Biochemical and biophysical characterization of maize-derived HBsAg for the development of an oral vaccine.

Although a vaccine against hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been available since 1982, it is estimated that 600,000 people die every year due to HBV. An affordable oral vaccine could help alleviate the disease burden and to this end the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was expressed in maize. Orally delivered maize material induced the strongest immune response in mice when lipid was extracted by CO2 supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), compared to full fat and hexane-extracted material. The present study provides a biochemical and biophysical basis for these immunological differences by comparing the active ingredient in the differently treated maize material. Purified maize-derived HBsAg underwent biophysical characterization by gel filtration, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), UV-CD, and fluorescence. Gel filtration showed that HBsAg forms higher-order oligomers and TEM demonstrated virus-like particle (VLP) formation. The VLPs obtained from SFE were more regular in shape and size compared to hexane or full fat material. In addition, SFE-derived HBsAg showed the greatest extent of α-helical structure by far UV-CD spectrum. Fluorescence experiments also revealed differences in protein conformation. This work establishes SFE-treated maize material as a viable oral vaccine candidate and advances the development of the first oral subunit vaccine.

Oral delivery of wafers made from HBsAg-expressing maize germ induces long-term immunological systemic and mucosal responses.

BACKGROUND: The hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) has been administered over the last 20 years as a parenteral vaccine against the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Despite high seroconversion rates, chronic infection rates are still high worldwide. Orally delivered vaccines provide a practical alternative to injected vaccines, potentially helping poorly responding populations and providing a viable alternative for populations in remote locations. Anamnestic responses are vital to establishing the efficacy of a given vaccine and have been assessed in this study using a plant-based oral delivery platform expressing HBsAg. METHODS: Long-term immunological memory was assessed in mice injected with a primary dose of Recombivax and boosted with orally-delivered HBsAg wafers, control wafers, or parenterally-delivered commercial vaccine (Recombivax). RESULTS: Mice boosted with HBsAg orally-administered wafers displayed sharp increases in mucosal IgA titers in fecal material and steep increases in serum IgA, whereas mice boosted with Recombivax showed no detectable levels of IgA in either fecal or serum samples following four boosting treatments. Long-term memory in the orally-treated mice was evidenced by sustained fecal IgA, and serum IgA, IgG, and mIU/mL over one year, while Recombivax-treated mice displayed sustained serum IgG and mIU/mL. Furthermore, sharp increases in these same antibodies were induced after re-boosting at 47 and 50 weeks post-primary injection. CONCLUSIONS: Orally-delivered vaccines can provide long-term immune responses mucosally and systemically. For sexually-transmitted diseases that can be acquired at mucosal surfaces, such as HBV, an oral delivery platform may provide added protection over a conventional parenterally administered vaccine.