Rapid development of a DNA vaccine for Zika virus

Kimberly A Dowd; Sung-Youl Ko; Kaitlyn M Morabito; Eun Sung Yang; Rebecca S Pelc; Christina R DeMaso; Leda R Castilho; Peter Abbink; Michael Boyd; Ramya Nityanandam; David N Gordon; John Robert Gallagher; Xuejun Chen; John-Paul Todd; Yaroslav Tsybovsky; Audray Harris; Yan-Jang S Huang; Stephen Higgs; Dana L Vanlandingham; Hanne Andersen; Mark G Lewis; Rafael De La Barrera; Kenneth H Eckels; Richard G Jarman; Martha C Nason; Dan H Barouch; Mario Roederer; Wing-Pui Kong; John R Mascola; Theodore C Pierson; Barney S Graham

doi:10.1126/science.aai9137

Rapid development of a DNA vaccine for Zika virus

Science. 2016 Oct 14;354(6309):237-240. doi: 10.1126/science.aai9137. Epub 2016 Sep 22.

Authors

Kimberly A Dowd¹, Sung-Youl Ko², Kaitlyn M Morabito², Eun Sung Yang², Rebecca S Pelc¹, Christina R DeMaso¹, Leda R Castilho³, Peter Abbink⁴, Michael Boyd⁴, Ramya Nityanandam⁴, David N Gordon¹, John Robert Gallagher⁵, Xuejun Chen², John-Paul Todd², Yaroslav Tsybovsky⁶, Audray Harris⁵, Yan-Jang S Huang⁷, Stephen Higgs⁷, Dana L Vanlandingham⁷, Hanne Andersen⁸, Mark G Lewis⁸, Rafael De La Barrera⁹, Kenneth H Eckels⁹, Richard G Jarman¹⁰, Martha C Nason¹¹, Dan H Barouch⁴, Mario Roederer², Wing-Pui Kong², John R Mascola², Theodore C Pierson¹², Barney S Graham¹³

Affiliations

¹ Viral Pathogenesis Section, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
² Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
³ Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, COPPE (Instituto Alberto Luiz Coimbra de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa de Engenharia), Chemical Engineering Program, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
⁴ Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
⁵ Structural Informatics Unit, Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
⁶ Electron Microscopy Laboratory, Cancer Research Technology Program, Leidos Biomedical Research, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD 21702, USA.
⁷ Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA.
⁸ Bioqual, Rockville, MD 20852, USA.
⁹ Translational Medicine Branch, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA.
¹⁰ Viral Diseases Branch, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA.
¹¹ Biostatistics Research Branch, Division of Clinical Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20852, USA.
¹² Viral Pathogenesis Section, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. piersontc@niaid.nih.gov bgraham@mail.nih.gov.
¹³ Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. piersontc@niaid.nih.gov bgraham@mail.nih.gov.

Abstract

Zika virus (ZIKV) was identified as a cause of congenital disease during the explosive outbreak in the Americas and Caribbean that began in 2015. Because of the ongoing fetal risk from endemic disease and travel-related exposures, a vaccine to prevent viremia in women of childbearing age and their partners is imperative. We found that vaccination with DNA expressing the premembrane and envelope proteins of ZIKV was immunogenic in mice and nonhuman primates, and protection against viremia after ZIKV challenge correlated with serum neutralizing activity. These data not only indicate that DNA vaccination could be a successful approach to protect against ZIKV infection, but also suggest a protective threshold of vaccine-induced neutralizing activity that prevents viremia after acute infection.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Antibodies, Neutralizing / blood
Antibodies, Neutralizing / immunology
Female
Immunogenicity, Vaccine*
Macaca mulatta
Male
Mice
Vaccination
Vaccines, DNA / immunology*
Viral Envelope Proteins / genetics
Viral Envelope Proteins / immunology*
Viral Load / immunology
Viral Vaccines / immunology*
Viremia / immunology
Viremia / prevention & control
Zika Virus / genetics
Zika Virus / immunology*
Zika Virus Infection / prevention & control*
Zika Virus Infection / virology

Substances

Antibodies, Neutralizing
Vaccines, DNA
Viral Envelope Proteins
Viral Vaccines
prM protein, Flavivirus

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding