Evaluation of Measles Vaccine Virus as a Vector to Deliver Respiratory Syncytial Virus Fusion Protein or Epstein-Barr Virus Glycoprotein gp350

Mok, Hoyin; Cheng, Xing; Xu, Qi; Zengel, James R; Parhy, Bandita; Zhao, Jackie; Wang, C. Kathy; Jin, Hong

EBV is a gamma herpes virus that causes infectious mononucleosis in adolescents [27] . In addition, EBV has been associated with certain malignancies including Burkitt's lymphoma, post-transplantation lymphoprolifera-tive disease, lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma [28] . There is no prophylactic EBV vaccine available. The surface glycoprotein gp350, which binds to human CD21 receptor on B cells to mediate viral entry, has been identified as a protective antigen. The adjuvanted EBV gp350 protein has been shown to be efficacious in a randomized phase II study in preventing infectious mononucleosis [29] . Here, we report the construction of an infectious measles virus by reverse genetics system and the insertion of the F protein of respiratory syncytial virus or gp350 of EBV into MV virus as a separate transcriptional unit. The vectored viruses were then evaluated in cotton rats and rhesus macaques for their immunogenicity.