Bat influenza virus chimeras as basis for the development of a new type of vaccine backbone
Final Report Abstract
We could show that the modified live influenza virus vaccines (MLIV) prototype R65mono/H17N10 is able to protect 100 % of chicken against clinical signs and virus shedding following HPAIV challenge and that all naïve direct contact animals were not infected, but stayed constantly seronegative. Additionally, we could show that the R65mono/H17N10 live vaccine candidate proofed to be non-pathogenic in ferrets, while also protecting them against clinical signs and spread of challenge virus. Thus, the completely new bat flu-based MLIV approach is a promising new tool, which offers advantages of attenuated live vaccines without the risk of unwanted reassortment events. R65mono/H17N10 is a virus that was passed in embryonated eggs and day-old chicken. We could show during the passaging process the emergence and disappearance of specific adaptive mutations in the viral polymerase subunits. These avian signatures prevent efficient replication in mammalian cells and mice and thus offer the unique possibility to improve the efficacy of live vaccines based on bat chimeric IAV such as R65mono/H17N10 but also to increase the safety of such vaccines in case of an accidental spill over to mammalian hosts.
Publications
- (2020) A modified live bat influenza A virus-based vaccine prototype provides full protection against HPAIV H5N1. NPJ vaccines 5 (1) 40
Schön, Jacob; Ran, Wei; Gorka, Marco; Schwemmle, Martin; Beer, Martin; Hoffmann, Donata
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41541-020-0185-6)
