Immunity to Hantavirus challenge in Meriones unguiculatus induced by vaccinia-vectored viral proteins.
Vaccinia virus recombinants were constructed that incorporated genomic sequences coding for the nucleoprotein (N) and glycoproteins (G1 and G2) of the hantavirus R22 strain isolated from a rat in China, and designated as RNV and RMV9, respectively. The proteins expressed by RNV and RMV9 were identified by radioimmunoprecipitation and indirect immunofluorescence assay using a panel of monoclonal antibodies and polyclonal immune sera, and were found to be antigenically indistinguishable from authentic R22 viral proteins. Both RNV and RMV9 elicited an anti-R22 antibody response in Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) with titers ranging from 6,400 to 12,800 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, but only RMV9 produced neutralizing antibodies to R22 virus (titer 1:200) and Hantaan (HTN) virus (titer 1:20). The ability of these recombinants to protect Mongolian gerbils against challenge with R22 and HTN viruses was examined. The RMV9 recombinant induced a complete protective immune response against challenge with 10(4) plaque-forming units (PFU) of both R22 and HTN viruses, while RNV induced partial protection against a challenge with the homologous R22 virus and the heterologous HTN virus at a dose of 10(3) PFU. Our data show that the common antigenic sites responsible for eliciting a protective response are located mainly on hantavirus glycoproteins, and that the nucleoprotein may also confer partial cross-protection that presumably involves cell-mediated as well as humoral mechanisms.
Xu
X
X
Special Pathogens Branch, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease for Control, Atlanta, Georgia.
Ruo
S L
SL
McCormick
J B
JB
Fisher-Hoch
S P
SP
D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D005849:Gerbillinae; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000276:immunology; D006476:Orthohantavirus / Q000276:immunology*; D006480:Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D009698:Nucleoproteins / Q000276:immunology; D015531:Radioimmunoprecipitation Assay; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000276:immunology; D014616:Vaccinia virus; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000276:immunology
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D006023:Glycoproteins; D009698:Nucleoproteins; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic; D014764:Viral Proteins; D014765:Viral Vaccines