Adjuvanted Fusion Protein Vaccine Induces Durable Immunity to <i>Onchocerca volvulus</i> in Mice and Non-Human Primates
Nathan M. Ryan,
Jessica A. Hess,
Erica J. Robertson,
Nancy Tricoche,
Cheri Turner,
Jenn Davis,
Nikolai Petrovsky,
Melissa Ferguson,
William J. Rinaldi,
Valerie M. Wong,
Ayako Shimada,
Bin Zhan,
Maria Elena Bottazzi,
Benjamin L. Makepeace,
Sean A. Gray,
Darrick Carter,
Sara Lustigman,
David Abraham
Affiliations
Nathan M. Ryan
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
Jessica A. Hess
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
Erica J. Robertson
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
Nancy Tricoche
Laboratory of Molecular Parasitology, Lindsey F. Kimball Research Institute, New York Blood Center, New York, NY 10065, USA
Cheri Turner
PAI Life Sciences Inc., Seattle, WA 98102, USA
Jenn Davis
PAI Life Sciences Inc., Seattle, WA 98102, USA
Nikolai Petrovsky
Vaxine Pty Ltd., Bedford Park, Adelaide, SA 5042, Australia
Melissa Ferguson
Alpha Genesis Inc., Yemassee, SC 29945, USA
William J. Rinaldi
Alpha Genesis Inc., Yemassee, SC 29945, USA
Valerie M. Wong
IDEXX BioAnalytics, West Sacramento, CA 95605, USA
Ayako Shimada
Division of Biostatistics, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
Bin Zhan
Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Maria Elena Bottazzi
Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Benjamin L. Makepeace
Institute of Infection, Veterinary & Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L3 5RF, UK
Sean A. Gray
PAI Life Sciences Inc., Seattle, WA 98102, USA
Darrick Carter
PAI Life Sciences Inc., Seattle, WA 98102, USA
Sara Lustigman
Laboratory of Molecular Parasitology, Lindsey F. Kimball Research Institute, New York Blood Center, New York, NY 10065, USA
David Abraham
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
Onchocerciasis remains a debilitating neglected tropical disease. Due to the many challenges of current control methods, an effective vaccine against the causative agent Onchocerca volvulus is urgently needed. Mice and cynomolgus macaque non-human primates (NHPs) were immunized with a vaccine consisting of a fusion of two O. volvulus protein antigens, Ov-103 and Ov-RAL-2 (Ov-FUS-1), and three different adjuvants: Advax-CpG, alum, and AlT4. All vaccine formulations induced high antigen-specific IgG titers in both mice and NHPs. Challenging mice with O. volvulus L3 contained within subcutaneous diffusion chambers demonstrated that Ov-FUS-1/Advax-CpG-immunized animals developed protective immunity, durable for at least 11 weeks. Passive transfer of sera, collected at several time points, from both mice and NHPs immunized with Ov-FUS-1/Advax-CpG transferred protection to naïve mice. These results demonstrate that Ov-FUS-1 with the adjuvant Advax-CpG induces durable protective immunity against O. volvulus in mice and NHPs that is mediated by vaccine-induced humoral factors.
