availability of numerous transgenic and knockout strains of mice, MHV68 infection of laboratory mice has provided a powerful small animal model for characterizing basic aspects of gammaherpesvirus pathogenesis in vivo.Like the human gammaherpesviruses, MHV68 establishes long-term latency in B cells, although at early time points after infection latency can also be detected in macrophages and dendritic cells (11, 26, 30). Acute infection is cleared around 2 to 3 weeks postinfection, and by days 16 to 18 postinfection the frequency of viral genome-positive cells in the spleen is ca. 1 in 100 splenocytes (19, 31). This is the peak of splenic latency, and the frequency of infected cells begins to decline significantly until it reaches a steady-state level of ca. 1 in 10,000 splenocytes by 3 months postinfection. Previous analyses have shown that latency is mainly established in germinal center (GC) and memory B cells (12, 19, 31). At early time points during the establishment of latency, the GC fraction has been shown to have the highest percentage of infected cells (ca. 60 to 80% of MHV68-infected B cells) (12). However, even in this population, only around 10% of total GC cells are infected (12). This low frequency limits detailed molecular analyses that can be performed on infected cells (e.g., analysis of virus-induced changes in cellular gene expression).Until now, there has not been an efficient way to directly detect or purify/enrich for MHV68-infected cells harvested from the spleens of infected mice. Because of these issues, we sought to develop a method to efficiently mark infected cells that would allow easy detection, as well as isolation, of infected cells. To this end, we created a transgenic virus that expresses the enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) from a neutral locus in the viral genome located between open reading frames (ORFs) 27 and 29b. We have previously used this locus to introduce other transgenes (Cre-recombinase and IκBαM expression cassettes) and have shown that this locus tolerates the insertion of transgene expression cassettes (14, 20). We show here that the MHV68-YFP recombinant virus is capable of efficiently marking infected cells, that highly enriched populations of infected cells can easily be isolated based of YFP expression, and that direct detection of infected cells provides a powerful tool for phenotypic analysis of infected cell populations.     

Green Fluorescent Protein-labeled Recombinant Fluobody for Detecting the Picloram Herbicide

A green fluorescent protein-labeled fluobody was designed to develop a simple immunoassay method for detecting picloram herbicide in an environmental sample. The gfp gene was successfully inserted into the pSJF2 vector harboring the picloram-specific antibody fragment to yield pSJF2GFP. Picloram spiking in an environmental river sample could be indirectly detected by observing the fluorescence intensity value of the gfp-fluobody, exhibiting specific sensitivity to free picloram with an IC₅₀ value of 50 ppb. Using the gfp-fluobody immunoassay avoids the enzyme-substrate reaction for calorimetric detection that is required in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).     

A New Rabies Vaccine Based on a Recombinant Orf Virus (Parapoxvirus) Expressing the Rabies Virus Glycoprotein

The present study describes the generation of a new Orf virus (ORFV) recombinant, D1701-V-RabG, expressing the rabies virus (RABV) glycoprotein that is correctly presented on the surface of infected cells without the need of replication or production of infectious recombinant virus. One single immunization with recombinant ORFV can stimulate high RABV-specific virus-neutralizing antibody (VNA) titers in mice, cats, and dogs, representing all nonpermissive hosts for the ORFV vector. The protective immune response against severe lethal challenge infection was analyzed in detail in mice using different dosages, numbers, and routes for immunization with the ORFV recombinant. Long-term levels of VNA could be elicited that remained greater than 0.5 IU per ml serum, indicative for the protective status. Single applications of higher doses (10⁷ PFU) can be sufficient to confer complete protection against intracranial (i.c.) challenge, whereas booster immunization was needed for protection by the application of lower dosages. Anamnestic immune responses were achieved by each of the seven tested routes of inoculation, including oral application. Finally, in vivo antibody-mediated depletion of CD4-positive and/or CD8-posititve T cell subpopulations during immunization and/or challenge infection attested the importance of CD4 T cells for the induction of protective immunity by D1701-V-RabG. This report demonstrates another example of the potential of the ORFV vector and also indicates the capability of the new recombinant for vaccination of animals.     

Recombinant Measles Virus Vaccine Expressing the Nipah Virus Glycoprotein Protects against Lethal Nipah Virus Challenge

Nipah virus (NiV) is a member of the genus Henipavirus, which emerged in Malaysia in 1998. In pigs, infection resulted in a predominantly non-lethal respiratory disease; however, infection in humans resulted in over 100 deaths. Nipah virus has continued to re-emerge in Bangladesh and India, and person-to-person transmission appeared in the outbreak. Although a number of NiV vaccine studies have been reported, there are currently no vaccines or treatments licensed for human use. In this study, we have developed a recombinant measles virus (rMV) vaccine expressing NiV envelope glycoproteins (rMV-HL-G and rMV-Ed-G). Vaccinated hamsters were completely protected against NiV challenge, while the mortality of unvaccinated control hamsters was 90%. We trialed our vaccine in a non-human primate model, African green monkeys. Upon intraperitoneal infection with NiV, monkeys showed several clinical signs of disease including severe depression, reduced ability to move and decreased food ingestion and died at 7 days post infection (dpi). Intranasal and oral inoculation induced similar clinical illness in monkeys, evident around 9 dpi, and resulted in a moribund stage around 14 dpi. Two monkeys immunized subcutaneously with rMV-Ed-G showed no clinical illness prior to euthanasia after challenge with NiV. Viral RNA was not detected in any organ samples collected from vaccinated monkeys, and no pathological changes were found upon histopathological examination. From our findings, we propose that rMV-NiV-G is an appropriate NiV vaccine candidate for use in humans.