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West Nile Virus Vaccination Protects against Usutu Virus Disease in Mice

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dc.creator Salgado, Rebecca
dc.creator Hawks, Seth A.
dc.creator Frere, Francesca
dc.creator Vázquez, Ana
dc.creator Huang, Claire Y.-H.
dc.creator Duggal, Nisha K.
dc.date 2021-11-29T13:26:14Z
dc.date 2021-11-29T13:26:14Z
dc.date 2021-11-23
dc.date 2021-11-25T16:00:22Z
dc.date.accessioned 2023-03-01T18:48:18Z
dc.date.available 2023-03-01T18:48:18Z
dc.identifier Salgado, R.; Hawks, S.A.; Frere, F.; Vázquez, A.; Huang, C.Y.-H.; Duggal, N.K. West Nile Virus Vaccination Protects against Usutu Virus Disease in Mice. Viruses 2021, 13, 2352.
dc.identifier http://hdl.handle.net/10919/106765
dc.identifier https://doi.org/10.3390/v13122352
dc.identifier.uri http://localhost:8080/xmlui/handle/CUHPOERS/281172
dc.description West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV) are mosquito-borne flaviviruses that can cause neuroinvasive disease in humans. WNV and USUV circulate in both Africa and Europe and are closely related. Due to antigenic similarity, WNV-specific antibodies and USUV-specific antibodies have the potential to bind heterologous viruses; however, it is unclear whether this interaction may offer protection against infection. To investigate how prior WNV exposure would influence USUV infection, we used an attenuated WNV vaccine that contains the surface proteins of WNV in the backbone of a dengue virus 2 vaccine strain and protects against WNV disease. We hypothesized that vaccination with this attenuated WNV vaccine would protect against USUV infection. Neutralizing responses against WNV and USUV were measured in vitro using sera following vaccination. Sera from vaccinated CD-1 and <i>Ifnar1<sup>&minus;/&minus;</sup></i> mice cross-neutralized with WNV and USUV. All mice were then subsequently challenged with an African or European USUV strain. In CD-1 mice, there was no difference in USUV titers between vaccinated and mock-vaccinated mice. However, in the <i>Ifnar1<sup>&minus;/&minus;</sup></i> model, vaccinated mice had significantly higher survival rates and significantly lower USUV viremia compared to mock-vaccinated mice. Our results indicate that exposure to an attenuated form of WNV protects against severe USUV disease in mice and elicits a neutralizing response to both WNV and USUV. Future studies will investigate the immune mechanisms responsible for the protection against USUV infection induced by WNV vaccination, providing critical insight that will be essential for USUV and WNV vaccine development.
dc.description Published version
dc.format application/pdf
dc.format application/pdf
dc.language en
dc.publisher MDPI
dc.rights Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
dc.rights http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.title West Nile Virus Vaccination Protects against Usutu Virus Disease in Mice
dc.title Viruses
dc.type Article - Refereed
dc.type Text


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