AUTHOR=Tien Nguyen-Quang-Duc , Yang Moon-Sik , Jang Yong-Suk , Kwon Tae-Ho , Reljic Rajko , Kim Mi-young 

TITLE=Systemic and Oral Immunogenicity of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus Antigen Fused to Poly-Fc of Immunoglobulin G and Expressed in ΔXT/FT Nicotiana benthamiana Plants

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2021.653064

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2021.653064

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=<p>Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), a member of the Coronaviridae family has become increasingly probelmatic in the pig farming industry. Currently, there are no effective, globally applicable vaccines against PEDV. Here, we tested a recombinant PEDV vaccine candidate based on the expression of the core neutralising epitope (COE) of PEDV conjugated to polymeric immunoglobulin G scaffold (PIGS) in glycoengineered <italic>Nicotiana be</italic><italic>nthamiana</italic> plants. The biological activity of COE-PIGS was demonstrated by binding to C1q component of the complement system, as well as the surface of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) <italic>in vitro.</italic> The recombinant COE-PIGS induced humoral and cellular immune responses specific for PEDV after both systemic and mucosal vaccination. Altogether, the data indicated that PEDV antigen fusion to poly-Fc could be a promising vaccine platform against respiratory PEDV infection.</p>