{"doi":"10.1128/jvi.02322-24","title":"Virus-like particle vaccine with authentic quaternary epitopes protects against Zika virus-induced viremia and testicular damage","abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title>\n          <jats:sec>\n            <jats:title/>\n            <jats:p>\n              Zika virus (ZIKV) caused unprecedented outbreaks in South America and the Caribbean in 2015–2016, leading primarily to a series of abnormalities in neonates termed congenital Zika syndrome. The threat of ZIKV reemergence has seen the development of multiple ZIKV vaccines that are at the preclinical stage or in early-stage clinical trials. Herein, we describe a pathway to the development of ZIKV vaccines generated using a baculovirus-insect cell expression system, which is widely applied for the manufacture of biologics for human use. Virus-like particle (VLP) vaccines comprising CprME and subviral particle (SVP) vaccines comprising prME were evaluated for their ability to mediate protection against ZIKV challenge in\n              <jats:italic>Ifnar1</jats:italic>\n              <jats:sup>−/−</jats:sup>\n              mice. Initial attempts resulted in VLP and SVP vaccines that failed to present quaternary epitopes and did not provide effective protection. To improve the SVP vaccine, two modifications were introduced: firstly, an alanine to cysteine substitution (A264C) in the E domain II region to promote the formation of stabilized E homodimers and, secondly, the use of\n              <jats:italic>Spodoptera frugiperda</jats:italic>\n              Sf9 insect cells that had been adapted to grow and produce vaccine at a neutral pH of 7. E homodimers largely retain their pre-fusion conformation at pH 7, which is a requirement for the induction of effective neutralizing antibody responses. The stabilized SVP-A26C vaccine induced high levels of neutralizing antibodies and protected male\n              <jats:italic>Ifnar1</jats:italic>\n              <jats:sup>−/−</jats:sup>\n              mice against viremia and testicular damage. Our study reiterates the need to present the immune system with E dimers arranged in authentic quaternary conformations and provides a scalable production method for this novel ZIKV vaccine.\n            </jats:p>\n            <jats:p/>\n            <jats:sec>\n              <jats:title>\n                <jats:bold>IMPORTANCE</jats:bold>\n              </jats:title>\n              <jats:p>We describe the generation of a subviral particle (SVP) vaccine comprising prME proteins of ZIKV, with an envelope protein substitution, A264C, that stabilizes E dimer formation. The SVP vaccine was produced in a novel Sf9 insect cell line adapted to grow in suspension at pH 7. The study highlights the importance of challenge experiments to ascertain whether the responses induced by an experimental vaccine actually mediate protection against virus infection and disease. The study also reiterates the contention that effective flavivirus vaccines need to present the immunogen in an authentic tertiary and quaternary structure with a pre-fusion conformation.</jats:p>\n            </jats:sec>\n          </jats:sec>","journal":"Journal of Virology","year":2025,"id":676517,"datarank":0.3815166937489663,"base_score":2.302585092994046,"endowment":2.302585092994046,"self_citation_contribution":0.3453877639491069,"citation_network_contribution":0.03612892979985938,"self_endowment_contribution":0.3453877639491069,"citer_contribution":0.03612892979985938,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":9,"citer_count":5,"citers_with_citation_signal":3,"citers_with_endowment":3,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1767611,"name":"Kexin Yan","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":170981,"name":"Corinne Geertsema","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1767614,"name":"Tessy A. H. Hick","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1767616,"name":"Jort J. Altenburg","orcid":null,"position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1767618,"name":"Gwen Nowee","orcid":null,"position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1767619,"name":"Chris van Toor","orcid":null,"position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1767621,"name":"Jan W. van Lent","orcid":null,"position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":392920,"name":"Eri Nakayama","orcid":"0000-0002-0826-3513","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":851076,"name":"Bing Tang","orcid":"0000-0001-5859-8250","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":355501,"name":"Stefan Metz","orcid":"0000-0002-9249-2844","position":10,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1767623,"name":"Ryan Bhowmik","orcid":null,"position":11,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":103776,"name":"Aravinda M. de Silva","orcid":null,"position":12,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":392916,"name":"Natalie A. Prow","orcid":"0000-0001-7312-8767","position":13,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1150685,"name":"Ricardo Correia","orcid":"0000-0002-9434-7974","position":14,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1150687,"name":"Paula M. Alves","orcid":"0000-0003-1445-3556","position":15,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1150686,"name":"António Roldão","orcid":"0000-0003-0414-4899","position":16,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1767624,"name":"Dirk E. Martens","orcid":null,"position":17,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1372335,"name":"Monique M. van Oers","orcid":null,"position":18,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":392924,"name":"Andreas Suhrbier","orcid":"0000-0001-8986-9025","position":19,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":127810,"name":"Gorben Pijlman","orcid":"0000-0001-9301-0408","position":20,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1410101,"name":"Sandra R. Abbo","orcid":"0000-0002-0840-5374","position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"Virus-like particle vaccine with authentic quaternary epitopes protects against Zika virus-induced viremia and testicular damage","abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title>\n          <jats:sec>\n            <jats:title/>\n            <jats:p>\n              Zika virus (ZIKV) caused unprecedented outbreaks in South America and the Caribbean in 2015–2016, leading primarily to a series of abnormalities in neonates termed congenital Zika syndrome. The threat of ZIKV reemergence has seen the development of multiple ZIKV vaccines that are at the preclinical stage or in early-stage clinical trials. Herein, we describe a pathway to the development of ZIKV vaccines generated using a baculovirus-insect cell expression system, which is widely applied for the manufacture of biologics for human use. Virus-like particle (VLP) vaccines comprising CprME and subviral particle (SVP) vaccines comprising prME were evaluated for their ability to mediate protection against ZIKV challenge in\n              <jats:italic>Ifnar1</jats:italic>\n              <jats:sup>−/−</jats:sup>\n              mice. Initial attempts resulted in VLP and SVP vaccines that failed to present quaternary epitopes and did not provide effective protection. To improve the SVP vaccine, two modifications were introduced: firstly, an alanine to cysteine substitution (A264C) in the E domain II region to promote the formation of stabilized E homodimers and, secondly, the use of\n              <jats:italic>Spodoptera frugiperda</jats:italic>\n              Sf9 insect cells that had been adapted to grow and produce vaccine at a neutral pH of 7. E homodimers largely retain their pre-fusion conformation at pH 7, which is a requirement for the induction of effective neutralizing antibody responses. The stabilized SVP-A26C vaccine induced high levels of neutralizing antibodies and protected male\n              <jats:italic>Ifnar1</jats:italic>\n              <jats:sup>−/−</jats:sup>\n              mice against viremia and testicular damage. Our study reiterates the need to present the immune system with E dimers arranged in authentic quaternary conformations and provides a scalable production method for this novel ZIKV vaccine.\n            </jats:p>\n            <jats:p/>\n            <jats:sec>\n              <jats:title>\n                <jats:bold>IMPORTANCE</jats:bold>\n              </jats:title>\n              <jats:p>We describe the generation of a subviral particle (SVP) vaccine comprising prME proteins of ZIKV, with an envelope protein substitution, A264C, that stabilizes E dimer formation. The SVP vaccine was produced in a novel Sf9 insect cell line adapted to grow in suspension at pH 7. The study highlights the importance of challenge experiments to ascertain whether the responses induced by an experimental vaccine actually mediate protection against virus infection and disease. The study also reiterates the contention that effective flavivirus vaccines need to present the immunogen in an authentic tertiary and quaternary structure with a pre-fusion conformation.</jats:p>\n            </jats:sec>\n          </jats:sec>","is_dataset_classified":null,"base_score":2.1972245773362196,"endowment":2.1972245773362196,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"40013767","pmcid":"PMC11998496","openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W4407992092","authors":[],"funders":[{"funder_name":"ZonMw","grant_id":"522003001","title":null}],"total_grants":1,"fwci":8.2238,"citation_percentile":0.97695247,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[{"year":2025,"count":6},{"year":2026,"count":2}],"oa_status":"gold","license":"cc-by","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/jvi.02322-24?download=true","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/jvi.02322-24?download=true","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/jvi.02322-24","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.02322-24","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40013767","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/virus-like-particle-vaccine-with-authentic-quaternary-epitopes-pr","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/11998496","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://doaj.org/article/0784d0b232d64a8b97c2b66ff8f110fb","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://edepot.wur.nl/693356","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC11998496","host_type":"Europe_PMC"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC11998496?pdf=render","host_type":"Europe_PMC"}],"fields_of_study":["Mosquito-borne diseases and control","Virology and Viral Diseases","Insect symbiosis and bacterial influences","Animals","Zika Virus Infection","Zika Virus","Mice","Vaccines, Virus-Like Particle","Viremia","Epitopes","Male","Testis","Viral Vaccines","Antibodies, Neutralizing","Receptor, Interferon alpha-beta","Sf9 Cells","Antibodies, Viral","Viral Envelope Proteins","Mice, Knockout","Humans","Spodoptera","Mice, Inbred C57BL"],"mesh_terms":["Zika Virus Infection","Zika Virus","Animals","Antibodies, Viral","Epitopes","Humans","Male","Mice, Inbred C57BL","Testis","Viral Envelope Proteins","Viral Vaccines","Viremia","Mice, Knockout","Spodoptera","Mice","Receptor, Interferon alpha-beta","Antibodies, Neutralizing","Vaccines, Virus-Like Particle","Sf9 Cells"],"keywords":["Virology","Zika virus","Viremia","Biology","Neutralizing antibody","Virus-like particle","Virus","Epitope","Flavivirus","Antibody","Immunology","Recombinant DNA","Genetics","Vaccines","Insect cells","virus-like particles","Quaternary Epitopes"],"sdg_mappings":[{"sdg_number":0,"sdg_label":"Good health and well-being"}],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[{"name":"gen"}],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-08-17T02:40:23.017975Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}