Rational design of flavivirus E protein vaccine optimizes immunogenicity and mitigates antibody dependent enhancement risk.

ABSTRACT: Flaviviruses are a family of related viruses that cause substantial global morbidity and mortality. Vaccination against one flavivirus can sometimes exacerbate disease caused by related viruses through antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) or interfere with the efficacy of subsequent vaccines. To address this challenge, we develop a vaccine strategy by introducing G5C/G102C mutations into the flavivirus envelope (E) glycoprotein. These mutations promote E dimerization through the formation of an inter-chain disulfide bond that conceals the immunodominant and ADE-prone fusion loop epitope (FLE). We validate this design on E proteins from multiple flaviviruses through biochemical, antigenic, and structural analyses. The resulting vaccine candidate, CC_FLE sE, derived from the Zika virus (ZIKV

SUBMITTER: Wang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12748774 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature