Marburg virus‐like particles produced in insect cells induce neutralizing antibodies in rhesus macaques

Abstract

Marburg virus (MARV), which is one of the most virulent agents in the world, causes lethal haemorrhagic fever in humans and nonhuman primates (NHPs) with a mortality rate of up to 90%. Currently, there is no effective treatment or approved vaccine for MARV for human use to control disease outbreak and spread. Virus-like particles (VLPs), which are morphologically identical to the native infectious virus particle, are efficacious as vaccines against many viruses, including human papilloma virus (HPV), porcine circovirus (PCV) type 2 and hepatitis B virus (HBV). In this study, we generated MARV virus-like particles (VLPs) by co-expressing a glycoprotein (GP) and matrix protein (VP40) using the baculovirus expression system. Rhesus macaques vaccinated with MARV VLPs mixed with adjuvant Poria cocos polysaccharides (PCP-II) produced a GP-specific IgG titer of up to 1:1280 and virus-neutralizing antibody titers that reached 1:320. MARV VLPs also elicited interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) secretion associated with T-helper 1 cell (Th1)- and T-helper 2 cell (Th2)-mediated immunity, as detected using enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot) assays. These data indicate that MARV VLPs mixed with adjuvant PCP-II have excellent immunogenicity in rhesus macaques and may be a promising candidate vaccine against MARV.

A rabies virus-vectored vaccine expressing two copies of the Marburg virus glycoprotein gene induced neutralizing antibodies against Marburg virus in humanized mice

“…These structural differences may explain why none of the current MARV vaccines can induce effective neutralizing antibodies. Gai et al prepared virus-like particles assembled from GP and VP40 using the insect cell expression system [ 57 ]. VLP and Poria cocos polysaccharide (PCP-II) adjuvant was able to induce antibodies with pseudovirus neutralizing activity in rhesus monkeys.…”

Medicinal Fungi with Antiviral Effect

“…The protective effect of PCP-II combined with MARV VLP was further evaluated in primate rhesus monkeys. The results showed that MARV VLPs mixed with PCP-II had excellent immunogenicity in rhesus monkeys [ 83 ].…”

“…Vaccine adjuvant [82,83] Table 2. Antiviral activities of medicinal fungi and their mechanism of action in plant and animal viruses.…”

Advancements in Marburg Virus Vaccine Development: Unravelling Recent Findings. A Narrative Review.

“…VLP-based vaccines have demonstrated significant success against MARV in NHPs. These studies indicate that mVLP vaccines can effectively induce binding antibodies, neutralizing antibody effects, and T-cell responses, all crucial components of adaptive immunity [22][23][24]. DNA-GP vaccines have been explored with positive results.…”