IMR Press / FBL / Volume 29 / Issue 2 / DOI: 10.31083/j.fbl2902061
Open Access Original Research
Bivalent Hemagglutinin Cleavage-Site Peptide Vaccines Protect Chickens from Lethal Infections with Highly Pathogenic H5N1 and H5N6 Avian Influenza Viruses
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1 Laboratory of Influenza Research, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungnam National University, 34134 Daejeon, Republic of Korea
2 Institute of Influenza Virus, Chungnam National University, 34134 Daejeon, Republic of Korea
*Correspondence: seos@cnu.ac.kr (Sang Heui Seo)
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2024, 29(2), 61; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.fbl2902061
Submitted: 11 November 2023 | Revised: 11 December 2023 | Accepted: 19 December 2023 | Published: 6 February 2024
Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Background: Outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses cause huge economic losses to the poultry industry worldwide. Vaccines that can protect chickens from infections caused by various variants of highly pathogenic H5Nx avian influenza viruses are needed owing to the continuous emergence of new variants. We previously showed that vaccines containing the H5 cleavage-site peptide from clade 2.3.4.4. H5N6 avian influenza virus protects chickens from infection with homologous clade 2.3.4.4. H5N6 avian influenza virus, but not from infection with the heterologous clade 1 H5N1 avian influenza virus. Therefore, we developed bivalent peptide vaccines containing H5 cleavage sites of viruses from both clades to protect chickens from both H5N1 and H5N6 avian influenza viruses. Methods: Chickens were vaccinated with two doses of a combined peptide vaccine containing cleavage-site peptides from clade 1 and clade 2.3.4.4. highly pathogenic H5N1 and H5N6 avian influenza viruses and then challenged with both viruses. The infected chickens were monitored for survival and their tracheae and cloacae were sampled to check for viral shedding based on the median tissue culture infectious dose of 50 (log10TCID50/mL) in Madin–Darby canine kidney cells. Results: Antibody production was induced at similar levels in the sera of chickens immunized with two doses of the combined peptide vaccines containing cleavage-site peptides from highly pathogenic H5N1 and H5N6 avian influenza viruses. The immunized chickens were protected from infection with both H5N1 and H5N6 avian influenza viruses without viral shedding in the tracheae and cloacae. Conclusions: Dual-peptide vaccines containing cleavage-site peptides of both clades can protect chickens from highly pathogenic avian influenza virus infections.

Keywords
dual-peptide vaccine
cleavage-site peptide
highly pathogenic avian influenza virus
Funding
2019R1A2C2002166812/National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF)
Figures
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