Application of a viral vector to develop anti-poultry red mite vaccines targeting antigens expressed on the plasma membrane of midgut cells

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K21357
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 42:Veterinary medical science, animal science, and related fields
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: Murata Shiro 北海道大学, 獣医学研究院, 准教授 (10579163)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-07-30 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: ワクモ / 外部寄生虫 / マレック病 / マレック病ウイルス / 組換えウイルス / 組換えワクチン / 弱毒生ワクチン / ウイルスベクター

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Poultry red mites (PRMs) are haematophagous ectoparasites which cause serious economic losses to the poultry industry, and vaccine approaches are focused on as a novel strategy to control PRMs. This vaccine acts when antibodies in the host blood are taken up into PRMs during blood sucking, and therefore, the molecules associated with the plasma membrane of cells in the intestinal tracts are considered to be susceptible. In this study, we successfully identified effective antigens, consistent with above criteria. However, plasma membrane-associated proteins often have complicated structures. To overcome the problems on the protein expression, we investigated the potential of the viral vector using attenuated strains of Marek’s disease virus (MDV). We examined several regions in the virus genome for the insertion of the vaccine antigen gene. However, the protein expression levels were low, and therefore, further manipulation is required for the application of MDV as a viral vector.

Free Research Field

獣医伝染病学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本ワクチンによって産生される抗体はワクモの腸管に最初に曝露されるため、腸管の細胞膜上に発現する分子は有用なワクチン抗原になると考えられる。本研究では、上記の条件に合致し、有用なワクチン抗原の同定に成功したため、より効果の高いワクチン開発に向けて有用な知見を提供できたと考えられる。一方、ワクチン抗原の発現やワクチン使用時の利便性に関する問題解決のため、ウイルスベクターの応用についても検討したが、本研究ではワクチン抗原の発現量の増加に関する改良を必要とする結果であった。本研究の結果を基盤として、さらなる改変を加えることで、効果および利便性の高いワクモ防除用ワクチンの開発への貢献が期待される。