Prevention of rhinovirus infection in chimpanzees by soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1

Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) is the cell surface receptor for the major class of human rhinoviruses, and tICAM453, a truncated, soluble form of ICAM-1, has been shown previously to be a potent in vitro inhibitor of rhinovirus. In this report, we have investigated the in vivo efficacy of tICAM453 for the prophylaxis of rhinovirus serotype 16 infection in the chimpanzee. Because chimpanzees do not show clinical symptoms of infection after rhinovirus challenge, infection was followed by measuring antirhinovirus serum antibody responses and detection of virus shedding. By both of these measures, intranasal application of tICAM453 was efficacious in preventing rhinovirus infection in chimpanzees subsequently challenged with infectious doses of virus. These results suggest that the use of soluble rhinovirus receptor to inhibit virus binding to host cells should be feasible in humans.