Huirong Pan

Long-Term Efficacy of a Hepatitis E Vaccine

BACKGROUND Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a leading cause of acute hepatitis. The long-term efficacy of a hepatitis E vaccine needs to be determined. METHODS In an initial efficacy study, we randomly assigned healthy adults 16 to 65 years of age to receive three doses of either a hepatitis E vaccine (vaccine group; 56,302 participants) or a hepatitis B vaccine (control group; 56,302 participants). The vaccines were administered at 0, 1, and 6 months, and the participants were followed for 19 months. In this extended follow-up study, the treatment assignments of all participants remained double-blinded, and follow-up assessments of efficacy, immunogenicity, and safety were continued for up to 4.5 years. RESULTS During the 4.5-year study period, 60 cases of hepatitis E were identified; 7 cases were confirmed in the vaccine group (0.3 cases per 10,000 person-years), and 53 cases in the control group (2.1 cases per 10,000 person-years), representing a vaccine efficacy of 86.8% (95% confidence interval, 71 to 94) in the modified intention-to-treat analysis, rather than (95% confidence interval, 71 to 84) [corrected]. Of the participants who were assessed for immunogenicity and were seronegative at baseline, 87% of those who received three doses of the hepatitis E vaccine maintained antibodies against HEV for at least 4.5 years; HEV antibody titers developed in 9% in the control group. The rate of adverse events was similar in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS Immunization with this hepatitis E vaccine induced antibodies against HEV and provided protection against hepatitis E for up to 4.5 years. (Funded by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01014845.).

Robust manufacturing and comprehensive characterization of recombinant hepatitis E virus-like particles in Hecolin(®).

The hepatitis E virus (HEV) vaccine, Hecolin(®), was licensed in China for the prevention of HEV infection and HEV-related diseases with demonstrated safety and efficacy [1,2]. The vaccine is composed of a truncated HEV capsid protein, p239, as the sole antigen encoded by open reading frame 2 and produced using Escherichia coli platform. The production of this virus-like particle (VLP) form of the antigen was successfully scaled up 50-fold from a bench scale to a manufacturing scale. Product consistency was demonstrated using a combination of biophysical, biochemical and immunochemical methods, which revealed comparable antigen characteristics among different batches. Particle size of the nanometer scale particulate antigen and presence of key epitopes on the particle surface are two prerequisites for an efficacious VLP-based vaccine. The particle size was monitored by several different methods, which showed diameters between 20 and 30nm for the p239 particles. The thermal stability and aggregation propensity of the antigen were assessed using differential scanning calorimetry and cloud point assay under heat stress conditions. Key epitopes on the particulate antigen were analyzed using a panel of murine anti-HEV monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). The immuno reactivity to the mAbs among the different antigen lots was highly consistent when analyzed quantitatively using a surface plasmon resonance technique. Using a sandwich ELISA to probe the integrity of two different epitopes in the antigen, the specific antigenicity of multiple batches was assessed to demonstrate consistency in these critical product attributes. Overall, our findings showed that the antigen production process is robust and scalable during the manufacturing of Hecolin(®).

Hepatitis E virus capsid protein assembles in 4M urea in the presence of salts

The hepatitis E virus (HEV) capsid protein has been demonstrated to be able to assemble into particles in vitro. However, this process and the mechanism of protein–protein interactions during particle assembly remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the assembly mechanism of HEV structural protein subunits, the capsid protein p239 (aa368–606), using analytical ultracentrifugation. It was the first to observe that the p239 can form particles in 4M urea as a result of supplementation with salt, including ammonium sulfate [(NH4)2SO4], sodium sulfate (Na2SO4), sodium chloride (NaCl), and ammonium chloride (NH4Cl). Interestingly, it is the ionic strength that determines the efficiency of promoting particle assembly. The assembly rate was affected by temperature and salt concentration. When (NH4)2SO4 was used, assembling intermediates of p239 with sedimentation coefficient values of approximately 5 S, which were mostly dodecamers, were identified for the first time. A highly conserved 28‐aa region (aa368–395) of p239 was found to be critical for particle assembly, and the hydrophobic residues Leu372, Leu375, and Leu395of p239 was found to be critical for particle assembly, which was revealed by site‐directed mutagenesis. This study provides new insights into the assembly mechanism of native HEV, and contributes a valuable basis for further investigations of protein assembly by hydrophobic interactions under denaturing conditions.

Correlation between ELISA and pseudovirion- based neutralisation assay for detecting antibodies against human papillomavirus acquired by natural infection or by vaccination

A pseudovirion-based neutralisation assay (PBNA) has been considered the gold standard for measuring specific antibody responses against human papillomavirus (HPV). However, this assay is labor intensive and therefore very difficult to implement in large-scale studies. Previous studies have evaluated the agreement between virus-like particle (VLP)-based ELISA and PBNA for measuring HPV vaccine-induced antibodies. However, the concordance of these assays to detect antibodies induced by natural infection has not yet been fully elucidated. In this study, the results of an Escherichia coli (E. coli)-expressed VLP-based ELISA were found to be highly concordant with those of a baculovirus-expressed VLP-based ELISA (r = 0.96 and 0.97 for HPV-16 and HPV-18) when detecing HPV vaccine induced antibodies and the concordance was medium (r = 0.68 and 0.68 for HPV-16 and HPV-18) when assessing natural infection induced antibodies. The results of the E. coli expressed VLP-based ELISA correlated well with those of the PBNA when testing 1020 post-vaccination human sera collected at one month after vaccination with the E. coli expressed VLP-based bivalent HPV vaccine (r = 0.83 and 0.81 for HPV-16 and HPV-18). The agreement and correlation were moderate (kappa < 0.3 for both HPV types 16 and 18, r = 0.59 and 0.68 for HPV-16 and HPV-18, respectively) when assessing 1600 serum samples from unvaccinated women of age 18–25 years. In conclusion, the VLP-based ELISA is an acceptable surrogate for the neutralizing antibody assay in measuring vaccine responses. However, the use of the VLP-based ELISA in epidemiological studies should be carefully considered.

Immunogenicity and safety of an E. coli-produced bivalent human papillomavirus (type 16 and 18) vaccine: A randomized controlled phase 2 clinical trial.

BACKGROUND This study aimed to investigate the dosage, immunogenicity and safety profile of a novel human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 bivalent vaccine produced by E. coli. METHODS This randomized, double-blinded, controlled phase 2 trial enrolled women aged 18-25 years in China. Totally 1600 eligible participants were randomized to receive 90μg, 60μg, or 30μg of the recombinant HPV 16/18 bivalent vaccine or the control hepatitis B vaccine on a 0, 1 and 6 month schedule. The designated doses are the combined micrograms of HPV16 and 18 VLPs with dose ratio of 2:1. The immunogenicity of the vaccines was assessed by measuring anti-HPV 16 and 18 neutralizing antibodies and total IgG antibodies. Safety of the vaccine was assessed. RESULTS All but one of the seronegative participants who received 3 doses of the HPV vaccines seroconverted at month 7 for anti-HPV 16/18 neutralizing antibodies and IgG antibodies. For HPV 16, the geometric mean titers (GMTs) of the neutralizing antibodies were similar between the 60μg (GMT=10,548) and 90μg (GMT=12,505) HPV vaccine groups and were significantly higher than those in the 30μg (GMT=7596) group. For HPV 18, the GMTs of the neutralizing antibodies were similar among the 3 groups. The HPV vaccine was well tolerated. No vaccine-associated serious adverse events were identified. CONCLUSION The prokaryotic-expressed HPV vaccine is safe and immunogenic in women aged 18-25 years. The 60μg dosage formulation was selected for further investigation for efficacy. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION NCT01356823.

Expression and purification of soluble HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein gp160 mutant from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Here we report the expression of HIV-1 gp160 and its mutated proteins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Two strong hydrophobic regions, aa 511-537 and aa 679-703, were predicted by GCG Wisconsin Package software and removed to investigate the solubility of the mutated gp160 (gp160Delta12). The results showed that gp160Delta12 assumes high solubility as to be present in supernatant of cell lysate exclusively. The mutant exists as trimeric form in solutions via some inter-molecule disulfide bonds, which can be associated to monomer with the reduced reaction of DTT. The fermentation procedure was optimized to get high cell density yield and expression level as approximately 10 mg/L. After purification with electro elution, gp160Delta12 was checked as glycosylation form by Endo-H deglycosylating catalysis. The ELISA performed with a panel of human sera suggests that the purified gp160Delta12 shares some determinants with gp120 and gp41, but exposes some distinct epitopes that react with early HIV-infected antibody. Thus, we may provide a novel antigen for immunodetection assay, vaccine candidate, and other relative research purposes.

Bacterially expressed human papillomavirus type 6 and 11 bivalent vaccine: Characterization, antigenicity and immunogenicity

Human papillomavirus (HPV)-6 and HPV11 are the major etiological causes of condylomata acuminate. HPV neutralization by vaccine-elicited neutralizing antibodies can block viral infection and prevent subsequent disease. Currently, two commercially available HPV vaccines cover these two genotypes, expressed by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here we describe another HPV6/11 bivalent vaccine candidate derived from Escherichia coli. The soluble expression of N-terminally truncated L1 proteins was optimized to generate HPV6- and HPV11 L1-only virus-like particles (VLPs) as a scalable process. In a pilot scale, we used various biochemical, biophysical and immunochemical approaches to comprehensively characterize the scale and lot consistency of the vaccine candidate at 30L and 100L. Cryo-EM structure analysis showed that these VLPs form a T=7 icosahedral lattice, imitating the L1 capsid of the authentic HPV virion. This HPV6/11 bivalent vaccine confers a neutralization titer and antibody production profile in monkey that is comparable with the quadrivalent vaccine, Gardasil. This study demonstrates the robustness and scalability of a potential HPV6/11 bivalent vaccine using a prokaryotic system for vaccine production.

Characterization of an Escherichia coli-derived human papillomavirus type 16 and 18 bivalent vaccine

Human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 account for approximately 70% of cervical cancer worldwide. Neutralizing HPV prophylactic vaccines offer significant benefit, as they block HPV infection and prevent subsequent disease. However, the three licensed HPV vaccines that cover these two genotypes were produced in eukaryotic cells, which is expensive, particularly for low-income countries where HPV is highest. Here, we report a new HPV16 and -18 bivalent candidate vaccine produced from Escherichia coli. We used two strategies of N-terminal truncation of HPV L1 proteins and soluble non-fusion expression to generate HPV16 and HPV18 L1-only virus-like particles (VLPs) in a scalable process. Through comprehensive characterization of the bivalent candidate vaccine, we confirm lot consistency in a pilot scale-up of 30L, 100L and 500L. Using cryo-EM 3D reconstruction, we found that HPV16 and -18VLPs present in a T=7 icosahedral arrangement, similar in shape and size to that of the native virions. This HPV16/18 bivalent vaccine shares comparable immunogenicity with the licensed vaccines. Overall, we show that the production of a HPV16/18 bivalent vaccine from an E. coli expression system is robust and scalable, with potentially good accessibility worldwide as a population-based immunization strategy.

N-terminal truncations on L1 proteins of human papillomaviruses promote their soluble expression in Escherichia coli and self-assembly in vitro

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the causative agent in genital warts and nearly all cervical, anogenital, and oropharyngeal cancers. Nine HPV types (6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58) are associated with about 90% of cervical cancers and 90% of genital warts. HPV neutralization by vaccine-elicited neutralizing antibodies can block viral infection and prevent HPV-associated diseases. However, there is only one commercially available HPV vaccine, Gardasil 9, produced from Saccharomyces cerevisiae that covers all nine types, raising the need for microbial production of broad-spectrum HPV vaccines. Here, we investigated whether N-terminal truncations of the major HPV capsid proteins L1, improve their soluble expression in Escherichia coli. We found that N-terminal truncations promoted the soluble expression of HPV 33 (truncated by 10 amino acids [aa]), 52 (15 aa), and 58 (10 aa). The resultant HPV L1 proteins were purified in pentamer form and extensively characterized with biochemical, biophysical, and immunochemical methods. The pentamers self-assembled into virus-like particles (VLPs) in vitro, and 3D cryo-EM reconstructions revealed that all formed T = 7 icosahedral particles having 50–60-nm diameters. Moreover, we formulated a nine-valent HPV vaccine candidate with aluminum adjuvant and L1 VLPs from four genotypes used in this study and five from previous work. Immunogenicity assays in mice and non-human primates indicated that this HPV nine-valent vaccine candidate elicits neutralizing antibody titers comparable to those induced by Gardasil 9. Our study provides a method for producing a nine-valent HPV vaccine in E. coli and may inform strategies for the soluble expression of other vaccine candidates. • N-terminal truncations promote the soluble expression of HPV L1 proteins in E. coli and their self-assembly of T = 7 icosahedral particle in vitro • An HPV 9-valent vaccine candidate was formulated with E. coli-derived HPV 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58 VLPs, and conferred comparable immunogenicity with Gardasil 9