• Kelly L Warfield, Dana L Swenson, Gene G Olinger, Warren V Kalina, M Javad Aman, and Sina Bavari.
• US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, MD 21702, USA.
• J. Infect. Dis. 2007 Nov 15;196 Suppl 2:S430-7.

BackgroundCurrently, there are no licensed vaccines or therapeutics for the prevention or treatment of infection by the highly lethal filoviruses, Ebola virus (EBOV) and Marburg virus (MARV), in humans. We previously had demonstrated the protective efficacy of virus-like particle (VLP)-based vaccines against EBOV and MARV infection in rodents.MethodsTo determine the efficacy of vaccination with Ebola VLPs (eVLPs) in nonhuman primates, we vaccinated cynomolgus macaques with eVLPs containing EBOV glycoprotein (GP), nucleoprotein (NP), and VP40 matrix protein and challenged the macaques with 1000 pfu of EBOV.ResultsSerum samples from the eVLP-vaccinated nonhuman primates demonstrated EBOV-specific antibody titers, as measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, complement-mediated lysis assay, and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity assay. CD44+ T cells from eVLP-vaccinated macaques but not from a naive macaque responded with vigorous production of tumor necrosis factor- alpha after EBOV-peptide stimulation. All 5 eVLP-vaccinated monkeys survived challenge without clinical or laboratory signs of EBOV infection, whereas the control animal died of infection.ConclusionOn the basis of safety and efficacy, eVLPs represent a promising filovirus vaccine for use in humans.

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