The production of Newcastle disease virus-like particles in Nicotiana benthamiana as potential vaccines

Tanja Smith; Martha M O'Kennedy; Craig S Ross; Nicola S Lewis; Celia Abolnik

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1130910

The production of Newcastle disease virus-like particles in Nicotiana benthamiana as potential vaccines

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Feb 16:14:1130910. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1130910. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Tanja Smith^{1

2}, Martha M O'Kennedy^{1

2}, Craig S Ross³, Nicola S Lewis^{3

4}, Celia Abolnik¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Production Animal Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Gauteng, Pretoria, South Africa.
² Next Generation Health, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria, South Africa.
³ Avian Virology Department, Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Woodham Lane, Addlestone, United Kingdom.
⁴ Department of Pathobiology and Population Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, Hatfield, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Newcastle disease (ND) is a highly contagious viral respiratory and neurological disease that has a severe impact on poultry production worldwide. In the present study, an expression platform was established for the transient production in N.bethamiana of ND virus-like particles (VLPs) for use as vaccines against ND. The expression of the ND Fusion (F) and/or Hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) proteins of a genotype VII.2 strain formed ND VLPs in planta as visualized under the transmission electron microscope, and HN-containing VLPs agglutinated chicken erythrocytes with hemagglutination (HA) titres of up to 13 log₂.The immunogenicity of the partially-purified ND VLPs was confirmed in specific-pathogen-free White leghorn chickens. Birds receiving a single intramuscular immunization with 1024 HA units (10 log₂) of the F/HN ND VLPs administered with 20% [v/v] Emulsigen^®-P adjuvant, seroconverted after 14 days with F- and HN-specific antibodies at ELISA titres of 5705.17 and HI geometric mean titres (GMTs) of 6.2 log₂, respectively. Furthermore, these ND-specific antibodies successfully inhibited viral replication in vitro of two antigenically closely-related ND virus isolates, with virus-neutralization test GMTs of 3.47 and 3.4, respectively. Plant-produced ND VLPs have great potential as antigen-matched vaccines for poultry and other avian species that are highly immunogenic, cost-effective, and facilitate prompt updating to ensure improved protection against emerging ND field viruses.

Keywords: Newcastle disease virus (NDV); Nicotiana benthamiana; agroinfiltration; immunogenicity; poultry vaccine; virus-like particles (VLPs).

Grants and funding

The study was funded by the National Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and National Research Foundation (NRF) grant no. N00705/129242 and the National Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) grant “Healthy Flocks- Quality Leather”. TS received funding from the University of Pretoria (Postdoctoral and Research Fellowship Programme) and the International Veterinary and Vaccinology Network (IVVN) (Fellowship for Women in Low-and Middle-income countries). Work at APHA was carried out under DEFRA-funded project APHAEXSE2214.