Cell surface display of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus hemagglutinin on the surface of Pichia pastoris cells using alpha-agglutinin for production of oral vaccines.

Yeast is an ideal organism to express viral antigens because yeast glycosylate proteins more similarly to mammals than bacteria. Expression of proteins in yeast is relatively fast and inexpensive. In addition to the convenience of production, for purposes of vaccination, yeast has been shown to have natural adjuvant activity making the expressed proteins more immunogenic when administered along with yeast cell wall components. Development of genetic systems to display foreign proteins on the surface of yeast via fusion to glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored (GPI) proteins has further simplified the purification of recombinant proteins by not requiring harsh treatments for cellular lysis or protein purification. We have expressed the hemagglutinin protein from a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus [A/Egret/HK/757.2/02], subtype H5N1, on the surface of the yeast strain Pichia pastoris, as an anchored C-terminal fusion with the Saccharomyces cerevisiae GPI-anchored cell wall protein, alpha-agglutinin. Surface expression of the hemagglutinin fusion protein was demonstrated by immunofluorescence microscopy. Functionally, the fusion protein retained hemagglutinin agglutinating activity, and oral vaccination with the yeast resulted in production of virus neutralizing antibodies. This study represents the first steps in the generation of a yeast-based vaccine for protection against highly pathogenic strains of avian influenza.