| Abstract |
Ovine herpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2) and bovine herpesvirus 4 (BoHV-4) are gamma herpesviruses that belong to the genera Macavirus and Rhadinovirus, respectively. As with all herpesviruses, both OvHV-2 and BoHV-4 express glycoprotein B (gB), which plays an essential role in the infection of host cells. In that context, it has been demonstrated that a BoHV-4 gB-null mutant is unable to infect host cells. In this study, we used homologous recombination to insert OvHV-2 ORF 8, encoding gB, into the BoHV-4 gB-null mutant genome, creating a chimeric BoHV-4 virus carrying and expressing OvHV-2 gB (BoHV-4∆gB/OvHV-2-gB) that was infectious and able to replicate in vitro. We then evaluated BoHV-4∆gB/OvHV-2-gB as a potential vaccine candidate for sheep-associated malignant catarrhal fever (SA-MCF), a fatal disease of ungulates caused by OvHV-2. Using rabbits as a laboratory model for MCF, we assessed the safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of BoHV-4∆gB/OvHV-2-gB in an immunization/challenge trial. The results showed that while BoHV-4∆gB/OvHV-2-gB was safe and induced OvHV-2 gB-specific humoral immune responses, immunization conferred only 28.5% protection upon challenge with OvHV-2. Therefore, future studies should focus on alternative strategies to express OvHV-2 proteins to develop an effective vaccine against SA-MCF. |
| Authors |
Daniela Moré  , Katherine N. K. Baker , Smriti Shringi , Reginaldo G. Bastos , Donal O’Toole  , Gaetano Donofrío , Cristina W. Cunha
|
| Journal Info |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute | Pathogens , vol: 13
, iss: 3
, pages: 219 - 219
|
| Publication Date |
3/1/2024 |
| ISSN |
2076-0817 |
Type |
article |
| Open Access |
gold
|
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens13030219 |
| Keywords |
Viral Oncogenesis (Score: 0.409092)
|
