Monoclonal Antibody against G Glycoprotein Increases Respiratory Syncytial Virus Clearance In Vivo and Prevents Vaccine-Enhanced Diseases

PLoS One. 2017 Jan 11;12(1):e0169139. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169139. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common cause of lower respiratory tract illness in infants, young children, and the elderly. The G glycoprotein plays a role in host cell attachment and also modulates the host immune response, thereby inducing disease pathogenesis. We generated two monoclonal antibodies (mAbs; 5H6 and 3A5) against G protein core fragment (Gcf), which consisted of amino acid residues 131 to 230 from RSV A2 G protein. Epitope mapping study revealed that 5H6 specifically binds to the G/164-176 peptide that includes conserved sequences shared by both RSV A and B subtypes, and 3A5 binds to the G/190-204 peptide. Studies with mutant Gcf proteins in which cysteine residues were substituted with alanine revealed that 5H6 requires four cysteines for binding and 3A5 binds to Gcf variants with alanine substitutions better than wild-type. To determine if these mAbs reduce pulmonary viral infection, BALB/c mice were administered mAb and subsequently challenged with RSV. On day 4 post-infection, lung viral titers were reduced by up to 93% with the 5H6 injection and 90% with the 3A5 injection, indicating that prophylactic injection of these mAbs contributes to RSV clearance in vivo. Importantly, 5H6 injection reduced vaccine-enhanced diseases. Overall, our results suggest that this novel anti-G mAb could be used as a prophylactic regimen against RSV diseases.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / adverse effects
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / therapeutic use*
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Disease Progression
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections / pathology
  • Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections / prevention & control*
  • Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccines / adverse effects*
  • Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccines / therapeutic use
  • Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Human / immunology
  • Viral Fusion Proteins / immunology*

Substances

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal
  • G glycoprotein, Respiratory syncytial virus
  • Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccines
  • Viral Fusion Proteins

Grants and funding

This study was supported by a grant of the Korean Health Technology R&D Project, Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (Grant number: HI13C0826) and Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2013R1A1A2060008).