Immunization of cottontop tamarins and rabbits with a candidate vaccine against the Epstein-Barr virus based on the major viral envelope glycoprotein gp340 and alum.
The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is associated with a range of life-threatening diseases in humans. Development of an effective vaccine has therefore been an important objective. One problem in the development of a subunit vaccine for human administration is the selection of a satisfactory adjuvant since the only one currently licensed for human use is alum, although this is not considered to be very effective. The present study demonstrated that a subunit vaccine composed of the EBV envelope glycoprotein gp340 with alum as the adjuvant did elicit protective immunity against EBV-induced lymphoma in three out of five cottontop tamarins. Furthermore, rabbits immunized with gp340/alum developed the same range of antibody responses as rabbits immunized with gp340/SAF-1, an experimental adjuvant claimed to be more effective than alum. Therefore, these results indicate that alum should be evaluated as an adjuvant as part of a human trial of a gp340-based subunit vaccine.
Department of Pathology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Bristol, UK.
S
S
Finerty
M
M
Mackett
J R
JR
Arrand
P E
PE
Watkins
J
J
Tarlton
A J
AJ
Morgan
D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000534:Alum Compounds / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000096:biosynthesis; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000517:prevention & control; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization; D008297:Male; D011817:Rabbits; D012452:Saguinus; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000517:prevention & control; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000008:administration & dosage; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*
D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000534:Alum Compounds; D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral; C037662:EBV-associated membrane antigen, Epstein-Barr virus; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins; D014765:Viral Vaccines; C041524:aluminum sulfate