Novel Epstein-Barr virus-like particles incorporating gH/gL-EBNA1 or gB-LMP2 induce high neutralizing antibody titers and EBV-specific T-cell responses in immunized mice
Perez, Elizabeth M. ; Foley, Joslyn ; Tison, Timelia ; Silva, Rute ; Ogembo, Javier Gordon
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Abstract
Previous Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) prophylactic vaccines based on the major surface glycoprotein gp350/220 as an immunogen have failed to block viral infection in humans, suggesting a need to target other viral envelope glycoproteins. In this study, we reasoned that incorporating gH/gL or gB, critical glycoproteins for viral fusion and entry, on the surface of a virus-like particle (VLP) would be more immunogenic than gp350/220 for generating effective neutralizing antibodies to prevent viral infection of both epithelial and B cell lines. To boost the humoral response and trigger cell-mediated immunity, EBV nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) and latent membrane protein 2 (LMP2), intracellular latency proteins expressed in all EBV-infected cells, were also included as critical components of the polyvalent EBV VLP. gH/gL-EBNA1 and gB-LMP2 VLPs were efficiently produced in Chinese hamster ovary cells, an FDA-approved vehicle for mass-production of biologics. Immunization with gH/gL-EBNA1 and gB-LMP2 VLPs without adjuvant generated both high neutralizing antibody titers in vitro and EBV-specific T-cell responses in BALB/c mice. These data demonstrate that will be invaluable not only in preventing EBV infection, but importantly, in preventing and treating the 200,000 cases of EBV-associated cancers that occur globally every year.
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Oncotarget. 2017 Mar 21;8(12):19255-19273. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.13770. Link to article on publisher's site