Evaluation of immunity and protective efficacy of a dengue-3 premembrane and envelope DNA vaccine in Aotus nancymae monkeys

• Published in: Vaccine 2006-02, Vol.24 (9), p.1427-1432
• Main Authors: Blair, Patrick J., Kochel, Tadeusz J., Raviprakash, Kanakatte, Guevara, Carolina, Salazar, Milagros, Wu, Shuenn-Jue, Olson, James G., Porter, Kevin R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aotus; Aotus monkeys; Aotus nancymaee; Applied microbiology; Biological and medical sciences; Dengue; Dengue virus; DNA vaccine; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Microbiology; Vaccines, antisera, therapeutical immunoglobulins and monoclonal antibodies (general aspects)
• ISSN: 0264-410X; 1873-2518
• DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2005.09.032

A dengue (DEN) virus type 3 DNA vaccine expressing pre-membrane and envelope genes was tested for immunogenicity and protective efficacy in Aotus monkeys. Five of six vaccinated animals demonstrated moderate DEN-specific antibody responses as measured by ELISA and virus neutralization in vitro. By contrast, none of the six control animals developed detectable anti-DEN antibodies. When five vaccinated animals were challenged with live DEN-3 virus and viremia determined by PCR amplification of viral RNA in serum samples, one animal was completely protected and two were partially protected as indicated by a decrease in mean days of viremia. The results demonstrate the ability of the DEN-3 DNA vaccine to elicit a neutralizing antibody response and to partially protect against live virus challenge. These findings support the inclusion of this construct in a tetravalent DNA vaccine.