Truncated glycoprotein E of varicella-zoster virus is an ideal immunogen for Escherichia coli-based vaccine design

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is a highly infectious agent responsible for both varicella and herpes zoster disease. Despite high efficacy, there remain safety and accessibility concerns with the licensed vaccines. Here, we sought to produce a VZV gE immunogen using an E. coli expression system. We f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science China. Life sciences 2023-04, Vol.66 (4), p.743-753
Main Authors: Chen, Tingting, Sun, Jie, Zhang, Sibo, Li, Tingting, Liu, Liqin, Xue, Wenhui, Zhou, Lizhi, Liang, Siting, Yu, Zhili, Zheng, Qingbing, Yu, Hai, Cheng, Tong, Zhang, Jun, Gu, Ying, Li, Shaowei, Xia, Ningshao
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adjuvants, Immunologic
Aluminum
Antibodies, Viral
Antigenicity
Biomedical and Life Sciences
CD4 antigen
CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes
Cell-mediated immunity
Chicken pox
Chickenpox
E coli
Escherichia coli
Glycoprotein E
Herpes zoster
Herpes Zoster - prevention & control
Herpes Zoster Vaccine
Herpesvirus 3, Human
Humans
Immunization
Immunogenicity
Life Sciences
Lymphocytes T
Protein purification
Research Paper
Vaccines
Varicella
γ-Interferon
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Summary:Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is a highly infectious agent responsible for both varicella and herpes zoster disease. Despite high efficacy, there remain safety and accessibility concerns with the licensed vaccines. Here, we sought to produce a VZV gE immunogen using an E. coli expression system. We found that the soluble expression and yield of gE protein could be enhanced via C-terminal truncations to the protein, thereby facilitating a robust and scalable purification process for the purpose of vaccine manufacturing. The lead truncated gE (aa 31–358), hereafter referred to as tgE, was a homogenous monomer in solution and showed excellent antigenicity. Finally, we assessed and compared the immunogenicity of tgE with commercial vOka LAV and Shingrix vaccine. We found that aluminum-adjuvanted tgE was immunogenic as compared with vOka LAV. When adjuvanted with AS01 B , a two-dose immunization of tgE showed comparable or better potency in antibody responses and cell-mediated immunity with those of the Shingrix vaccine at the same dosage, especially in terms of the proportion of IFN-γ-expressing CD4 + T cells. In conclusion, this method of E. coli -mediate tgE expression offers a cost-effective and scalable strategy to generate an ideal VZV gE immunogen for the development of both varicella and zoster vaccines.
ISSN:1674-7305
1869-1889
DOI:10.1007/s11427-022-2264-1