Immunogenicity and neutralizing activity induced by virus-like particles based on Junín and dengue viruses conserved sequences

VANIA APARECIDA MAREZE; CRISTINA SILVIA BORIO; SANTIAGO MIRAZO; CAMILA HUPNER; RENATA PINHEIRO GONZALES; MARCOS FABIÁN BILEN; DANIEL SANTOS MANSUR; JUAN ARBIZA; MARIO ENRIQUE LOZANO; OSCAR BRUÑA-ROMERO

Congreso; XXXIX Congress of the Brazilian Society of Immunolog; 2014

Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease, causing 50 million infections every year in more than a hundred countries. Dengue viruses (DENVs) are enveloped viruses and have a positive sense single-stranded RNA genome, belonging to the Flaviviridae family. Currently, five serotypes of Dengue virus (DENV) have been identified but no effective vaccine is yet available. Junín virus (JUNV) is known to cause Argentine Hemorragic Fever (AHF), a human disease transmitted by rodents. JUNV is able to generate virus-like particles (VLPs), non-infectious 3D particles that mimics the structure of authentic viral particles without carrying the genetic information. Here, two highly conserved DENV peptides (P1 and P2) presents on the Envolepe (E protein of DENV virus) were used as antigens individually or within JUNV-VLPs as part of a prime-boost immunization protocol