Recombinant Baculovirus Associated with Bilosomes as an Oral Vaccine Candidate against HEV71 Infection in Mice

BACKGROUND: Human enterovirus 71 (HEV71) is one of the major pathogen responsible for hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD). Currently no effective vaccine or antiviral drugs are available. Like poliovirus, EV71 is transmitted mainly by the feco-oral route. To date the majority of the studied EV71 vaccine candidates are administered parenterally. Injectable vaccines induce good systemic immunity but mucosal responses are often unsatisfactory, whereas mucosal vaccines provide both systemic and mucosal immunity. Therefore, oral immunization appears to be an attractive alternative to parenteral immunization. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this report, we studied the efficacy of an orally administered vaccine candidate developed using recombinant baculovirus displaying VP1 (Bac-VP1) in a murine model. Gastrointestinal delivery of Bac-VP1 significantly induced VP1-specific humoral (IgG) and mucosal (IgA) immune responses. Further, we studied the efficacy of the Bac-VP1 associated with bilosomes and observed that the Bac-VP1 associated with bilosomes elicited significantly higher immune responses compared to bilosomes non-associated with Bac-VP1. However, mice immunized subcutaneously with live Bac-VP1 had significantly enhanced VP1 specific serum IgG levels and higher neutralizing antibody titers compared with mice orally immunized with live Bac-VP1 alone or associated with bilosomes. CONCLUSION: Bilosomes have been shown to possess inherent adjuvant properties when associated with antigen. Therefore Bac-VP1 with bilosomes could be a promising oral vaccine candidate against EV71 infections. Thus, Bac-VP1 loaded bilosomes may provide a needle free, painless approach for immunization against EV71, thereby increasing patient compliance and consequently increasing vaccination coverage.