Marburg virus vaccines: comparing classical and new approaches

An effort to develop a safe and effective vaccine for Marburg virus (MBGV), one of the filoviruses known to cause high mortality rates in humans, led us to compare directly some of the merits of modem versus classical vaccine approaches for this agent. Prior work had established the MBGV-glycoprotei n (GP), the only known virion surface antigen, as a candidate for inclusion in a vaccine. In this study we vaccinated groups of Hartley guinea pigs wi th killed MBGV, live attenuated MBGV. soluble MBGV-GP expressed by baculovi rus recombinants, MBGV-GP delivered as a DNA vaccine. or MBGV-GP delivered via an alphavirus RNA replicon. Serological responses were evaluated. and a nimals were challenged with a lethal dose of MBGV given either subcutaneous ly or via aerosol. Killed MBGV and replicon-delivered MBGV-GP were notably immunogenic and protective against MBGV, but results did not exclude any ap proach and suggested a role for DNA vaccines in immunological priming. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.