IMMUNIZATION OF MONKEYS WITH BACULOVIRUS-DENGUE TYPE-4 RECOMBINANTS CONTAINING ENVELOPE AND NONSTRUCTURAL PROTEINS - EVIDENCE OF PRIMING AND PARTIAL PROTECTION
Kh. Eckels et al., IMMUNIZATION OF MONKEYS WITH BACULOVIRUS-DENGUE TYPE-4 RECOMBINANTS CONTAINING ENVELOPE AND NONSTRUCTURAL PROTEINS - EVIDENCE OF PRIMING AND PARTIAL PROTECTION, The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 50(4), 1994, pp. 472-478
Citations number
16
Categorie Soggetti
Public, Environmental & Occupation Heath","Tropical Medicine
Groups of rhesus monkeys were immunized with baculovirus-dengue type-4
(DEN-4) recombinant-infected cell extracts. One recombinant contained
all of the DEN-4 structural proteins and two nonstructural (NS) prote
ins (C-M-E-NS1-NS2a), while the other was a fusion protein containing
a portion of the respiratory syncytial virus G glycoprotein and DEN-4
envelope glycoprotein (RSVG-E). Both preparations were immunogenic; al
l monkeys receiving either immunogen responded with the production of
antivirion antibodies in enzyme immunoassays. All except one monkey re
ceiving the recombinant b(C-M-E-NS1-NS2a) made antibodies to NS1. One
monkey that received b(RSVG-E) showed the production of low levels of
neutralizing antibodies. Following challenge with unmodified DEN-4 vir
us, seven of nine monkeys in the immunized group became infected and w
ere viremic for a mean of 4.1 days. The control, sham-inoculated monke
ys were also viremic; the mean number of days of viremia in this group
was 4.7 days. The remaining monkeys in the immunized group (n = 7), a
lthough not protected, had evidence of priming. Hemagglutination inhib
ition antibody responses following challenge indicated an anamnestic r
esponse in this group of animals. Based on these results, it was concl
uded that future immunization schedules should be altered to optimize
immune responses and that immunization with more potent and purified i
mmunogens would probably result in higher seroconversion rates and ant
ibody levels in monkeys.