Herpes B virus (Cercopithecine herpesvirus 1) is endemic in captive macaque
populations and poses a serious threat to humans who work with macaques or
their tissues. A vaccine that could prevent or limit B virus infection in
macaques would lessen occupational risk. To that end, a DNA vaccine plasmid
expressing the B virus glycoprotein B (gB) was constructed and tested for
immunogenicity in mice and macaques. Intramuscular (IM) or intradermal (ID)
immunization in mice elicited antibodies to gB that were relatively stable
over time and predominately of the IgG2a isotype. Five juvenile macaques w
ere immunized by either IM + ID (n = 2) or IM (n = 3) routes, with two boos
ter immunizations at 10 and 30 weeks. All five animals developed antibodies
to B virus gB, with detectable neutralizing activity in the IM + ID immuni
zed animals. These results demonstrated that DNA immunization can be used t
o generate an immune response against a B virus glycoprotein in uninfected
macaques. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.