Development of a more efficient hepatitis B virus vaccine by targeting hepatitis B virus preS to dendritic cells

Abstract Background Conventional hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccines fail to induce protective antibody titers in 5–10% of immune-competent vaccinees. Therefore, there remains an urgent need to develop a safe and effective HBV vaccine. Methods In this study, we developed an effective and economical method for producing the HBV vaccine by using the high binding capacity of biotin–streptavidin. The preS antigen of HBV was fused with the core streptavidin (cSA) moiety (preS-cSA) and highly expressed in Escherichia coli . We investigated whether the preS-cSA protein could target dendritic cells (DCs) by binding a biotinylated antibody against the DC receptor CD205 (biotin-αCD205). Moreover, we evaluated the preS-cSA/biotin-αCD205 complex as a candidate vaccine by detecting the humoral and cellular immune responses elicited by this vaccine. Results Our data show that the preS-cSA/biotin-αCD205 complex targeted DCs and induced high anti-HBV antibody titers of IgG2a, IgG1, and IgG in vivo . Furthermore, vaccination with the preS-cSA/biotin-αCD205 complex prevented HBV infection in female mice. More interestingly, this novel vaccine exerted a therapeutic role in mice with HBV infection. Conclusions Taken together, our results reveal that the preS-cSA/biotin-αCD205 vaccine induces effective immunological protection against HBV, and is a promising candidate for preventing HBV infections.