A pseudotype baculovirus-mediated vaccine confers protective immunity against lethal challenge with H5N1 avian influenza virus in mice and chickens.

Baculovirus has emerged recently as a novel and attractive gene delivery vehicle for mammalian cells. In this study, baculovirus pseudotyped with vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein was used as a vector to express the hemagglutinin (HA) protein of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus, A/Chicken/Hubei/327/2004 (HB/327). The resultant recombinant baculovirus (BV-G-HA) mediated gene delivery and HA expression efficiently in mammalian cells. Mice immunized with 1 x 10(9)PFU of BV-G-HA developed significantly higher levels of H5-specific antibodies and cellular immunity than those that received 100 microg of DNA vaccines expressing HA, and were completely protected from lethal challenge with HB/327. Different vaccination doses were further tested in chickens, and these experiments demonstrated that 1 x 10(8)PFU of BV-G-HA offered complete protection from challenge with 100 LD(50) of HB/327. These data indicate that the pseudotype baculovirus-mediated vaccine could be utilized as an alternative strategy against the pandemic spread of H5N1 influenza virus.