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. 2016 Mar 11;31(2):150–159. doi: 10.1007/s12250-015-3692-2

Recombinant Newcastle disease virus expressing African swine fever virus protein 72 is safe and immunogenic in mice

Xinxin Chen 1, Jifei Yang 1, Yanhong Ji 1, Edward Okoth 3, Bin Liu 1, Xiaoyang Li 1, Hong Yin 1,2,✉, Qiyun Zhu 1,✉
PMCID: PMC8193403  PMID: 26980334

Abstract

African swine fever (ASF) is a lethal hemorrhagic disease that affects wild and domestic swine. The etiological agent of ASF is African swine fever virus (ASFV). Since the first case was described in Kenya in 1921, the disease has spread to many other countries. No commercial vaccines are available to prevent ASF. In this study, we generated a recombinant Newcastle disease virus (rNDV) expressing ASFV protein 72 (p72) by reverse genetics and evaluated its humoral and cellular immunogenicity in a mouse model. The recombinant virus, rNDV/p72, replicated well in embryonated chicken eggs and was safe to use in chicks and mice. The p72 gene in rNDV/p72 was stably maintained through ten passages. Mice immunized with rNDV/p72 developed high titers of ASFV p72 specific IgG antibody, and had higher levels of IgG1 than IgG2a. Immunization also elicited T-cell proliferation and secretion of IFN-γ and IL-4. Taken together, these results indicate that rNDV expressing ASFV p72 might be a potential vaccine candidate for preventing ASF.

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Keywords: African swine fever virus, p72, Newcastle disease virus, vectored vaccine

Footnotes

These authors contributed equally to this work.

ORCID: 0000-0001-6404-7965

Contributor Information

Hong Yin, Phone: +86-931-8342515, FAX: +86-931-8342585, Email: yinhong@caas.cn.

Qiyun Zhu, Phone: +86-931-8341628, FAX: +86-931-8342585, Email: zhuqiyun@caas.cn.

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