Cloning and expression of truncated ORF2 as a vaccine candidate against hepatitis E virus.

Hepatitis E virus infection is responsible for acute viral hepatitis and associated with high mortality and still birth in pregnant women in developing countries. We report expression of truncated forms of HEV ORF2 as potential vaccine candidates for nanoparticle-based delivery. These two truncated ORF2 proteins (54 kDa and 26 kDa) have been reported to be highly immunogenic and can be used as nanoparticle-based vaccine candidate. The bacterial expressed protein was purified by affinity chromatography and further confirmed by western blot using anti-HEV antibody. The chitosan nanoemulsion was synthesized using ultrasonic waves. The nanoparticle size was found to be 120-160 nm and the entrapment efficiency of purified truncated ORF2 proteins within these nanoparticles was 70% (26 kDa) and 59% (54 kDa). In cell cytotoxicity analysis, 100 µg/mL nanoemulsion was found suitable for cell viability in both HeLa and THP1 cell lines. Release kinetics of encapsulated proteins at physiological pH 7.4 showed 26-59% and 9.7-40% release of 26 kDa and 54 kDa protein within 1 h that gradually increased with time (48 h). Encapsulated proteins were found to be unstable at pH 1.2.