DNA-immunisation with dengue virus E protein domains I/II, but not domain III, enhances Zika, West Nile and Yellow Fever virus infection

PLoS One. 2017 Jul 25;12(7):e0181734. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0181734. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Dengue virus (DENV), the causative agent of dengue disease, is among the most important mosquito-borne pathogens worldwide. DENV is composed of four closely related serotypes and belongs to the Flaviviridae family alongside other important arthropod-borne viral pathogens such as Zika virus (ZIKV), West Nile virus (WNV) and Yellow Fever virus (YFV). After infection, the antibody response is mostly directed to the viral E glycoprotein which is composed of three structural domains named DI, DII and DIII that share variable degrees of homology among different viruses. Recent evidence supports a close serological interaction between ZIKV and DENV. The possibility of worse clinical outcomes as a consequence of antibody-dependent enhancement of infection (ADE) due to cross-reactive antibodies with poor neutralisation activity is a matter of concern. We tested polyclonal sera from groups of female Balb/C mice vaccinated with DNA constructs expressing DI/DII, DIII or the whole sE from different DENV serotypes and compared their activity in terms of cross-reactivity, neutralisation of virus infection and ADE. Our results indicate that the polyclonal antibody responses against the whole sE protein are highly cross-reactive with strong ADE and poor neutralisation activities due to DI/DII immunodominance. Conversely, anti-DIII polyclonal antibodies are type-specific, with no ADE towards ZIKV, WNV and YFV, and strong neutralisation activity restricted only to DENV.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Neutralizing / immunology
  • Cross Reactions
  • Dengue / immunology*
  • Dengue Virus / immunology*
  • Female
  • Immunization / methods*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Viral Envelope Proteins / immunology*
  • West Nile Fever / immunology*
  • West Nile virus / immunology*
  • Yellow Fever / immunology*
  • Yellow fever virus / immunology*
  • Zika Virus / immunology*
  • Zika Virus Infection / immunology*

Substances

  • Antibodies, Neutralizing
  • E-glycoprotein, Dengue virus type 1
  • E-glycoprotein, Dengue virus type 2
  • E-glycoprotein, Dengue virus type 3
  • Viral Envelope Proteins
  • glycoprotein E, dengue virus type 4

Grants and funding

JLSC and JR were supported by Arturo Falaschi ICGEB pre-doctoral and postdoctoral fellowships, respectively. FA was supported by FIRB-Futuro in Ricerca grant (RBFR13209E), Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca (MIUR), Italy. The funders played no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.