Induction of Immune Response in Animal Model Using Recombinant Anti-NDV Vaccine

Abstract

Background Newcastle disease is a major avian disease that causes enormous economic loss in poultry industry. There have been a number of reports on the suitability of plant-based recombinant vaccine against this disease. Fusion (F) and hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) epitopes of the Newcastle disease virus (NDV) represent the major immunogenic sites for development of recombinant anti-ND vaccines in plant hosts. Objectives The main objective of this research was to evaluate the ability of a recombinant anti-ND vaccine in induction of immune responses in animal model. Materials and Methods In this study, immunogenicity of recombinant fusion (F) and hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) epitopes of the Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is investigated in an animal model. The corresponding genes encoding amino acids 65-81 of the F protein and 346-353 amino acids of HN were expressed in tobacco seedling using agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Expression of the foreign gene in the tobacco seedlings was investigated by a number of molecular assays including Real-Time PCR and ELISA. Transgenic plant extract was used to induce immunogenic response in animal model. Results Integration of the foreign gene in plant host genome was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Expression of the foreign recombinant protein was confirmed by Real-Time PCR and ELISA assays. Immunogenicity of the recombinant protein was investigated in rabbit by subcutaneous injection. Results indicated that the transgenic plant extract can induce immune responses in the host as confirmed by presence of specific antibodies in the sera in ELISA assay. Western blot assays showed that the foreign gene was actually expressed in transgenic seedlings. Conclusions The results obtained in this research provide further evidence on applicability of plant-based recombinant vaccines for protection of poultry against Newcastle disease.

Towards Improved Use of Vaccination in the Control of Infectious Bronchitis and Newcastle Disease in Poultry: Understanding the Immunological Mechanisms

“…However, DIVA should be considered in the production of other subunit vaccines because of the obvious advantage it provides in segregating infected from vaccinated birds. Moreover, a group earlier expressed the F and HN epitopes of NDV in tobacco seedlings and demonstrated that the transgenic plant extract induced immune responses [168]. This suggests plants as useful vectors for epitope-based vaccines and could provide for the advantages of easy oral route vaccination and induction of mucosal immune response.…”

Plant-made vaccines against viral diseases in humans and farm animals

“…The NDV F protein expressed in staple crops like transgenic rice and corn was reported to induce the production of neutralizing antibodies in chickens challenged with a velogenic strain and provide similar survival rates as commercial LaSota vaccine based on the attenuated virus ( Guerrero-Andrade et al., 2006 ; Ma et al., 2020 ). Recombinant concatenated F and HN proteins were expressed in transgenic tobacco but unfortunately induced unideal production of antibodies in rabbits ( Shahriari et al., 2019 ).…”

Development of Plant-Based Vaccines for Prevention of Avian Influenza and Newcastle Disease in Poultry

“…Another approach suggested the feasibility of producing concatenated F and HN epitopes without a genetic fusion to M protein in transgenic tobacco [ 94 ]. The authors established a DNA construct with four 96 base-pair tandem repeats of an HN epitope followed by three 153 base-pair tandem repeats of an F epitope.…”

“…In follow-up studies, the authors reported that the transgenic plant extract was only moderately immunogenic in rabbits. Using ELISA, the transgenic plant extract was shown to induce lower production of anti-NDV antibodies in comparison to commercial NDV vaccines [ 94 ].…”