Immunization with a self-assembling nanoparticle vaccine displaying EBV gH/gL protects humanized mice against lethal viral challenge.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35705092.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100658 and PMC identifier 9245003.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a cancer-associated pathogen responsible for 165,000 deaths annually. EBV is also the etiological agent of infectious mononucleosis and is linked to multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Thus, an EBV vaccine would have a significant global health impact. EBV is orally transmitted and has tropism for epithelial and B cells. Therefore, a vaccine would need to prevent infection of both in the oral cavity. Passive transfer of monoclonal antibodies against the gH/gL glycoprotein complex prevent experimental EBV infection in humanized mice and rhesus macaques, suggesting that gH/gL is an attractive vaccine candidate. Here, we evaluate the immunogenicity of several gH/gL nanoparticle vaccines. All display superior immunogenicity relative to monomeric gH/gL. A nanoparticle displaying 60 copies of gH/gL elicits antibodies that protect against lethal EBV challenge in humanized mice, whereas antibodies elicited by monomeric gH/gL do not. These data motivate further development of gH/gL nanoparticle vaccines for EBV.
Medical subject headings
- Epstein-Barr Virus Infections
- Nanoparticles
- Vaccines