Immunogenicity in Mice Immunized with Recombinant Adenoviruses Expressing Varicella-Zoster Virus Envelope Glycoprotein E

Viruses. 2023 Nov 22;15(12):2288. doi: 10.3390/v15122288.

Abstract

Herpes zoster (HZ) is a disease caused by the reactivation of latent varicella-zoster virus (VZV). The subunit vaccine, Shingrix®, and live attenuated vaccine, Zostavax®, could be used as an HZ vaccine that prevents HZ from being developed due to the reactivation of latent VZV in the sensory ganglia due to aging, stress or immunosuppression. In this study, the recombinant adenoviruses rChAd63/gE expressing glycoprotein E (gE) of VZV based on chimpanzee adenovirus serotype 63 (ChAd63) were constructed and investigated for the immunogenicity of different immune pathways in C57BL/6 mice. The results showed similar CD4+ T and CD8+ T cell responses to Shingrix® were induced in mice vaccinated using rChAd63/gE via different immune pathways. This study elucidates that recombinant adenoviruses expressing VZV gE could be appropriate for further development as a new HZ vaccine candidate via different immune pathways.

Keywords: herpes zoster; immune pathways; immunogenicity; recombinant adenoviruses.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Herpes Zoster Vaccine*
  • Herpes Zoster*
  • Herpesvirus 3, Human / genetics
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Viral Envelope Proteins / genetics

Substances

  • glycoprotein E, varicella-zoster virus
  • Herpes Zoster Vaccine
  • Viral Envelope Proteins
  • Recombinant Proteins

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (grant numbers: L222074) and the Key R&D Program of Shandong Province (grant numbers: 2019JZZY011011).