Departamento de Biotecnología, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), Ctra. Coruña Km. 7.5, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Virus Res. 2011 Jun;158(1-2):28-32. doi: 10.1016/j.virusres.2011.02.019. Epub 2011 Mar 2.
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a major cause of acute hepatitis in humans, causing outbreaks and epidemics in regions with sub-optimal sanitary conditions, in many of which it is endemic. Nowadays there is no specific therapy or licensed vaccines against HEV infection. In this study, we have analyzed in mice the immunogenicity of HEV open-reading frame 2 (ORF-2) protein, and a truncated form of it lacking the first 111 amino acids, efficiently expressed in an improved baculovirus-based technology using insects as living biofactories. Both recombinant proteins elicited high and long-lasting specific anti HEV antibodies. Passive transfer of immunity from immunized mothers to their offspring was demonstrated to occur both by transplacental and lactation routes. These results indicate that these insect-derived immunogens constitute low-cost potential vaccine candidate to be further evaluated.
戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）是人类急性肝炎的主要病因，在卫生条件不佳的地区会引发暴发和流行，在许多地区该病呈地方性流行。目前尚无针对 HEV 感染的特效疗法或获批疫苗。在本研究中，我们在小鼠中分析了戊型肝炎病毒开放阅读框 2（ORF-2）蛋白及其缺失前 111 个氨基酸的截短形式的免疫原性，该蛋白采用改良的杆状病毒载体技术，使用昆虫作为活体生物工厂高效表达。两种重组蛋白均能诱导产生高滴度且持久的抗 HEV 抗体。免疫母鼠通过胎盘和哺乳两种途径将免疫传递给后代。这些结果表明，这些来源于昆虫的免疫原具有成本效益，是一种有潜力的候选疫苗，值得进一步评估。
