A recombinant varicella vaccine harboring a respiratory syncytial virus gene induces humoral immunity

Abstract The varicella-zoster virus (VZV) Oka vaccine strain (vOka) is highly efficient and causes few adverse events; therefore, it is used worldwide. We previously constructed recombinant vOka (rvOka) harboring the mumps virus gene. Immunizing guinea pigs with rvOka induced the production of neutralizing antibodies against the mumps virus and VZV. Here, we constructed recombinant vOka viruses containing either the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) subgroup A fusion glycoprotein (RSV A–F) gene or RSV subgroup B fusion glycoprotein (RSV B–F) gene (rvOka-RSV A–F or rvOka-RSV B–F). Indirect immunofluorescence and Western blot analyses confirmed the expression of each recombinant RSV protein in virus-infected cells. Immunizing guinea pigs with rvOka-RSV A–F or rvOka-RSV B–F led to the induction of antibodies against RSV proteins. These results suggest that the current varicella vaccine genome can be used to generate custom-made vaccine vectors to develop the next generation of live vaccines.