Comparing New-Generation Candidate Vaccines against Human Orthopoxvirus Infections

The lack of immunity to the variola virus in the population, increasingly more frequent cases of human orthopoxvirus infection, and increased risk of the use of the variola virus (VARV) as a bioterrorism agent call for the development of modern, safe vaccines against orthopoxvirus infections. We previously developed a polyvalent DNA vaccine based on five VARV antigens and an attenuated variant of the vaccinia virus (VACV) with targeted deletion of six genes (VAC6). Independent experiments demonstrated that triple immunization with a DNA vaccine and double immunization with VAC6 provide protection to mice against a lethal dose (10 LD50) of the ectromelia virus (ECTV), which is highly pathogenic for mice. The present work was aimed at comparing the immunity to smallpox generated by various immunization protocols using the DNA vaccine and VAC6. It has been established that immunization of mice with a polyvalent DNA vaccine, followed by boosting with recombinant VAC6, as well as double immunization with VAC6, induces production of VACV-neutralizing antibodies and provides protection to mice against a 150 LD50 dose of ECTV. The proposed immunization protocols can be used to develop safe vaccination strategies against smallpox and other human orthopoxvirus infections.