A Multiepitope Nanovaccine Candidate Adjuvanted with Porcine Ferritin Scaffold for African Swine Fever Virus
<b>Background</b>: African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious acute febrile disease with a near 100% mortality rate. There are currently no safe and effective vaccines for this disease. Cellular immunity plays an important role in the process of anti-viral, activating an effective...
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MDPI AG
2025-05-01
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| author | Lidan Sun Yuping Ding Jingqi Niu Yingjun Li Zeliang Chen |
| author_facet | Lidan Sun Yuping Ding Jingqi Niu Yingjun Li Zeliang Chen |
| author_sort | Lidan Sun |
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| description | <b>Background</b>: African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious acute febrile disease with a near 100% mortality rate. There are currently no safe and effective vaccines for this disease. Cellular immunity plays an important role in the process of anti-viral, activating an effective cellular immune response is a prerequisite for the effectiveness of the vaccine. <b>Methods</b>: To effectively activate cellular immune responses, 133 immunodominant T cell epitopes (TEPs) were identified and synthesized into ten recombinant multi-epitope proteins (MEPs). These MEPs were subsequently conjugated to porcine ferritin (pFTH1) to generate MEPs-pFTH1 nanoparticles. Animal experiments were conducted to evaluate their immunogenicity and biocompatibility. <b>Results</b>: Animal experiments demonstrated that both MEPs and MEPs-pFTH1 nanoparticles induced significant humoral and cellular immune responses. Compared to MEPs monomers, the MEPs-pFTH1 nanoparticles induced a 10- to 100-fold increase in IgG and IgG2a antibody titers (<i>p</i> < 0.05), as well as a significantly higher number of IFN-γ<sup>+</sup> cells. Serum from pigs immunized with MEPs-pFTH1 nanoparticles can significantly inhibit ASFV replication. <b>Conclusions</b>: Our novel self-assembled porcine ferritin nanovaccine candidate can induce strong humoral and cellular immune responses in swine and mice that effectively inhibit ASFV replication. Therefore, the nanovaccine is a highly biocompatible and safe candidate vaccine for ASF that warrants further investigation, such as conducting animal challenge experiments to evaluate the effectiveness of the vaccine. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e2515e2edd764a44a08c8d7e88523900 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-393X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Vaccines |
| spelling | doaj-art-e2515e2edd764a44a08c8d7e885239002025-08-20T03:26:52ZengMDPI AGVaccines2076-393X2025-05-0113658510.3390/vaccines13060585A Multiepitope Nanovaccine Candidate Adjuvanted with Porcine Ferritin Scaffold for African Swine Fever VirusLidan Sun0Yuping Ding1Jingqi Niu2Yingjun Li3Zeliang Chen4Key Laboratory of Livestock Infectious Diseases in Northeast China, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, ChinaTwins Group Co., Ltd., Nanchang 330046, ChinaKey Laboratory of Livestock Infectious Diseases in Northeast China, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, ChinaBeijing Tonghe Litai Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Beijing 102600, ChinaKey Laboratory of Livestock Infectious Diseases in Northeast China, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, China<b>Background</b>: African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious acute febrile disease with a near 100% mortality rate. There are currently no safe and effective vaccines for this disease. Cellular immunity plays an important role in the process of anti-viral, activating an effective cellular immune response is a prerequisite for the effectiveness of the vaccine. <b>Methods</b>: To effectively activate cellular immune responses, 133 immunodominant T cell epitopes (TEPs) were identified and synthesized into ten recombinant multi-epitope proteins (MEPs). These MEPs were subsequently conjugated to porcine ferritin (pFTH1) to generate MEPs-pFTH1 nanoparticles. Animal experiments were conducted to evaluate their immunogenicity and biocompatibility. <b>Results</b>: Animal experiments demonstrated that both MEPs and MEPs-pFTH1 nanoparticles induced significant humoral and cellular immune responses. Compared to MEPs monomers, the MEPs-pFTH1 nanoparticles induced a 10- to 100-fold increase in IgG and IgG2a antibody titers (<i>p</i> < 0.05), as well as a significantly higher number of IFN-γ<sup>+</sup> cells. Serum from pigs immunized with MEPs-pFTH1 nanoparticles can significantly inhibit ASFV replication. <b>Conclusions</b>: Our novel self-assembled porcine ferritin nanovaccine candidate can induce strong humoral and cellular immune responses in swine and mice that effectively inhibit ASFV replication. Therefore, the nanovaccine is a highly biocompatible and safe candidate vaccine for ASF that warrants further investigation, such as conducting animal challenge experiments to evaluate the effectiveness of the vaccine.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/13/6/585African swine fever (ASF)NanovaccineT-cell epitopesporcine ferritin (pFTH1)IFN-γ<sup>+</sup> |
| spellingShingle | Lidan Sun Yuping Ding Jingqi Niu Yingjun Li Zeliang Chen A Multiepitope Nanovaccine Candidate Adjuvanted with Porcine Ferritin Scaffold for African Swine Fever Virus Vaccines African swine fever (ASF) Nanovaccine T-cell epitopes porcine ferritin (pFTH1) IFN-γ<sup>+</sup> |
| title | A Multiepitope Nanovaccine Candidate Adjuvanted with Porcine Ferritin Scaffold for African Swine Fever Virus |
| title_full | A Multiepitope Nanovaccine Candidate Adjuvanted with Porcine Ferritin Scaffold for African Swine Fever Virus |
| title_fullStr | A Multiepitope Nanovaccine Candidate Adjuvanted with Porcine Ferritin Scaffold for African Swine Fever Virus |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Multiepitope Nanovaccine Candidate Adjuvanted with Porcine Ferritin Scaffold for African Swine Fever Virus |
| title_short | A Multiepitope Nanovaccine Candidate Adjuvanted with Porcine Ferritin Scaffold for African Swine Fever Virus |
| title_sort | multiepitope nanovaccine candidate adjuvanted with porcine ferritin scaffold for african swine fever virus |
| topic | African swine fever (ASF) Nanovaccine T-cell epitopes porcine ferritin (pFTH1) IFN-γ<sup>+</sup> |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/13/6/585 |
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