Journal article

Equine rhinitis A virus-like particle expressing DNA vaccine induces a virus neutralising immune response in mice

SE Lynch, JR Gilkerson, SJ Symes, JA Huang, L Tatarczuch, CA Hartley

Virus Research | ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV | Published : 2011

Abstract

Equine rhinitis A virus (ERAV) is a respiratory pathogen of horses. Candidate vaccines to date have been hindered by low expression levels and the induction of non-neutralising antibodies. The immunodominant epitope of ERAV is conformational and is located within the quaternary structure of the capsid. This site should be retained in ERAV virus-like particles (VLPs) to stimulate the induction of neutralising antibodies. The immunogenicity of a plasmid-based DNA vaccine designed to express ERAV VLPs was assessed. The plasmid construct, pcD.P12A.3C, contained the capsid precursor (P1-2A) and the viral protease 3C, under the transcriptional control of a cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter. Mature vi..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Funding Acknowledgements

Project funding was from the Australian Research Council and Pfizer Animal Health. S.E.L was a recipient of an Australian Postgraduate Award (Industry) scholarship with Pfizer Animal Health as the industry partner. We thank Kemperly Dynon for provision of the pcD.eGFP plasmid and Nino Ficorilli and Cynthia Brown, Department of Veterinary Science, The University of Melbourne, for excellent technical assistance.