Immune responses and protective efficacy of recombinant baculovirus- expressed glycoproteins of equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) gB, gC and gD alone or in combinations in BALB/c mice

Abstract

Baculovirus-expressed glycoproteins of EHV-1 gB, gC and gD alone or in combination evoked antibody responses and protected vaccinated mice against a challenge with EHV-1. gB, gD, gB+gC, gB+gD and gC+gD elicited very high levels of ELISA antibodies while gC and gC+gD elicited high levels of virus neutralising antibodies. Western blotting demonstrated that the antibodies produced were not only specific for the baculovirus-expressed glycoproteins gB, gC and gD, but also highly specific for each EHV-1 glycoprotein. Vaccination of mice with gB or gD prevented clinical signs of infection in mice challenged with EHV-1 and all vaccinated groups of mice except controls showed a rapid clearance of vir..