Development of recombinant vaccines against bluetongue

Prospects of Next-Generation Vaccines for Bluetongue

Bluetongue (BT) is a haemorrhagic disease of wild and domestic ruminants with a huge economic worldwide impact on livestock. The disease is caused by BT-virus transmitted by Culicoides biting midges and disease control without vaccination is hardly possible. Vaccination is the most feasible and cost-effective way to minimize economic losses. Marketed BT vaccines are successfully used in different parts of the world. Inactivated BT vaccines are efficacious and safe but relatively expensive, whereas live-attenuated vaccines are efficacious and cheap but are unsafe because of under-attenuation, onward spread, reversion to virulence, and reassortment events. Both manufactured BT vaccines do not enable differentiating infected from vaccinated animals (DIVA) and protection is limited to the respective serotype. The ideal BT vaccine is a licensed, affordable, completely safe DIVA vaccine, that induces quick, lifelong, broad protection in all susceptible ruminant species. Promising vaccine candidates show improvement for one or more of these main vaccine standards. BTV protein vaccines and viral vector vaccines have DIVA potential depending on the selected BTV antigens, but are less effective and likely more costly per protected animal than current vaccines. Several vaccine platforms based on replicating BTV are applied for many serotypes by exchange of serotype dominant outer shell proteins. These platforms based on one BTV backbone result in attenuation or abortive virus replication and prevent disease by and spread of vaccine virus as well as reversion to virulence. These replicating BT vaccines induce humoral and T-cell mediated immune responses to all viral proteins except to one, which could enable DIVA tests. Most of these replicating vaccines can be produced similarly as currently marketed BT vaccines. All replicating vaccine platforms developed by reverse genetics are classified as genetic modified organisms. This implies extensive and expensive safety trails in target ruminant species, and acceptance by the community could be hindered. Nonetheless, several experimental BT vaccines show very promising improvements and could compete with marketed vaccines regarding their vaccine profile, but none of these next generation BT vaccines have been licensed yet.

Current and next-generation bluetongue vaccines: Requirements, strategies, and prospects for different field situations

Bluetongue virus (BTV) causes the hemorrhagic disease bluetongue (BT) in ruminants. The best way to control outbreaks is vaccination. Currently, conventionally modified-live and inactivated vaccines are commercially available, which have been successfully used to control BT, but nonetheless have their specific shortcomings. Therefore, there is a need for improved BT vaccines. The ideal BT vaccine is efficacious, safe, affordable, protective against multiple serotypes and enables the differentiation of infected from vaccinated animals. Different field situations require specific vaccine profiles. Single serotype outbreaks in former BT-free areas need rapid onset of protection against viremia of the respective serotype. In contrary, endemic multiple serotype situations require long-lasting protection against all circulating serotypes. The ideal BT vaccine for all field situations does not exist and balancing between vaccine properties is needed. Many new vaccines candidates, ranging from non-replicating subunits to replicating next-generation reverse genetics based vaccines, have been developed. Some have been tested extensively in large numbers of ruminants, whereas others were developed recently and have only been tested in vitro and in mice models. Most vaccine candidates are promising, but have their specific shortcomings and advantages. In this review, current and next-generation BT vaccines are discussed in the light of prerequisites for different field situations.

Oncolytic bluetongue viruses: promise, progress, and perspectives

Humans are sero-negative toward bluetongue viruses (BTVs) since BTVs do not infect normal human cells. Infection and selective degradation of several human cancer cell lines but not normal ones by five US BTV serotypes have been investigated. We determined the susceptibilities of many normal and human cancer cells to BTV infections and made comparative kinetic analyses of their cytopathic effects, survival rates, ultra-structural changes, cellular apoptosis and necrosis, cell cycle arrest, cytokine profiles, viral genome, mRNAs, and progeny titers. The wild-type US BTVs, without any genetic modifications, could preferentially infect and degrade several types of human cancer cells but not normal cells. Their selective and preferential BTV-degradation of human cancer cells is viral dose–dependent, leading to effective viral replication, and induced apoptosis. Xenograft tumors in mice were substantially reduced by a single intratumoral BTV injection in initial in vivo experiments. Thus, wild-type BTVs, without genetic modifications, have oncolytic potentials. They represent an attractive, next generation of oncolytic viral approach for potential human cancer therapy combined with current anti-cancer agents and irradiation.

Bluetongue vaccines: the past, present and future

Bluetongue (BT) is a noncontagious and arboviral disease of both domestic and wild ruminants. The disease is enzootic in areas where reservoirs (cattle and wild ruminants) and vectors exist for the BT virus (BTV). A total of 24 BTV serotypes have been recognized worldwide. The major control measures include restriction of animal movement, vector control applying insecticides, slaughter of infected animals and vaccination. Prophylactic immunization of sheep against BT is the most practical and effective control measure to combat BT infection. At present, attenuated vaccines are used in the Republic of South Africa, the USA and other countries. However, EU countries were using attenuated vaccines, only recently shifting to inactivated vaccines owing to their safety and efficacy. In India, inactivated vaccines are in experimental stages and are expected to be on the market shortly. Inactivated vaccines generate serotype-specific long-lasting protective immunity after two injections, and may help in controlling epidemics. Differentiating infected from vaccinated animals (DIVA) is theoretically possible with inactivated vaccines but has not yet been developed, whereas the attenuated live vaccines are not candidates for DIVA. Attenuated live vaccines are efficacious but safety issues are of great concern. New-generation vaccines (subunit, virus-like particles, core-like particles and vectored) can be employed for DIVA. Recombinant vaccines, which generate cross-protection against multiple BTV serotypes, have great potential in BT vaccine regimens. Furthermore, new-generation vaccines are safe and efficacious experimentally, but large-scale field trials are warranted. Alternative areas, such as antivirals, siRNA, interferon and nanotechnology, may be of future use in the control of BT. We give an overview of BT vaccines, starting from conventional to recent developments, and their feasibility in controlling BT infection.

Vaccines for viral and parasitic diseases produced with baculovirus vectors

The baculovirus-insect cell expression system is an approved system for the production of viral antigens with vaccine potential for humans and animals and has been used for production of subunit vaccines against parasitic diseases as well. Many candidate subunit vaccines have been expressed in this system and immunization commonly led to protective immunity against pathogen challenge. The first vaccines produced in insect cells for animal use are now on the market. This chapter deals with the tailoring of the baculovirus-insect cell expression system for vaccine production in terms of expression levels, integrity and immunogenicity of recombinant proteins, and baculovirus genome stability. Various expression strategies are discussed including chimeric, virus-like particles, baculovirus display of foreign antigens on budded virions or in occlusion bodies, and specialized baculovirus vectors with mammalian promoters that express the antigen in the immunized individual. A historical overview shows the wide variety of viral (glyco)proteins that have successfully been expressed in this system for vaccine purposes. The potential of this expression system for antiparasite vaccines is illustrated. The combination of subunit vaccines and marker tests, both based on antigens expressed in insect cells, provides a powerful tool to combat disease and to monitor infectious agents.

Cloning of complete genome sets of six dsRNA viruses using an improved cloning method for large dsRNA genes

Cloning full-length large (>3 kb) dsRNA genome segments from small amounts of dsRNA has thus far remained problematic. Here, a single-primer amplification sequence-independent dsRNA cloning procedure was perfected for large genes and tailored for routine use to clone complete genome sets or individual genes. Nine complete viral genome sets were amplified by PCR, namely those of two human rotaviruses, two African horsesickness viruses (AHSV), two equine encephalosis viruses (EEV), one bluetongue virus (BTV), one reovirus and bacteriophage Phi12. Of these amplified genomes, six complete genome sets were cloned for viruses with genes ranging in size from 0.8 to 6.8 kb. Rotavirus dsRNA was extracted directly from stool samples. Co-expressed EEV VP3 and VP7 assembled into core-like particles that have typical orbivirus capsomeres. This work presents the first EEV sequence data and establishes that EEV genes have the same conserved termini (5' GUU and UAC 3') and coding assignment as AHSV and BTV. To clone complete genome sets, one-tube reactions were developed for oligo-ligation, cDNA synthesis and PCR amplification. The method is simple and efficient compared to other methods. Complete genomes can be cloned from as little as 1 ng dsRNA and a considerably reduced number of PCR cycles (22-30 cycles compared to 30-35 of other methods). This progress with cloning large dsRNA genes is important for recombinant vaccine development and determination of the role of terminal sequences for replication and gene expression.

Vaccines for bluetongue

Isolation of 8 serotypes of bluetongue virus (BTV) in Australia has led to widespread debate on how to prepare for an outbreak of bluetongue disease and the type of vaccine best suited to control bluetongue in Australia. This article describes the vaccine options under consideration by research workers and animal health administrators. The most widely discussed options are live attenuated virus, killed virus and virus-like particles (VLP) generated by recombinant baculoviruses. Attenuated virus vaccines are cheap and easy to produce and are administered in a single dose. They replicate in sheep without causing significant clinical effects and provide protection against challenge with virulent virus of the same serotype. The possibility that insects could acquire vaccine virus by feeding on vaccinated animals and transmit it to sheep or cattle cannot be eliminated. This poses a risk because attenuated viruses are teratogenic if ewes are infected in the first half of pregnancy. In addition, vaccine virus replication in insects and ruminants may lead to a reversion to virulence. Killed virus vaccines have been shown to be efficacious in small laboratory trials and cannot be transmitted to other animals in the field, but are significantly more expensive to produce than attenuated viruses and require at least 2 doses with adjuvant to elicit an immune response. More work is needed to properly assess their effectiveness and determine their cost of production. Recombinant VLP contain the 4 major structural proteins of BTV but no nucleic acid. VLP are relatively easy to isolate, but it is unlikely that the purification methods currently used in laboratories will be adapted for use commercially. Despite the enthusiasm of recent years, little commercial progress appears to have been made. Although scientific research in Australia and overseas has provided a number of options for development of bluetongue vaccines, the decisions on which to use in an outbreak are complex and will require, not only consideration of factors discussed here, but also agreement from industry and government.