Protective immune responses in guinea pigs and swine induced by a suicidal DNA vaccine of the capsid gene of swine vesicular disease virus

• Published in: Journal of general virology 2007-03, Vol.88 (3), p.842-848
• Main Authors: Sun, S.Q, Liu, X.T, Guo, H.C, Yin, S.H, Shang, Y.J, Feng, X, Liu, Z.X, Xie, Q.G
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Antibodies, Viral - blood; antibody formation; Biological and medical sciences; Capsid Proteins - genetics; Capsid Proteins - immunology; Cell Line; Cell Proliferation; cell-mediated immunity; coat proteins; Cricetinae; Enterovirus B, Human - immunology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; genes; Genetic Vectors; Guinea Pigs; Human enterovirus B; humoral immunity; immune response; Immunization, Secondary; Lymphocyte Activation; lymphocyte proliferation; Lymphocytes - immunology; Microbiology; Miscellaneous; Neutralization Tests; neutralizing antibodies; plasmid vectors; Plasmids - genetics; recombinant vaccines; Semliki Forest virus; Semliki forest virus - genetics; suicidal DNA vaccines; Swine; Swine Vesicular Disease - prevention & control; Swine vesicular disease virus; transfection; vaccination; vaccine development; Vaccines, DNA - immunology; Viral Vaccines - immunology; Virology
• ISSN: 0022-1317; 1465-2099
• DOI: 10.1099/vir.0.82504-0

A suicidal DNA vaccine based on a Semliki Forest virus (SFV) replicon was evaluated for the development of a vaccine against swine vesicular disease virus (SVDV). The 1BCD gene of SVDV was cloned and inserted into pSCA1, an SFV DNA-based replicon vector. The resultant plasmid, pSCA/1BCD, was transfected into BHK-21 cells and the antigenicity of the expressed protein was confirmed using an indirect immunofluorescence assay. Immunogenicity was studied in guinea pigs and swine. Animals were injected intramuscularly three times with pSCA/1BCD at regular intervals. Anti-SVDV antibodies were detected by ELISA, the lymphocyte proliferation response was tested by the 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide method and neutralizing antibodies were measured by microneutralization tests. The data showed that SVDV-specific antibodies, neutralizing antibodies and lymphocyte proliferation were induced in both guinea pigs and swine. Furthermore, after three successive vaccinations with pSCA/1BCD, half of the pigs were protected against challenge with SVDV. These results should encourage further work towards the development of a DNA vaccine against SVDV.