Tetrameric glycoprotein complex gH/gL/gQ1/gQ2 is a promising vaccine candidate for human herpesvirus 6B

PLoS Pathog. 2020 Jul 23;16(7):e1008609. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008609. eCollection 2020 Jul.

Abstract

Primary infection of human herpesvirus 6B (HHV-6B) occurs in infants after the decline of maternal immunity and causes exanthema subitum accompanied by a high fever, and it occasionally develops into encephalitis resulting in neurological sequelae. There is no effective prophylaxis for HHV-6B, and its development is urgently needed. The glycoprotein complex gH/gL/gQ1/gQ2 (called 'tetramer of HHV-6B') on the virion surface is a viral ligand for its cellular receptor human CD134, and their interaction is thus essential for virus entry into the cells. Herein we examined the potency of the tetramer as a vaccine candidate against HHV-6B. We designed a soluble form of the tetramer by replacing the transmembrane domain of gH with a cleavable tag, and the tetramer was expressed by a mammalian cell expression system. The expressed recombinant tetramer is capable of binding to hCD134. The tetramer was purified to homogeneity and then administered to mice with aluminum hydrogel adjuvant and/or CpG oligodeoxynucleotide adjuvant. After several immunizations, humoral and cellular immunity for HHV-6B was induced in the mice. These results suggest that the tetramer together with an adjuvant could be a promising candidate HHV-6B vaccine.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adjuvants, Immunologic / pharmacology
  • Animals
  • Exanthema Subitum / immunology*
  • Exanthema Subitum / virology
  • Herpesvirus 6, Human
  • Herpesvirus Vaccines / immunology*
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Viral Envelope Proteins / immunology*

Substances

  • Adjuvants, Immunologic
  • Herpesvirus Vaccines
  • Viral Envelope Proteins

Grants and funding

Y.M. was supported by Acceleration Transformative research for Medical innovation (ACT-MS) from Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) under Grant Number JP17im0210601, https://www.amed.go.jp/; and by Health and Labour Sciences Research Grants from Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare under Grant Number 15fk0108016h0003, https://www.mhlw.go.jp/. B.W. was supported by Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Research Fellow from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) under Grant Number JP17J05170, https://www.jsps.go.jp/. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.