In vitro assessments of the genetic stability of a live recombinant human adenovirus vaccine against rabies.

The genetic stability of a live human adenovirus 5: rabies glycoprotein recombinant vaccine has been assessed upon 20 serial passages in a permissive cell line of human origin. Restriction endonuclease analysis and the polymerase chain reaction were used to examine the integrity of the expression cassette for the rabies glycoprotein and the viral vector at the site of insertion of the cassette. It was found that the restriction endonuclease profile was identical for each sample assayed. A more detailed analysis of the expression cassette following amplification by the polymerase chain reaction revealed no changes in the size and number of fragments originating from the coding sequence for the glycoprotein nor the signals controlling the expression of the protein product. The amplified product obtained from the 10th and 20th passages was subjected to nucleotide sequencing. Additionally, 20 plaques isolated from the 20th passage of the virus expressed the rabies glycoprotein as demonstrated by fluorescent antibody staining with glycoprotein specific monoclonal antibodies. These results suggest that the recombinant vaccine maintains the integrity of the heterologous sequences upon passage in tissue culture.