Comparison of homologous and heterologous prime-boost immunizations combining MVA-vectored and plant-derived VP2 as a strategy against IBDV

RICHETTA, MATÍAS; GÓMEZ, EVANGELINA; LUCERO, MARÍA SOLEDAD; CHIMENO ZOTH, SILVINA; GRAVISACO, MARÍA JOSÉ; CALAMANTE, GABRIELA; BERINSTEIN, ANALÍA

VACCINE

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

Año: 2017 vol. 35 p. 142 - 148

0264-410X

Different immunogens such as subunit, DNA or live viral-vectored vaccines against Infectious Bursal Disease virus (IBDV) have been evaluated in the last years. However, the heterologous prime-boost approach using recombinant modified vaccinia Ankara virus (rMVA), which has shown promising results in both mammals and chickens, has not been tried against this pathogen yet. IBD is a highly contagious and immunosuppressive disease of poultry that affects mainly young chicks. It is caused by IBDV, a double-stranded RNA virus carrying its main antigenic epitopes on the capsid protein VP2. Our objective was to evaluate the immune response elicited by two heterologous prime-boost schemes combining an rMVA carrying the VP2 mature gene (rVP2) and a recombinant VP2 protein produced in Nicotiana benthamiana (pVP2), and to compare them with the performance of the homologous pVP2-pVP2 scheme usually used in our laboratory. The SPF chickens immunized with the three evaluated schemes elicited significantly higher anti-VP2 antibody titers (p