title: Effective protection by high efficiency bicistronic DNA vaccine against infectious bursal disease virus expressing VP2 protein and chicken IL-2.
abstract: Infectious bursal disease (IBD) is an acute and contagious viral infection of young chickens caused by IBD virus (IBDV). IBDV belongs to genus Avibirnavirus of family Birnaviridae. It is a non-enveloped virus with icosahedral symmetry that contains two segments of double-stranded RNA. The virus affects the lymphoid tissues of chickens, mainly the B cells of bursa of Fabricius, leading to severe and prolonged immunosuppression. VP2, a major structural protein of IBDV, contains antigenic epitopes responsible for induction of neutralizing/protective antibody. In the present study, VP2 gene of IBDV was cloned in a bicistronic vector along with chicken interleukin-2 (chiIL-2) as an adjuvant. An in vivo challenge study of bicistronic DNA vaccine expressing IBDV-VP2 and chicken IL-2 showed effective protection against a lethal IBD infection in chickens. In addition, mortality, gross picture of bursa and histopathological findings demonstrated the efficacy of the vaccine in reducing virulence of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, College Park, MD 20742, USA. sachin22@umd.edu
authors.forename: Sachin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Yadvinder S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Ahi
authors.forename: Shardul S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Salunkhe
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koul
authors.forename: Ashok K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Tiwari
authors.forename: Praveen K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Anant
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rai
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D018175:Birnaviridae Infections / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D002060:Bursa of Fabricius / Q000473:pathology; D002645:Chickens; D007243:Infectious bursal disease virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D019444:Vaccines, DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D007376:Interleukin-2; C082513:VP2 protein, infectious bursal disease virus; D019444:Vaccines, DNA; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins