N.V. Petukhova

Immunogenicity and Protective Efficacy of Candidate Universal Influenza A Nanovaccines Produced in Plants by Tobacco Mosaic Virus-based Vectors

A new approach for super-expression of the influenza virus epitope M2e in plants has been developed on the basis of a recombinant Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV, strain U1) genome designed for Agrobacterium-mediated delivery into the plant cell nucleus. The TMV coat protein (CP) served as a carrier and three versions of the M2e sequence were inserted into the surface loop between amino acid residues 155 and 156. Cysteine residues in the heterologous peptide were thought likely to impede efficient assembly of chimeric particles. Therefore, viral vectors TMV-M2e-ala and TMV-M2e-ser were constructed in which cysteine codons 17 and 19 of the M2e epitope were substituted by codons for serine or alanine. Agroinfiltration experiments proved that the chimeric viruses were capable of systemically infecting Nicotiana benthamiana plants. Antisera raised against TMV-M2e-ala virions appear to contain far more antibodies specific to influenza virus M2e than those specific to TMV carrier particle (ratio 5:1). Immunogold electron microscopy showed that the 2-epitopes were uniformly distributed and tightly packed on the surface of the chimeric TMV virions. Apparently, the majority of the TMV CP-specific epitopes in the chimeric TMV-M2e particles are hidden from the immune system by the M2e epitopes exposed on the particle surface. The profile of IgG subclasses after immunization of mice with TMV-M2e-ser and TMV-M2e-ala was evaluated. Immunization with TMV-M2e-ala induced a significant difference between the levels of IgG1 and IgG2a (IgG1/IgG2a=3.2). Mice immunized with the chimeric viruses were resistant to five lethal doses (LD50) of the homologous influenza virus strain, A/PR/8/34 (H1N1) and TMV-M2e-ala also gave partial protection (5LD50, 70% of survival rate) against a heterologous strain influenza A/California/04/2009 (H1N1) (4 amino acid changes in M2e). These results indicate that a new generation candidate universal nanovaccine against influenza based on a recombinant TMV construct has been obtained.

High-level systemic expression of conserved influenza epitope in plants on the surface of rod-shaped chimeric particles.

Recombinant viruses based on the cDNA copy of the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) genome carrying different versions of the conserved M2e epitope from influenza virus A cloned into the coat protein (CP) gene were obtained and partially characterized by our group previously; cysteines in the human consensus M2e sequence were changed to serine residues. This work intends to show some biological properties of these viruses following plant infections. Agroinfiltration experiments on Nicotiana benthamiana confirmed the efficient systemic expression of M2e peptides, and two point amino acid substitutions in recombinant CPs significantly influenced the symptoms and development of viral infections. Joint expression of RNA interference suppressor protein p19 from tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV) did not affect the accumulation of CP-M2e-ser recombinant protein in non-inoculated leaves. RT-PCR analysis of RNA isolated from either infected leaves or purified TMV-M2e particles proved the genetic stability of TMV‑based viral vectors. Immunoelectron microscopy of crude plant extracts demonstrated that foreign epitopes are located on the surface of chimeric virions. The rod‑shaped geometry of plant-produced M2e epitopes is different from the icosahedral or helical filamentous arrangement of M2e antigens on the carrier virus-like particles (VLP) described earlier. Thereby, we created a simple and efficient system that employs agrobacteria and plant viral vectors in order to produce a candidate broad-spectrum flu vaccine.

Chimeric particles of tobacco mosaic virus as a platform for the development of next-generation nanovaccines

The production of vaccines and other proteins in plants for medical purposes offers a number of advantages over other expression systems. The tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) is an appropriate model for the development of a variety of vectors, including those used for the assembly of chimeric particles carrying heterologous peptides on the surface and inducing an effective immune response. To overcome the problems arising during the assembly of such particles from recombinant subunits of the coat protein, peptide linkers, suppressed stop codons, and proteolytic sites are used. To date, it has been shown that TMV-based nanovaccines provide protection against the viruses of influenza A, foot-and-mouth disease, papilloma, and they are also able to overcome B-cell tolerance for cancer-cell suppression. Genetically modified TMV-based virions can accommodate the ions of various metals and act as affinity agents for protein purification.