• Vaccine Name: Japanese encephalitis virus DNA vaccine encoding E protein
• Target Pathogen: Japanese encephalitis virus
• Target Disease: Japanese encephalitis
• Vaccine Ontology ID: VO_0011353
• Type: DNA vaccine
• Status: Research
• Antigen: Japanese encephalitis virus PrM and E protein
• PrM gene engineering:
  • Type: DNA vaccine construction
  • Description: Plasmid pSLKJ12 contains the premembrane signal sequence as well as the premembrane (PrM) and envelope (E) genes of the Sagayama strain of JEV. The viral sequence, spanning nucleotides 408 to 2477, was retrieved from this plasmid by PstI-EcoRI digestion. The fragment was cloned into the eukaryotic expression vectors pcDL-SRα296 and pCAGGS, generously provided by Y. Takebe (Laboratory of Molecular Virology and Epidemiology, AIDS Research Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan) and J. Miyazaki (Division of Stem Cell Regulation Research, G6, Osaka University Medical School, Suita, Osaka, Japan), respectively. They are purified and designated pSRαJ12 and pCAGJ12, respectively (Zhao et al., 2003).
  • Detailed Gene Information: Click Here.
• E gene engineering:
  • Type: DNA vaccine construction
  • Description: Plasmid pSLKJ12 contains the premembrane signal sequence as well as the premembrane (PrM) and envelope (E) genes of the Sagayama strain of JEV. The viral sequence, spanning nucleotides 408 to 2477, was retrieved from this plasmid by PstI-EcoRI digestion. The fragment was cloned into the eukaryotic expression vectors pcDL-SRα296 and pCAGGS, generously provided by Y. Takebe (Laboratory of Molecular Virology and Epidemiology, AIDS Research Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan) and J. Miyazaki (Division of Stem Cell Regulation Research, G6, Osaka University Medical School, Suita, Osaka, Japan), respectively (Zhao et al., 2003).
  • Detailed Gene Information: Click Here.
• DNA vaccine plasmid:
  • DNA vaccine plasmid name:
  • DNA vaccine plasmid VO ID: VO_0000099
• DNA vaccine plasmid:
  • DNA vaccine plasmid name:
  • DNA vaccine plasmid VO ID: VO_0005054
• Immunization Route: Intravenous injection (i.v.)

Mouse Response

• Host Strain: BALB/c
• Vaccination Protocol: For the protection test, 3-week-old female BALB/c mice were inoculated with either 50, 5, or 0.5 μg of the mixture on days 0 and 9 intravenously or intradermally (Zhao et al., 2003).
• Challenge Protocol: On day 22, all immunized mice were challenged by an intraperitoneal injection of 100,000 times the LD50 of JEV (Beijing-1 strain, 0.15 ml), at which time they were simultaneously inoculated intracerebrally with 25 μl of saline into the right hemisphere of their brains with a 27-gauge one-stop needle (Top Injection Needle, Tokyo, Japan) (Zhao et al., 2003).
• Efficacy: Researchers established a simple and effective method for DNA immunization against Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) infection with plasmids encoding the viral PrM and E proteins and colloidal gold. After being inoculated twice, BALB/c mice were found to resist challenge with 100,000 times the 50% lethal dose (LD(50)) of JEV (Beijing-1 strain) even when immunized with a relatively small dose of 0.5 micro g of plasmid DNA (Zhao et al., 2003).