Poster Presentation Asia-Pacific Vaccine and Immunotherapy Congress 2023

Bioengineered polymer particulate vaccines for prevention of Chikungunya infection (#154)

Nivethika Ms Sivakumaran 1 , Joseph Dr Freitas 2 , Shuxiong Dr Chen 1 , Suresh Prof Mahalingam 2 , Bernd Prof Rehm 1 2 , Nivethika Sivakumaran 3
  1. Center for Cell factories and Biopolymers, Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia
  2. Menzies Health Institute Queensland (MHIQ), Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia
  3. Center for Cell factories and Biopolymers, Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, , Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia

Chikungunya fever (CHIKF) is an acute infectious disease that is caused by the chikungunya virus (CHIKV) transmitted through mosquito bites. People who contract CHIKV may suffer from severe joint pain, which can last for several months and even develop into chronic arthritis. In recent times, this disease has become a significant issue for public health worldwide. However, currently, there is no licensed vaccine available for CHIKV. This research aimed to develop a particulate vaccine based on the CHIKV envelope structural epitopes and biopolymer particles (BPs) as an antigen carrier system. The CHIKV epitopes coated BPs were then assembled inside an engineered strain of Escherichia coli that is endotoxin-free. In vitro studies demonstrated that dendritic cells (DCs) captured CHIKV epitope-BPs and presented them to CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells. Mice that were vaccinated with CHIKV epitope-BPs with and without Alum adjuvant at two different doses, showed significant antigen-specific immune responses, both humoral and cell-mediated. When these vaccinated adult mice were challenged with CHIKV, they showed high antibody titers with efficient neutralizing capacity, indicative of immunological memory. In addition, they exhibited mild joint symptoms with low‐level viremia that cleared up rapidly. Overall, these results suggest that biologically self-assembled CHIKV epitope-coated BPs have the potential to be used as vaccines against Chikungunya infection.