Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Pathogenic Microbes and Infection, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China.
The Interdisciplinary Research Center on Biology and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
BMC Biol. 2023 Oct 2;21(1):205. doi: 10.1186/s12915-023-01699-8.
After the eradication of smallpox in China in 1979, vaccination with the vaccinia virus (VACV) Tiantan strain for the general population was stopped in 1980. As the monkeypox virus (MPXV) is rapidly spreading in the world, we would like to investigate whether the individuals with historic VACV Tiantan strain vaccination, even after more than 40 years, could still provide ELISA reactivity and neutralizing protection; and whether the unvaccinated individuals have no antibody reactivity against MPXV at all.
We established serologic ELISA to measure the serum anti-MPXV titer by using immunodominant MPXV surface proteins, A35R, B6R, A29L, and M1R. A small proportion of individuals (born before 1980) with historic VACV Tiantan strain vaccination exhibited serum ELISA cross-reactivity against these MPXV surface proteins. Consistently, these donors also showed ELISA seropositivity and serum neutralization against VACV Tiantan strain. However, surprisingly, some unvaccinated young adults (born after 1980) also showed potent serum ELISA activity against MPXV proteins, possibly due to their past infection by some self-limiting Orthopoxvirus (OPXV).
We report the serum ELISA cross-reactivity against MPXV surface protein in a small proportion of individuals both with and without VACV Tiantan strain vaccination history. Combined with our serum neutralization assay against VACV and the recent literature about mice vaccinated with VACV Tiantan strain, our study confirmed the anti-MPXV cross-reactivity and cross-neutralization of smallpox vaccine using VACV Tiantan strain. Therefore, it is necessary to restart the smallpox vaccination program in high risk populations.
1979 年中国消灭天花后，1980 年停止了为普通人群接种天坛株牛痘病毒（VACV）。随着猴痘病毒（MPXV）在世界范围内迅速传播，我们想研究一下，即使在 40 多年后，具有历史悠久的天坛株 VACV 接种史的个体是否仍能提供 ELISA 反应性和中和保护；以及未接种疫苗的个体是否根本没有针对 MPXV 的抗体反应性。
我们建立了血清学 ELISA 来测量血清抗 MPXV 滴度，使用免疫显性 MPXV 表面蛋白 A35R、B6R、A29L 和 M1R。一小部分具有历史悠久的天坛株 VACV 接种史的个体（出生于 1980 年前）表现出针对这些 MPXV 表面蛋白的血清 ELISA 交叉反应性。一致地，这些供体也表现出 ELISA 血清阳性和对 VACV 天坛株的血清中和。然而，令人惊讶的是，一些未接种疫苗的年轻成年人（出生于 1980 年后）也表现出针对 MPXV 蛋白的强大血清 ELISA 活性，可能是由于他们过去曾感染过一些自限性正痘病毒（OPXV）。
我们报告了具有和不具有天坛株 VACV 接种史的个体中针对 MPXV 表面蛋白的血清 ELISA 交叉反应性。结合我们对 VACV 的血清中和测定以及最近关于用天坛株 VACV 接种的小鼠的文献，我们的研究证实了使用天坛株 VACV 的抗 MPXV 交叉反应性和交叉中和作用。因此，有必要在高危人群中重新启动天花疫苗接种计划。
