Noy-Porat Tal, Tamir Hadas, Alcalay Ron, Rosenfeld Ronit, Epstein Eyal, Cherry Lilach, Achdout Hagit, Erez Noam, Politi Boaz, Yahalom-Ronen Yfat, Weiss Shay, Melamed Sharon, Israely Tomer, Mazor Ohad, Paran Nir, Makdasi Efi
Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness Ziona, Israel.
Microbiol Spectr. 2023 Sep 22;11(5):e0159823. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.01598-23.
Members of the genus can cause severe infections in humans. Global vaccination against smallpox, caused by the variola virus, resulted in the eradication of the disease in 1980. Shortly thereafter, vaccination was discontinued, and as a result, a large proportion of the current population is not protected against orthopoxviruses. The concerns that the variola virus or other engineered forms of poxviruses may re-emerge as bioweapons and the sporadic outbreaks of zoonotic members of the family, such as Mpox, which are becoming more frequent and prevalent, also emphasize the need for an effective treatment against orthopoxviruses. To date, the most effective way to prevent or control an orthopoxvirus outbreak is through vaccination. However, the traditional vaccinia-based vaccine may cause severe side effects. Vaccinia immune globulin was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of vaccine adverse reactions and was also used occasionally for the treatment of severe orthopoxvirus infections. However, this treatment carries many disadvantages and is also in short supply. Thus, a recombinant alternative is highly needed. In this study, two non-human primates were immunized with live vaccinia virus, producing a robust and diverse antibody response. A phage-display library was constructed based on the animal's lymphatic organs, and a panel of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), recognizing diverse proteins of the vaccinia virus, was selected and characterized. These antibodies recognized both mature virion and enveloped virion forms of the virus and exhibited high affinity and potent neutralization capabilities. Furthermore, these monoclonal antibodies were able to neutralize Mpox 2018 and 2022 strains, suggesting a potential for cross-species protection. We suggest that a combination of these mAbs has the potential to serve as recombinant therapy both for vaccinia vaccine adverse reactions and for orthopoxvirus infections. IMPORTANCE In this manuscript, we report the isolation and characterization of several recombinant neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) identified by screening a phage-display library constructed from lymphatic cells collected from immunized non-human primates. The antibodies target several different antigens of the vaccinia virus, covering both mature virion and extracellular enveloped virion forms of the virus. We document strong evidence indicating that they exhibit excellent affinity to their respective antigens and, most importantly, optimal neutralization of the virus, which exceeded that of vaccinia immune globulin. Furthermore, we present the ability of these novel isolated mAbs (as well as the sera collected from vaccinia-immunized animals) to neutralize two Mpox strains from the 2018 to 2022 outbreaks. We believe that these antibodies have the potential to be used for the treatment of vaccinia vaccine adverse reactions, for other orthopoxvirus infections, and in cases of unexpected bioterror scenarios.
该属的成员可导致人类严重感染。针对天花病毒引起的天花进行的全球疫苗接种,使得该疾病在1980年被根除。此后不久,疫苗接种停止,结果,当前很大一部分人口未受到正痘病毒的保护。对天花病毒或其他工程改造形式的痘病毒可能作为生物武器重新出现的担忧,以及该病毒科人畜共患成员(如猴痘)的零星爆发变得越来越频繁和普遍,也凸显了对正痘病毒进行有效治疗的必要性。迄今为止,预防或控制正痘病毒爆发的最有效方法是通过接种疫苗。然而,传统的牛痘疫苗可能会引起严重的副作用。牛痘免疫球蛋白已被美国食品药品监督管理局(FDA)批准用于治疗疫苗不良反应,也偶尔用于治疗严重的正痘病毒感染。然而,这种治疗存在许多缺点,而且供应短缺。因此,迫切需要一种重组替代方案。在本研究中,用活牛痘病毒对两只非人类灵长类动物进行免疫,产生了强烈且多样的抗体反应。基于动物的淋巴器官构建了一个噬菌体展示文库,并筛选和鉴定了一组识别牛痘病毒多种蛋白的中和单克隆抗体(mAb)。这些抗体识别病毒的成熟病毒粒子和包膜病毒粒子形式,表现出高亲和力和强大的中和能力。此外,这些单克隆抗体能够中和2018年和2022年的猴痘毒株,表明具有跨物种保护的潜力。我们认为,这些单克隆抗体的组合有潜力作为重组疗法用于治疗牛痘疫苗不良反应和正痘病毒感染。重要性 在本手稿中,我们报告了通过筛选从免疫的非人类灵长类动物收集的淋巴细胞构建的噬菌体展示文库鉴定的几种重组中和单克隆抗体(mAb)的分离和特性。这些抗体靶向牛痘病毒的几种不同抗原,涵盖病毒的成熟病毒粒子和细胞外包膜病毒粒子形式。我们提供了有力证据表明它们对各自抗原表现出优异的亲和力,最重要的是,对病毒具有最佳中和作用,超过了牛痘免疫球蛋白。此外,我们展示了这些新分离的单克隆抗体(以及从接种牛痘的动物收集的血清)中和2018年至2022年爆发的两种猴痘毒株的能力。我们相信这些抗体有潜力用于治疗牛痘疫苗不良反应、其他正痘病毒感染以及应对意外的生物恐怖情况。