B602L-Fc fusion protein enhances the immunogenicity of the B602L protein of the African swine fever virus

Yang Yang; Qiqi Xia; Lujia Zhou; Yan Zhang; Zhixin Guan; Junjie Zhang; Zongjie Li; Ke Liu; Beibei Li; Donghua Shao; Yafeng Qiu; Zhiyong Ma; Jianchao Wei

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2023.1186299

B602L-Fc fusion protein enhances the immunogenicity of the B602L protein of the African swine fever virus

Front Immunol. 2023 Jun 22:14:1186299. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1186299. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Yang Yang¹, Qiqi Xia¹, Lujia Zhou^{1

2}, Yan Zhang^{1

3}, Zhixin Guan¹, Junjie Zhang¹, Zongjie Li¹, Ke Liu¹, Beibei Li¹, Donghua Shao¹, Yafeng Qiu¹, Zhiyong Ma¹, Jianchao Wei¹

Affiliations

¹ Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai, China.
² College of Animal Science and Technology & College of Veterinary Medicine of Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
³ College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.

Abstract

African swine fever (ASF) is an acute, highly contagious, and deadly infectious disease caused by the African swine fever virus (ASFV) and has a huge impact on the pig industry. A lack of vaccines and effective therapeutic drugs has brought great challenges to the prevention and control of ASF. In this study, insect baculovirus expression system was used to express ASFV B602L protein (B602L) alone and the IgG FC-fused B602L protein (B602L-Fc), and evaluate the immune effect of B602L-Fc in mice model. To be specific, the ASFV B602L protein and B602L-Fc fusion protein were successfully expressed by the insect baculovirus expression system. Then, Functional analysis in vitro revealed that the B602L-Fc fusion protein bound and interacted with the FcRI receptor of antigen-presenting cells and significantly promoted the expression of proteins involved in antigen presentation and various cytokines at mRNA levels in porcine alveolar macrophages. Additionally, immunization using B602L-Fc fusion protein remarkably promoted the Th1-biased cellular immune response and humoral immune response in mice. In conclusion, The B602L-Fc fusion protein could up-regulate the expression of molecules involved in antigen presentation in APCs and enhance the humoral and cellular immune responses in mice. These results suggest that ASFV B602L-Fc recombinant fusion protein may be a promising candidate for subunit vaccine. This study provided useful data for the development of subunit vaccines for ASF.

Keywords: African swine fever virus; B602L; IgG Fc; immunogenicity; subunit vaccine.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

African Swine Fever Virus*
African Swine Fever*
Animals
Antigen-Presenting Cells
Immunization
Mice
Swine
Vaccination

Grants and funding

The work was supported by grants from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Nos. 2021YFD1801300 and 2021YFD1801401 awarded to JW and YQ, respectively), the Project of Shanghai Science and Technology Commission (No. 20392002400 awarded to JW), and the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program (CAAS-ZDRW202203 awarded to ZM).