Comparison of soluble and secreted forms of human parainfluenza virus type 3 glycoproteins expressed from mammalian and insect cells as subunit vaccines.

Human parainfluenza virus type 3 (PIV-3) is one of the leading causes of paediatric viral respiratory disease. The PIV-3 genome encodes two envelope glycoproteins, F and HN, which are the major targets for the host antibody response. We have expressed secreted forms of the F and HN proteins and a novel chimeric FHN glycoprotein in insect cells using recombinant baculovirus vectors and secreted forms of the F and FHN glycoproteins in stably transformed Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. Comparison of the mammalian cell- and insect cell-expressed F and FHN proteins by SDS-PAGE showed that the CHO cell-expressed proteins are several kilodaltons larger in size than the baculovirus-produced proteins. A partial characterization of the oligosaccharide structures of the F and FHN proteins revealed that the size difference is due to the different oligosaccharide structures added to these proteins by the two cell lines. The F, HN and FHN proteins were immunoaffinity-purified from the culture medium of baculovirus-infected Sf9 cells and the F and FHN proteins were immunoaffinity-purified from the culture medium of CHO cells. A comparison of the immunogenicity and efficacy of the mammalian cell- and insect cell-produced FHN proteins was tested in cotton rats. The CHO cell- and baculovirus-produced FHN proteins were found to induce similar levels of PIV-3-specific ELISA-positive and neutralizing antibodies and both proteins provided near complete protection when animals were vaccinated with low doses of the FHN protein.