Immunological properties of FMDV-gP64 fusion proteins expressed on SF9 cell and baculovirus surfaces

In the present report, we characterized the immune response and the protection conferred by recombinant baculoviruses or infected insect cells expressing the fusions gp64-P1 and gp64-site A FMDV antigens. Mice, vaccinated intraperitoneally with gp64-P1 immunogens, showed a low-antibody response and a variable degree of protection. However, when mice received recombinant baculoviruses or infected insect cells expressing the fusion protein gp64-site A, high-ELISA and seroneutralizing titers (SNT) against FMDV were elicited. All mice immunized with Sf9 cells expressing FMDV site A developed a protective immune response against challenge with virulent FMDV, indicating that the baculovirus display of foreign epitopes is a promising approach to biosynthetic vaccines.