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Human respiratory syncytial virus vaccine antigen produced in plants

HELENE BELANGER^*, NINA FLEYSH^*, SHANNON COX^*, GREG BARTMAN^*, DEEPALI DEKA^*, MICHEL TRUDEL, HILARY KOPROWSKI^* and VIDADI YUSIBOV^*1

^* Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107, USA; and
Centre de Recherche en Santehumaine, INRS-Institut Armand Frappier, Universite du Quebec, Laval, Canada

¹Correspondence: Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories at Thomas Jefferson University, 1020 Locust St., Room 346 JAH, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA. E-mail: vyusibov{at}hendrix.jci.tju.edu

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the primary cause of respiratory infection in infants worldwide. Currently there is no available vaccine, although studies in animal models have demonstrated protective immunity induced by an epitope of the RSV G-protein representing amino acids 174–187. Two peptides containing amino acids 174–187 of the G-protein of the human RSV A2 strain (NF1-RSV/172–187 and NF2-RSV/170–191) were separately engineered as translational fusions with the alfalfa mosaic virus coat protein and individually expressed in Nicotiana tabacum cv. Samsun NN plants through virus infection. RSV G-protein peptides were expressed in infected plant tissues at significant levels within 2 wk of inoculation and purified as part of recombinant alfalfa mosaic virions. BALB/c mice immunized intraperitoneally with three doses of the purified recombinant viruses showed high levels of serum antibody specific for RSV G-protein and were protected against infection with RSV Long strain.—Belanger, H., Fleysh, N., Cox, S., Bartman, G., Deka, D., Trudel, M., Koprowski, H., Yusibov, V. Human respiratory syncytial virus vaccine antigen produced in plants.

Key Words: G-protein • alfalfa mosaic virus • respiratory tract • RSV