Evaluation of cell-surface displayed synthetic consensus dengue EDIII cells as a potent oral vaccine candidate

Background Dengue is a rapidly spreading mosquito borne tropical viral disease affecting hundreds of millions of people across the globe annually. The dengue virus (DENV) includes four genetically distinct serotypes that cause serious life-threatening infections, including dengue hemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome. Dengue vaccine development is complicated by the possibility of vaccine-enhanced severe dengue disease due to antibody-dependent enhancement by pre-existing cross-reactivity, as well as homotypic antibodies. Thus, the development of an efficacious dengue vaccine conferring simultaneous and durable immunity to each of the four DENV serotypes has not yet been developed despite years of research. For mass immunization in deeply affected resource-limited countries, oral vaccination is considered more beneficial than conventional approaches. Therefore, in a continuing effort towards designing economical and potent vaccine candidates, the current study applied yeast surface display technology to develop an oral dengue vaccine candidate using whole recombinant yeast cells displaying the recombinant fusion protein of M cell targeting ligand Co1 fused to the synthetic consensus dengue envelope domain III (scEDIII). Female Balb/c mice were orally fed with recombinant yeast cells and immunogenicity in terms of systemic and mucosal immune responses was monitored.