Multimerization of Ebola GPΔmucin on protein nanoparticle vaccines has minimal effect on elicitation of neutralizing antibodies

Abstract

Ebola virus (EBOV), a member of the Filoviridae family of viruses and a causative agent of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), is a highly pathogenic virus that has caused over twenty outbreaks in Central and West Africa since its formal discovery in 1976. The only FDA-licensed vaccine against Ebola virus, rVSV-ZEBOV-GP (Ervebo®), is efficacious against infection following just one dose. However, since this vaccine contains a replicating virus, it requires ultra-low temperature storage which imparts considerable logistical challenges for distribution and access. Additional vaccine candidates could provide expanded protection to mitigate current and future outbreaks. Here, we designed and characterized two multimeric protein nanoparticle subunit vaccines displaying 8 or 20 copies of GPΔmucin, a truncated form of the EBOV surface protein GP. Single-dose immunization of mice with GPΔmucin nanoparticles revealed that neutralizing antibody levels were roughly equivalent to those observed in mice immunized with non-multimerized GPΔmucin trimers. These results suggest that some protein subunit antigens do not elicit enhanced antibody responses when displayed on multivalent scaffolds and can inform next-generation design of stable Ebola virus vaccine candidates.