Enhanced immunity against classical swine fever in pigs induced by prime-boost immunization using an alphavirus replicon-vectored DNA vaccine and a recombinant adenovirus.

Classical swine fever (CSF) - caused by the classical swine fever virus (CSFV) - is a fatal disease of pigs that is responsible for extensive losses to the swine industry worldwide. We had demonstrated previously that a prime-boost vaccination strategy using an alphavirus (Semliki Forest virus, SFV) replicon-vectored DNA vaccine (pSFV1CS-E2) and a recombinant adenovirus (rAdV-E2) expressing the E2 glycoprotein of CSFV induced enhanced immune responses in a mouse model. In this study, we evaluated further the efficacy of the heterologous prime-boost immunization approach in pigs, the natural host of CSFV. The results showed that the pigs (n=5) receiving pSFV1CS-E2/rAdV-E2 heterologous prime-boost immunization developed significantly higher titers of CSFV-specific neutralizing antibodies and comparable CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-cell proliferation, compared to the pigs receiving double immunizations with rAdV-E2 alone. When challenged with virulent CSFV Shimen strain, the pigs of the heterologous prime-boost group did not show clinical symptoms or viremia, which were observed in one of the 5 pigs immunized with rAdV-E2 alone and all the 5 control pigs immunized with an empty adenovirus. The results demonstrate that the heterologous DNA prime and recombinant adenovirus boost strategy can induce solid protective immunity. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.