Vaccines for Hendra Virus
The incidence of emerging zoonotic diseases has been increasing for decades, causing enormous damage to human and animal health and seriously jeopardizing public safety and health. Therefore, the development of efficient vaccines is of great significance in the prevention and control of zoonotic diseases.
Hendra Virus
Hendra virus (HeV) is an emerging zoonotic paramyxovirus, belonging to genus Henipavirus in the family Paramyxoviridae. The HeV first appeared in Queensland in 1994 with infection and was identified as the causative agent of an acute respiratory illness in horses. HeV causes severe and often fatal respiratory and/or neurologic disease in both animals and humans. HeV is transmitted to horses by pteropid fruit bats, commonly known as flying foxes, with human infection occurring by close contact with infected horses.
Fig. 1 Flying-fox, equine and human components contribute to the risk of HeV infection in horses. (Field. 2016)
Vaccines for Hendra Virus
- Subunit Vaccines
The HeV G protein-based recombinant subunit vaccine can completely protect small animals from lethal HeV and NiV attacks. In addition, the vaccine can also protect African green monkeys from subsequent Hendra virus infection, and the success of this new subunit vaccine in non-human primates provides key data to support of its further development for future human use. The recombinant vaccine expressing HeV glycoprotein, attached glycoprotein (G), and fusion protein (F) is effective in preventing virus shedding and protecting animals from clinical disease and virus-induced death. It is therefore very promising to be a new vaccine candidate to prevent infection and shedding of highly lethal HeV.
- Peptide or Epitope Based Vaccines
Computer-based epitope vaccines have become the standard method for vaccine discovery in the post-genome era because they provide a cheaper, more specific, potentially and simple vaccine approach to the development of vaccines for the treatment of infectious diseases. Suitable antigenic determinants, such as fusion protein (F), attached to glycoprotein (G), and matrix protein (M), may be potential target for designing an epitope-based vaccine against encephalitis caused by NiV and HeV infection.
- Adeno-associated Virus (AAV) Vaccines
Nipa virus (NiV) and Hendra virus (Hev) are closely related, and the adeno-associated virus (AAV) vaccine expressing NiV G protein can induce a cross-protective immune response in mice, which can protect 50% of animals against the challenge by HeV. Therefore, it is expected to become a new effective vaccine candidate for Hendra virus and reveal a new perspective on the use of AAV vectors as vaccines for new diseases.
Our Services for Hendra Virus Vaccine
- Protein expression and purification
- Animal immunization and challenge
- Prediction of cell epitopes
- Seroneutralization assays
The most effective strategy for reducing the harm caused by HeV-infected horses is to inhibit the replication of the virus in the horse. Creative Biolabs is committed to the development and evaluation of the vaccine for horses. It may break the chain of HeV from bats to horses to humans, thus protecting the health of horses and people.
Reference
- Field H E. (2016). Hendra virus ecology and transmission. Current Opinion in Virology. 16, 120.
All of our products can only be used for research purposes. These vaccine ingredients CANNOT be used directly on humans or animals.
