 Development of an enhanced bovine viral diarrhea virus subunit vaccine based on E2 glycoprotein fused to a single chain antibody which targets to antigen-presenting cells.

ANDREA PECORA; DARIO MALACARI; PEREZ AGUIRREBURUALDE MARIA SOL; BELLIDO DEMIAN; ESCRIBANO JA; DUS SANTOS MARIA JOSE; ANDRES WIGDOROVITZ

REVISTA ARGENTINA DE MICROBIOLOGíA

ASOCIACION ARGENTINA MICROBIOLOGIA

Lugar: Buenos Aires; Año: 2015 vol. 47 p. 4 - 8

0325-7541

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is an important cause of economic losses worldwide. E2 is an immunodominant protein and a promising candidate to develop subunit vaccines. To improve its immunogenicity, a truncated E2 (tE2) was fused to a single chain antibody named APCH, which targets to antigen-presenting cells. APCH-tE2 and tE2 proteins were expressed in the baculovirus system and their immunogenicity was firstly compared in guinea pigs. APCH-tE2 vaccine was the best one to evoke a humoral response, and for this reason, it was selected for a cattle vaccination experiment. All the bovines immunized with 1.5 ìg of APCH-tE2 developed high levels of neutralizing antibodies against BVDV up to a year post-immunization, demonstrating its significant potential as a subunit vaccine. This novel vaccine is undergoing scale-up and was transferred to the private sector. Nowadays, it is being evaluated for registration as the first Argentinean subunit vaccine for cattle.