Production of Japanese encephalitis virus-like particles in insect cells

Abstract

Virus-like particles (VLPs) are composed of one or several recombinant viral surface proteins that spontaneously assemble into particulate structures without the incorporation of virus DNA or rna. The baculovirus-insect cell system has been used extensively for the production of recombinant virus proteins including VLPs. While the baculovirus-insect cell system directs the transient expression of recombinant proteins in a batch culture, stably transformed insect cells allow constitutive production. in our recent study, a secretory form of Japanese encephalitis (Je) VLPs was successfully produced by Trichoplusia ni BTi-Tn-5B1-4 (high Five) cells engineered to coexpress the Je virus (JEV) premembrane (PRM) and envelope (e) proteins. a higher yield of e protein was attained with recombinant high Five cells than with the baculovirus-insect cell system. This study demonstrated that recombinant insect cells offer a promising approach to the high-level production of VLPs for use as vaccines and diagnostic antigens. © 2013 Landes Bioscience.