A Bacterially-Expressed Recombinant Envelope Protein from Usutu Virus Induces Neutralizing Antibodies in Rabbits

Overview

Journal Vaccines (Basel)

Date 2021 Mar 6

PMID 33669414

Citations 3

Authors

Kinga Boszormenyi

Janet Hirsch

Gwendoline Kiemenyi Kayere

Zahra Fagrouch

Nicole Heijmans

Roberto Rodriguez Garcia

Soesjiel Dwarka

Amy Van Dijke

Boyd Aaldijk

Ronald Limpens

Montserrat Barcena

Bram Koster

Babs Verstrepen

Willy Bogers

Clemens Kocken

Gesine Cornellissen

Ernst Verschoor

Bart Faber

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Recently, an emerging flavivirus, Usutu virus (USUV), has caused an epidemic among birds in Europe, resulting in a massive die-off in Eurasian blackbirds. Currently found only in Europe and Africa, it can be envisioned that Usutu virus will follow the path of other flaviviruses, like West Nile virus and Zika virus, and will spread via its mosquito vectors and bird hosts to other parts of the world. Several cases of human infections by Usutu virus have already been published. Anticipating this spread, development of an efficacious vaccine would be highly desirable.

Method: This study describes the production in , purification, and refolding of a partial USUV envelope protein. Prior to immunization, the protein was characterized using size exclusion chromatography, transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering, showing the limited presence of virus-like structures, indicating that the protein solution is probably a mixture of mono and multimeric envelope proteins.

Results: Immunizations of two rabbits with the refolded E-protein fraction, mixed with a strong adjuvant, resulted in the generation of neutralizing antibodies, as evidenced in an in vitro assay.

Discussion: The way forward towards a subunit vaccine against Usutu virus infection is discussed.

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