Norovirus immunobiology and vaccine design

TL;DRAbstract

Noroviruses are a genus of 40+ diverse positive polarity RNA viruses that cause approximately 23 million cases of gastroenteritis annually in the United States alone. The lack of a cell culture system or small animal model in which to study these human pathogens has hindered development of norovirus vaccines since their discovery in 1972. Because noroviruses have a very low infectious dose and high transmissibility, vaccines would be beneficial for employees and patrons of institutionalized settings such as hospitals, nursing homes, and schools, where outbreaks frequently occur. To begin to unravel how norovirus exposure affects the adaptive immune response, we utilized Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus replicons as immune adjuvants and delivery vectors for norovirus antigens to demonstrate induction of B cell and T cell responses in protective immunity to noroviruses in mice. Norovirus-like particle (VLP) vaccination induces robust IgG and IgA responses in serum, feces, and tissues

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