Efficacy of individual measles virus structural proteins in the protection of rats from measles encephalitis

Abstract

Lewis rats were immunized with recombinant vaccinia virus (VV) expressing the nucleocapsid (N), phospho (P), matrix (M), fusion (F), and haemagglutinin (H) proteins of measles virus (MV). Animals developed humoral as well as cell-mediated immune (CMI) responses to the corresponding MV proteins. Rats immunized with recombinants VVN, VVF or VVH survived a MV challenge infection whereas VVP-and VVM-immunized rats were only partially protected. In vivo depletion of CD8 ÷ T lymphocytes did not prevent the protective effect of the N, F or H protein-specific CMI response in rats. VVH and VVF immunization induced neutralizing antibodies, but no such antibodies were detected after VVN immunization. Further investigation of the temporal occurrence of the antiviral antibodies indicated that the observed protection provided by VVN and VVF immunization depends on CD4 ÷ N-or F-specific T cells in the absence of neutralizing antibodies and CD8 ÷ T cells. A role for neutralizing antibodies induced by VVH cannot be ruled out.

Vaccination against Canine Distemper Virus Infection in Infant Ferrets with and without Maternal Antibody Protection, Using Recombinant Attenuated Poxvirus Vaccines

“…While MV infects only humans and nonhuman primates by the natural, i.n. route, intracerebral inoculation of selected MV strains into rodents or ferrets does produce a disease similar to subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (5,9,46,50). Cotton rats can be infected with MV by the i.n.…”

Neutralizing Human Fab Fragments against Measles Virus Recovered by Phage Display

“…The importance of antibodies in the immunity against MV is also exemplified by protection of infants by maternal antibodies in the first months of life (16). Antibodies are induced to most viral proteins, but the major targets for the protective antibody responses are directed against the MV H and F proteins (5,37). Although MV is generally considered to be an antigenically conserved virus, differences in the presence of specific epitopes defined by the binding of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) have been described, showing that the H protein has the widest degree of variation between MV strains, while the F and N proteins are antigenically more conserved (34).…”

Oral or parenteral administration of replication-deficient adenoviruses expressing the measles virus haemagglutinin and fusion proteins: protective immune responses in rodents.

“…In the experiments described here, neither oral nor parenteral immunization of mice with the H-or the F-expressing adenovirus recombinants resulted in any detectable virus-neutralizing antibodies. In contrast, such antibodies, specific for both H and F proteins, are found as a result of human measles infection and have been found in animals immunized with vaccinia viruses containing these genes (Brinkmann et al, 1991 ;Drillien et al, 1988). However, poxvirus vectors expressing the related rinderpest virus haemagglutinin and fusion glycoproteins elicited poor and variable neutralizing antibody responses, although they protected both rabbits and cattle following a lethal virus challenge (Barrett et al, 1989 ;.…”