Prime-boost vaccinations using recombinant flavivirus replicon and vaccinia virus vaccines: an ELISPOT analysis.

Recombinant Kunjin replicon virus-like particle (VLP), vaccinia virus (rVV) and DNA vaccines were tested in a large series of prime-boost vaccinations using interferon (IFN)γ ELISPOT assays that reflected effector (E), effector memory (EM) and central memory (CM) responses. All vaccine constructs encoded the murine polytope immunogen and responses to four CD8 T-cell epitopes (TYQRTRALV, SYIPSAEKI, YPHFMPTNL and RPQASGVYM) were measured. VLP/rVV out performed (by 14- to 20-fold) DNA/rVV for induction of CM responses, whereas EM responses were only marginally increased.

Evaluation of recombinant Kunjin replicon SIV vaccines for protective efficacy in macaques.

Persistent gag-specific T cell immunity would be a useful component of an effective HIV vaccine. The Flavivirus Kunjin replicon was previously engineered to persistently express HIV gag and was shown to induce protective responses in mice. We evaluated Kunjin replicon virus-like-particles expressing SIVgag-pol in pigtail macaques.

A single amino acid substitution in the West Nile virus nonstructural protein NS2A disables its ability to inhibit alpha/beta interferon induction and attenuates virus virulence in mice.

Alpha/beta interferons (IFN-alpha/beta) are key mediators of the innate immune response against viral infection. The ability of viruses to circumvent IFN-alpha/beta responses plays a crucial role in determining the outcome of infection. In a previous study using subgenomic replicons of the Kunjin subtype of West Nile virus (WNV(KUN)), we demonstrated that the nonstructural protein NS2A is a major inhibitor of IFN-beta promoter-driven transcription and that a single amino acid substitution in NS2A (Ala30 to Pro [A30P]) dramatically reduced its inhibitory effect (W.

Inhibition of interferon signaling by the New York 99 strain and Kunjin subtype of West Nile virus involves blockage of STAT1 and STAT2 activation by nonstructural proteins.

The interferon (IFN) response is the first line of defense against viral infections, and the majority of viruses have developed different strategies to counteract IFN responses in order to ensure their survival in an infected host. In this study, the abilities to inhibit IFN signaling of two closely related West Nile viruses, the New York 99 strain (NY99) and Kunjin virus (KUN), strain MRM61C, were analyzed using reporter plasmid assays, as well as immunofluorescence and Western blot analyses. We have demonstrated that infections with both NY99 and KUN, as well as transient or stable transfections with their replicon RNAs, inhibited the signaling of both alpha/beta IFN (IFN-alpha/beta) and gamma IFN (IFN-gamma) by blocking the phosphorylation of STAT1 and its translocation to the nucleus.

Analysis of adaptive mutations in Kunjin virus replicon RNA reveals a novel role for the flavivirus nonstructural protein NS2A in inhibition of beta interferon promoter-driven transcription.

The establishment of persistent noncytopathic replication by replicon RNAs of a number of positive-strand RNA viruses usually leads to generation of adaptive mutations in nonstructural genes. Some of these adaptive mutations (e.g.

Tetracycline-inducible packaging cell line for production of flavivirus replicon particles.

We have previously developed replicon vectors derived from the Australian flavivirus Kunjin that have a unique noncytopathic nature and have been shown to direct prolonged high-level expression of encoded heterologous genes in vitro and in vivo and to induce strong and long-lasting immune responses to encoded immunogens in mice. To facilitate further applications of these vectors in the form of virus-like particles (VLPs), we have now generated a stable BHK packaging cell line, tetKUNCprME, carrying a Kunjin structural gene cassette under the control of a tetracycline-inducible promoter. Withdrawal of tetracycline from the medium resulted in production of Kunjin structural proteins that were capable of packaging transfected and self-amplified Kunjin replicon RNA into the secreted VLPs at titers of up to 1.