Expression of dengue capsid-like particles in silkworm and display of envelope domain III of dengue virus serotype 2

Dengue virus (DENV) is a considerable public health threat affecting millions of people globally. Vaccines for dengue are an important strategy to reduce the disease burden. We expressed capsid (C2) and envelope domain III of dengue virus serotype 2 (2EDIII) separately in the silkworm expression system. We conjugated them employing the monomeric streptavidin (mSA2) and biotin affinity to display the antigenic 2EDIII on the C2-forming capsid-like particle (CLP). Purified 2EDIII-displaying C2 (CLP/2EDIII) was immunogenic in BALB/c mice, eliciting neutralizing antibodies confirmed by a single-round infectious particle (SRIP) neutralization assay. Th1 cytokine levels were upregulated for the CLP/2EDIII group, and the anti-inflammatory IL-10 and pro-inflammatory IL-6 cytokine levels were also raised compared to the 2EDIII and the control groups. Elevated cytokine levels for CLP/2EDIII indicate the importance of displaying the 2EDIII as CLP/2EDIII rather than as an individual subunit. This study is the first to express the C2 protein as self-assembling CLP in vivo and 2EDIII separately in the silkworm expression system and conjugate them to form a monovalent CLP. Thus, this CLP/2EDIII display method may pave the way for an efficient tetravalent dengue vaccine candidate.