Immunogenic profile of a plant-produced nonavalent African horse sickness viral protein 2 (VP2) vaccine in IFNAR-/-mice

dc.contributor.authorO’Kennedy, Martha M.
dc.contributor.authorRoth, Robyn
dc.contributor.authorEbersohn, Karen
dc.contributor.authorDu Plessis, Lissinda H.
dc.contributor.authorMamputha, Sipho
dc.contributor.authorRutkowska, Daria A.
dc.contributor.authorDu Preez, Ilse
dc.contributor.authorVerschoor, Jan Adrianus
dc.contributor.authorLemmer, Yolandy
dc.date.accessioned2025-05-22T12:45:03Z
dc.date.available2025-05-22T12:45:03Z
dc.date.issued2024-04-16
dc.descriptionDATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.
dc.descriptionSUPPORTING INFORMATION : FIGURE S1. Cytotoxicity assessment of plant-produced immunogens. Cytotoxicity studies in Vero cells validating the (A) adjuvanted commercial vaccine, (B) VP2 proteins nonavalent (serotypes 1–9) combined versus plant extract, (C) plant produced VP2 proteins nonavalent (serotypes 1–9) combined and adjuvanted with Montanide Gel 01 or (D) plant produced VP2 proteins nonavalent (serotypes 1–9) combined and adjuvanted with Nanoalum. Statistical difference at P < 0.05 (indicated with a *) were considered significant in a two tailed Student’s t test. RAW IMAGES S1.
dc.description.abstractA safe, highly immunogenic multivalent vaccine to protect against all nine serotypes of African horse sickness virus (AHSV), will revolutionise the AHS vaccine industry in endemic countries and beyond. Plant-produced AHS virus-like particles (VLPs) and soluble viral protein 2 (VP2) vaccine candidates were developed that have the potential to protect against all nine serotypes but can equally well be formulated as mono- and bi-valent formulations for localised outbreaks of specific serotypes. In the first interferon α/β receptor knock-out (IFNAR-/-) mice trial conducted, a nine-serotype (nonavalent) vaccine administered as two pentavalent (5 μg per serotype) vaccines (VLP/VP2 combination or exclusively VP2), were directly compared to the commercially available AHS live attenuated vaccine. In a follow up trial, mice were vaccinated with an adjuvanted nine-serotype multivalent VP2 vaccine in a prime boost strategy and resulted in the desired neutralising antibody titres of 1:320, previously demonstrated to confer protective immunity in IFNAR-/- mice. In addition, the plant-produced VP2 vaccine performed favourably when compared to the commercial vaccine. Here we provide compelling data for a nonavalent VP2-based vaccine candidate, with the VP2 from each serotype being antigenically distinguishable based on LC-MS/MS and ELISA data. This is the first preclinical trial demonstrating the ability of an adjuvanted nonavalent cocktail of soluble, plant-expressed AHS VP2 proteins administered in a prime-boost strategy eliciting high antibody titres against all 9 AHSV serotypes. Furthermore, elevated T helper cells 2 (Th2) and Th1, indicative of humoral and cell-mediated memory T cell immune responses, respectively, were detected in mouse serum collected 14 days after the multivalent prime-boost vaccination. Both Th2 and Th1 may play a role to confer protective immunity. These preclinical immunogenicity studies paved the way to test the safety and protective efficacy of the plant-produced nonavalent VP2 vaccine candidate in the target animals, horses.
dc.description.departmentVeterinary Tropical Diseases
dc.description.departmentBiochemistry
dc.description.librarianam2025
dc.description.sdgSDG-03: Good health and well-being
dc.description.sponsorshipHorserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
dc.description.urihttps://journals.plos.org/plosone/
dc.identifier.citationO’Kennedy, M.M., Roth, R., Ebersohn, K., Du Plessis, L.H., Mamputha, S., Rutkowska, D.A., et al. (2024) Immunogenic profile of a plant-produced nonavalent African horse sickness viral protein 2 (VP2) vaccine in IFNAR-/-mice. PLoS ONE 19(4): e0301340. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301340.
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.1371/journal.pone.0301340
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/102482
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherPublic Library of Science
dc.rights© 2024 O’Kennedy et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
dc.subjectAfrican horse sickness virus (AHSV)
dc.subjectVaccine
dc.subjectVirus-like particle (VLP)
dc.subjectMice trial
dc.subjectViral protein 2 (VP2)
dc.titleImmunogenic profile of a plant-produced nonavalent African horse sickness viral protein 2 (VP2) vaccine in IFNAR-/-mice
dc.typeArticle

Files

Original bundle

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
OKennedy_Immunogenic_2024.pdf
Size:
2.75 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Article
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
OKennedy_ImmunogenicFigS1_2024.pdf
Size:
261.03 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Figure S1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
OKennedy_ImmunogenicRawImagesS1_2024.pdf
Size:
372.48 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Raw Images S1

License bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description: