Brock Kingstad-Bakke
Marcel Wuthrich
Ben Stading
Rachel C. Abbott
Marcos Isidoro Ayza
Hannah E. Dobson
Lucas dos Santos Dias
Kevin Galles
Julia S. Lankton
Elizabeth Falendysz
Jeffrey M. Lorch
J. Scott Fites
Jaime Lopera-Madrid
Bruce Klein
Jorge E. Osorio
J. Paul White
Tonie E. Rocke
2019
<div id="Abs1-section" class="serif article-section js-article-section cleared clear"><div id="Abs1-content" class="pl20 mq875-pl0 js-collapsible-section"><p><span>White-nose syndrome (WNS) caused by the fungus, </span><i>Pseudogymnoascus destructans</i><span> (</span><i>Pd</i><span>) has killed millions of North American hibernating bats. Currently, methods to prevent the disease are limited. We conducted two trials to assess potential WNS vaccine candidates in wild-caught </span><i>Myotis lucifugus</i><span>. In a pilot study, we immunized bats with one of four vaccine treatments or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) as a control and challenged them with </span><i>Pd</i><span> upon transfer into hibernation chambers. Bats in one vaccine-treated group, that received raccoon poxviruses (RCN) expressing </span><i>Pd</i><span> calnexin (CAL) and serine protease (SP), developed WNS at a lower rate (1/10) than other treatments combined (14/23), although samples sizes were small. The results of a second similar trial provided additional support for this observation. Bats vaccinated orally or by injection with RCN-CAL and RCN-SP survived </span><i>Pd</i><span> challenge at a significantly higher rate (P = 0.01) than controls. Using RT-PCR and flow cytometry, combined with fluorescent </span><i>in situ</i><span> hybridization, we determined that expression of IFN-γ transcripts and the number of CD4 + T-helper cells transcribing this gene were elevated (P < 0.10) in stimulated lymphocytes from surviving vaccinees (n = 15) compared to controls (n = 3). We conclude that vaccination with virally-vectored </span><i>Pd</i><span>antigens induced antifungal immunity that could potentially protect bats against WNS.</span></p></div></div>
application/pdf
10.1038/s41598-019-43210-w
en
Nature
Virally-vectored vaccine candidates against white-nose syndrome induce anti-fungal immune response in little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus)
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