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Kamel MS, Munds RA, Verma MS. The Quest for Immunity: Exploring Human Herpesviruses as Vaccine Vectors. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:16112. [PMID: 38003300 PMCID: PMC10671728 DOI: 10.3390/ijms242216112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2023] [Revised: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 11/05/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Herpesviruses are large DNA viruses that have long been used as powerful gene therapy tools. In recent years, the ability of herpesviruses to stimulate both innate and adaptive immune responses has led to their transition to various applications as vaccine vectors. This vaccinology branch is growing at an unprecedented and accelerated rate. To date, human herpesvirus-based vectors have been used in vaccines to combat a variety of infectious agents, including the Ebola virus, foot and mouth disease virus, and human immunodeficiency viruses. Additionally, these vectors are being tested as potential vaccines for cancer-associated antigens. Thanks to advances in recombinant DNA technology, immunology, and genomics, numerous steps in vaccine development have been greatly improved. A better understanding of herpesvirus biology and the interactions between these viruses and the host cells will undoubtedly foster the use of herpesvirus-based vaccine vectors in clinical settings. To overcome the existing drawbacks of these vectors, ongoing research is needed to further advance our knowledge of herpesvirus biology and to develop safer and more effective vaccine vectors. Advanced molecular virology and cell biology techniques must be used to better understand the mechanisms by which herpesviruses manipulate host cells and how viral gene expression is regulated during infection. In this review, we cover the underlying molecular structure of herpesviruses and the strategies used to engineer their genomes to optimize capacity and efficacy as vaccine vectors. Also, we assess the available data on the successful application of herpesvirus-based vaccines for combating diseases such as viral infections and the potential drawbacks and alternative approaches to surmount them.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohamed S. Kamel
- Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
- Department of Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza 11221, Egypt
| | - Rachel A. Munds
- Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
- Krishi Inc., West Lafayette, IN 47906, USA
| | - Mohit S. Verma
- Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
- Krishi Inc., West Lafayette, IN 47906, USA
- Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
- Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
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Naidu SK, Nabi R, Cheemarla NR, Stanfield BA, Rider PJ, Jambunathan N, Chouljenko VN, Carter R, Del Piero F, Langohr I, Kousoulas KG. Intramuscular vaccination of mice with the human herpes simplex virus type-1(HSV-1) VC2 vaccine, but not its parental strain HSV-1(F) confers full protection against lethal ocular HSV-1 (McKrae) pathogenesis. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0228252. [PMID: 32027675 PMCID: PMC7004361 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0228252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2019] [Accepted: 01/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) can cause severe ocular infection and blindness. We have previously shown that the HSV-1 VC2 vaccine strain is protective in mice and guinea pigs against genital herpes infection following vaginal challenge with HSV-1 or HSV-2. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of VC2 intramuscular vaccination in mice against herpetic keratitis following ocular challenge with lethal human clinical strain HSV-1(McKrae). VC2 vaccination in mice produced superior protection and morbidity control in comparison to its parental strain HSV-1(F). Specifically, after HSV-1(McKrae) ocular challenge, all VC2 vaccinated- mice survived, while 30% of the HSV-1(F)- vaccinated and 100% of the mock-vaccinated mice died post challenge. VC2-vaccinated mice did not exhibit any symptoms of ocular infection and completely recovered from initial conjunctivitis. In contrast, HSV-1(F)-vaccinated mice developed time-dependent progressive keratitis characterized by corneal opacification, while mock-vaccinated animals exhibited more severe stromal keratitis characterized by immune cell infiltration and neovascularization in corneal stroma with corneal opacification. Cornea in VC2-immunized mice exhibited significantly increased infiltration of CD3+ T lymphocytes and decreased infiltration of Iba1+ macrophages in comparison to mock- or HSV-1(F)-vaccinated groups. VC2 immunization produced higher virus neutralization titers than HSV-1(F) post challenge. Furthermore, VC-vaccination significantly increased the CD4 T central memory (TCM) subsets and CD8 T effector memory (TEM) subsets in the draining lymph nodes following ocular HSV-1 (McKrae) challenge, then mock- or HSV-1(F)-vaccination. These results indicate that VC2 vaccination produces a protective immune response at the site of challenge to protect against HSV-1-induced ocular pathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shan K. Naidu
- Division of Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America
- Department of Pathobiological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America
| | - Rafiq Nabi
- Division of Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America
- Department of Pathobiological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America
| | - Nagarjuna R. Cheemarla
- Department of Pathobiological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America
| | - Brent A. Stanfield
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Paul J. Rider
- Division of Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America
- Department of Pathobiological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America
| | - Nithya Jambunathan
- Division of Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America
- Department of Pathobiological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America
| | - Vladimir N. Chouljenko
- Division of Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America
- Department of Pathobiological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America
| | - Renee Carter
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America
| | - Fabio Del Piero
- Department of Pathobiological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America
| | - Ingeborg Langohr
- Department of Pathobiological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America
| | - Konstantin G. Kousoulas
- Division of Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America
- Department of Pathobiological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Bernstein DI, Pullum DA, Cardin RD, Bravo FJ, Dixon DA, Kousoulas KG. The HSV-1 live attenuated VC2 vaccine provides protection against HSV-2 genital infection in the guinea pig model of genital herpes. Vaccine 2019; 37:61-68. [DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.11.042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2018] [Revised: 11/09/2018] [Accepted: 11/14/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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