A live attenuated recombinant dengue-4 virus vaccine candidate with restricted capacity for dissemination in mosquitoes and lack of transmission from vaccinees to mosquitoes

Abstract

2AΔ30 is a live dengue-4 virus vaccine candidate with a 30-nucleotide deletion in its 3′-untranslated region. To assess the transmissibility of 2AΔ30 by mosquitoes, we compared its in vivo replication in mosquitoes with that of its wild type DEN-4 parent. Both the vaccine candidate and wild type virus were equally able to infect the mosquito Toxorhynchites splendens after intrathoracic inoculation. Relative to its wild type parent, 2AΔ30 was slightly restricted in its ability to infect the midgut of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes fed on an artificial blood meal and was even more restricted in its ability to disseminate from the midgut to the salivary glands. Thus, the 30-nucleotide deletion rendered the vaccine candidate more sensitive than its wild type parent to the mosquito midgut escape barrier. Most significantly, 2AΔ30 was not transmitted to 352 Ae. albopictus mosquitoes fed on 10 vaccinees, all of whom were infected with the vaccine candidate.