TY - JOUR T1 - Recombinant Viral-like Particles of Parvovirus B19 as Antigen Carriers of Anthrax Protective Antigen JF - In Vivo JO - In Vivo SP - 319 LP - 324 VL - 20 IS - 3 AU - YOJI OGASAWARA AU - GEORGIOS AMEXIS AU - HIROKI YAMAGUCHI AU - SACHIKO KAJIGAYA AU - STEPHAN H. LEPPLA AU - NEAL S. YOUNG Y1 - 2006/05/01 UR - http://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/20/3/319.abstract N2 - Viral-like particles (VLPs) of parvovirus B19 were employed as an antigen carrier to present antigenic determinants of Bacillus anthracis. The small-loop peptide and the full-length domain 4 of protective antigen (PA) were chosen as immunogens for presentation on the VLP-capsid surface and subsequent immunization of BALB/c mice. The recombinant VLPs induced anti-PA IgG titers of up to 2.5×104. Neutralization assays showed that the recombinant VLPs elicited neutralizing anti-PA antibody titers of up to 1:400 and showed potential for the prevention of lethal toxin-induced mortality of mouse-macrophage cells (RAW264.7). In post-immune sera, no anti-PA titers were detected against synthetic small-loop peptide. Recombinant VLPs demonstrated the capacity to retain the immunogenicity of the displayed microbial PA-epitopes and elicited robust levels of anti-PA antibody titers. These findings suggest that the recombinant VLPs of parvovirus B19 have potential as an additional tool in the development of sub-unit vaccines. Copyright © 2006 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved ER -