Alphavirus-Based Vaccines

Lundstrom, Kenneth

Alphavirus-based vaccine development has also been addressed for a number of other infectious pathogens ( Table 2 ). For instance, SFV vectors were employed for the expression of the Plasmodium falciparum Pf332 antigen, which elicited immunological memory in vaccinated mice [66] . Moreover, vaccination of mice with SIN plasmid DNA vectors carrying the Mycobacterium tuberculosis 85A antigen (Ag85A) provided strong immunity and resulted in long-term protection against M. tuberculosis challenges [67] . In another approach, using SFV DNA replicons, the botulinum neurotoxin A Hc (BoNTA-Hc) gene provided both antibody and lymphoproliferative responses in vaccinated BALB/c mice [68] . The immunogenicity was enhanced when granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) was co-expressed as an adjuvant. Additionally, replication-deficient SFV particles were used for the expression of the Brucella abortus translation initiation factor 3 (IF3) [69] . Immunization of BALB/c mice demonstrated significant levels of protection against challenges with the virulent B. abortus strain 2308. Similarly, protective antigen (PA) for Bacillus anthracis were expressed from SIN vectors, resulting in specific and neutralizing antibodies in Swiss Webster mice and offered some protection against challenges with lethal doses of the pathogenic bacteria [70] .