EPPIC (Efficient Purification by Parental Inducer Constraint) Platform for Rapid Generation of Recombinant Vaccinia Viruses

Vaccinia virus (VACV) was successfully used as a vaccine in the smallpox eradication campaign. Since then, it has been widely used in the development of vaccine and therapeutic vectors. However, methods of generating and purifying recombinant VACVs (rVACVs) are often time-consuming, cumbersome, and in some cases require specialized cell lines or equipment. Here, we describe a novel EPPIC (Efficient Purification by Parental Inducer Constraint) platform for the rapid generation of rVACVs using a replication-inducible VACV (vIND) as a parental virus for homologous recombination. Purification of the rVACV from the parental vIND is achieved by two serial passages in the absence of inducer (i.e., parental inducer “constraint”) in standard laboratory cell lines, without the need for specialized equipment, within 1 week. We determined the optimal conditions for homologous recombination and serial purification and generated a suite of vIND parental viruses to facilitate customization of the platform. Importantly, the EPPIC platform can be adapted to rapidly generate replication-deficient and replication-competent rVACVs expressing vaccine or therapeutic antigens, with or without screening markers, by simple modifications to a DNA shuttle vector, thus allowing the rapid development, updating, and refinement of personalized or custom vaccines and therapeutic vectors in a matter of days.