Genetic engineering of live rabies vaccines.

Rabies virus is not a single entity but consists of a wide array of variants that are each associated with different host species. These viruses differ greatly in the antigenic makeup of their G proteins, the primary determinant of pathogenicity and major inducer of protective immunity. Due to this diversity, existing rabies vaccines have largely been targeted to individual animal species. In this report, a novel approach to the development of rabies vaccines using genetically modified, reverse-engineered live attenuated rabies viruses is described. This approach entails the engineering of vaccine rabies virus containing G proteins from virulent strains and modification of the G protein to further reduce pathogenicity. Strategies employed included exchange of the arginine at position 333 for glutamine and modification of the cytoplasmic domain. The recombinant viruses obtained were non-neuroinvasive when administered via a peripheral route. The ability to confer protective immunity depended largely upon conservation of the G protein antigenic structure between the vaccine and challenge virus, as well as on the route of immunization.

High level expression of a human rabies virus-neutralizing monoclonal antibody by a rhabdovirus-based vector.

Humans exposed to rabies virus must be promptly treated by passive immunization with anti-rabies antibody and active immunization with rabies vaccine. Currently, antibody prepared from pooled human serum or from immunized horses is utilized. However, neither of these reagents are readily available, entirely safe, or consistent in their biological activity. An ideal reagent would consist of a panel of human monoclonal antibodies. Such antibodies are now available, their only drawback being the cost of production. Using recombinant technology, we constructed a rabies virus-based vector which expresses high levels (approximately 60 pg/cell) of rabies virus-neutralizing human monoclonal antibody. The vector is a modified vaccine strain of rabies virus in which the rabies virus glycoprotein has been replaced with a chimeric vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein, and both heavy and light chain genes encoding a human monoclonal antibody have been inserted. This recombinant virus can infect a variety of mammalian cell lines and is non-cytolytic, allowing the use of cell culture technology routinely employed to produce rabies vaccines.

Rabies virus-based vectors expressing human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) envelope protein induce a strong, cross-reactive cytotoxic T-lymphocyte response against envelope proteins from different HIV-1 isolates.

Novel viral vectors that are able to induce both strong and long-lasting immune responses may be required as effective vaccines for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection. Our previous experiments with a replication-competent vaccine strain-based rabies virus (RV) expressing HIV-1 envelope protein from a laboratory-adapted HIV-1 strain (NL4-3) and a primary HIV-1 isolate (89.6) showed that RV-based vectors are excellent for B-cell priming. Here we report that cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses against HIV-1 gp160 are induced by recombinant RVs. Our results indicated that a single inoculation of mice with an RV expressing HIV-1 gp160 induced a solid and long-lasting memory CTL response specific for HIV-1 envelope protein. Moreover, CTLs from immunized mice were not restricted to the homologous HIV-1 envelope protein and were able to cross-kill target cells expressing HIV-1 gp160 from heterologous HIV-1 strains. These studies further suggest promise for RV-based vectors to elicit a persistent immune response against HIV-1 and their potential utility as efficacious anti-HIV-1 vaccines.

A recombinant rabies virus expressing vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein fails to protect against rabies virus infection.

To investigate the importance of the rabies virus (RV) glycoprotein (G) in protection against rabies, we constructed a recombinant RV (rRV) in which the RV G ecto- and transmembrane domains were replaced with the corresponding regions of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) glycoprotein (rRV-VSV-G). We were able to recover rRV-VSV-G and found that particle production was equal to rRV. However, the budding of the chimeric virus was delayed and infectious titers were reduced 10-fold compared with the parental rRV strain containing RV G. Biochemical analysis showed equal replication rates of both viruses, and similar amounts of wild-type and chimeric G were present in the respective viral particles. Additional studies were performed to determine whether the immune response against rRV-VSV-G was sufficient to protect against rabies. Mice were primed with rRV or rRV-VSV-G and challenged with a pathogenic strain of RV 12 days later. Similar immune responses against the internal viral proteins of both viruses indicated successful infection. All mice receiving the rRV vaccine survived the challenge, whereas immunization with rRV-VSV-G did not induce protection. The results confirm the crucial role of RV G in an RV vaccine.

Reinvestigation of the role of the rabies virus glycoprotein in viral pathogenesis using a reverse genetics approach.

The rabies virus glycoprotein (G) gene of the highly neuroinvasive and neurotropic strains SHBRV-18, CVS-N2c, and CVS-B2c was introduced into the non-neuroinvasive and less neurotropic SN-10 strain to provide further insight into the role of G in the pathogenesis of rabies. Phenotypic analyses of the recombinant viruses revealed, as expected, that the neurotropism of a particular rabies virus strain was a function of its G. Nevertheless, the pathogenicity of the recombinant viruses was, in every case, markedly lower than that of the wild-type viruses suggesting that while the G dictates neurotropism, other viral attributes are also important in pathogenesis. The low pathogenicity of the recombinant viruses is at least in part due to a strong increase in transcription activity. On the other hand, the production of infectious virus by the R-SHB18 recombinant virus-infected cells was significantly delayed by comparison with SHBRV-18 wild-type virus infected-cells. Replacement of the R-SHB18 G cytoplasmic domain, transmembrane domain, and stem region with its SN-10 G counterparts neither results in a significant increase in budding efficiency nor an increase in pathogenicity. These results suggest that an optimal match of the cytoplasmic domain of G with the matrix protein may not be sufficient for maximal virus budding efficiency, which is evidently a major factor of virus pathogenicity. Our studies indicate that to maintain pathogenicity, the interactions between various structural elements of rabies virus must be highly conserved and the expression of viral proteins, in particular the G protein, must be strictly controlled.

Recombinant rabies virus as potential live-viral vaccines for HIV-1.

Recombinant, replication-competent rabies virus (RV) vaccine strain-based vectors were developed expressing HIV type I (HIV-1) envelope glycoprotein (gp160) from both a laboratory-adapted (CXCR4-tropic) and a primary (dual-tropic) HIV-1 isolate. An additional transcription stop/start unit within the RV genome was used to express HIV-1 gp160 in addition to the other RV proteins. The HIV-1 gp160 protein was stably and functionally expressed, as indicated by fusion of human T cell lines after infection with the recombinant RVs. Inoculation of mice with the recombinant RVs expressing HIV-1 gp160 induced a strong humoral response directed against the HIV-1 envelope protein after a single boost with recombinant HIV-1 gp120 protein. Moreover, high neutralization titers up to 1:800 against HIV-1 could be detected in the mouse sera. These data indicate that a live recombinant RV, a rhabdovirus, expressing HIV-1 gp160 may serve as an effective vector for an HIV-1 vaccine.