Cross-protective immunity elicited by heterologous DNA prime/subunit or adenovirus boost regimens against bovine viral diarrhea virus
摘要
Bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) poses a substantial economic threat to the cattle industry, necessitating vaccines with broad cross-protective immunity. Heterologous prime-boost immunization represents a promising strategy to broaden immune protection by engaging complementary immunological pathways across vaccine platforms. Here, we evaluated heterologous prime-boost regimens combining recombinant subunit, adenovirus-vectored, and DNA vaccines, all targeting the E2 glycoproteins of BVDV-1 (I E2) and BVDV-2 (II E2; I E2-II E2), in a BALB/c mouse model. The DNA/subunit and DNA/adenovirus regimens elicited potent cellular and humoral immunity. Crucially, DNA vaccine priming preferentially skewed the immune response toward a Th1-biased phenotype, optimizing the overall immune profile. Our findings confirm that heterologous prime-boost strategies can synergistically enhance the cross-protective efficacy of BVD vaccines, providing a solid foundation for future development, pending further validation in cattle.