Recombinant adenoviruses expressing the E2 protein of bovine viral diarrhea virus induce humoral and cellular immune responses

Abstract

The E2 protein of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is a major viral glycoprotein and an attractive target for BVDV vaccines. Three replication defective recombinant adenoviruses expressing the BVDV/E2 protein (rAds/E2) were constructed. Two contain a constitutive promoter, and one an inducible promoter. All three recombinant adenoviruses induced very strong BVDV specific antibody responses in a mouse model as detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) and neutralization tests. Induction of cellular immune responses was investigated in two recombinant adenoviruses with a constitutive promoter. The mononuclear cells from the immunized mice demonstrated a proliferative response after in vitro stimulation with an homologous BVDV strain, but only one of them induced the production of IFN-gamma.