WO2007141259A1

WO2007141259A1 - Live attenuated dengue 3 virus strains

Info

Publication number: WO2007141259A1
Application number: PCT/EP2007/055504
Authority: WO
Inventors: Marie-José Quentin-Millet; Véronique BARBAN; Régis SODOYER
Original assignee: Sanofi Pasteur
Priority date: 2006-06-07
Filing date: 2007-06-05
Publication date: 2007-12-13
Also published as: AR061197A1; US20080107685A1

Abstract

The invention relates to live attenuated dengue serotype 3 virus strains which have been produced by site directed mutagenesis of an attenuated dengue 3 strain.

Description

LIVE ATTENUATED DENGUE 3 VIRUS STRAINS

The invention relates to live attenuated dengue serotype 3 strains which have been produced by site directed mutagenesis of a dengue 3 strain. Dengue disease is the second most important tropical infectious disease after malaria, with over half of the world's population (2.5 billion) living in areas at risk for epidemic transmission. An estimated 50 to 100 million cases of dengue, 500,000 hospitalised DHF patients and 25,000 deaths occur each year. Dengue is endemic in Asia, the Pacific, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) is a severe febrile disease characterised by abnormalities of homeostasis and increased vascular permeability that can lead to hypovolemia and hypotension (dengue shock syndrome, DSS) often complicated by severe internal bleeding. The case fatality rate of DHF can be as high as 10% without therapy, but below 1 % in most centres with therapeutic experience (WHO Technical Guide, 1986).

Dengue diseases are caused by four closely related, but antigenically distinct, virus serologic types (Gubler, 1988; Kautner et al., 1997; Rigau-Perez et al., 1998; Vaughn et al., 1997), of the genus Flavivirus (Gubler, 1988). Infection with a dengue virus serotype can produce a spectrum of clinical illnesses ranging from a non-specific viral syndrome to severe, fatal haemorrhagic disease. The incubation period of dengue fever (DF) after the mosquito bite averages 4 days (range 3-14 days). DF is characterised by biphasic fever, headache, pain in various parts of the body, prostration, rash, lymphadenopathy and leukopenia (Kautner et al., 1997; Rigau-Perez et al., 1998). The viremic period is the same as of febrile illness (Vaughn et al., 1997). Recovery from DF is usually complete in 7 to 10 days but prolonged asthenia is common. Leukocytes and platelets counts decreases are frequent.

The viruses are maintained in a cycle that involves humans and Aedes aegypti, a domestic, day-biting mosquito that prefers to feed on humans. Human infection is initiated by the injection of virus during blood feeding by an infected Aedes aegypti mosquito. Salivary virus is deposited mainly in the extravascular tissues. The primary cell subset infected after inoculation is dendritic cells, which subsequently migrate to draining lymph nodes (Wu et al., 2000). After initial replication in the skin and draining lymph nodes, virus appears in the blood during the acute febrile phase, generally for 3 to 5 days.

Monocytes and macrophages are with dendritic cells among the primary target of dengue virus. Protection against homotypic reinfection is complete and probably lifelong, but cross-protection between dengue types lasts less than 12 weeks (Sabin, 1952). Consequently a subject can experience a second infection with a different serotype. A second dengue infection is a theoretical risk factor of developing severe dengue disease. However, DHF is multifactorial including: the strain of the virus involved, as well as the age, immune status, and genetic predisposition of the patient. Two factors play a major role in the occurrence of DHF: a rapid viral replication with high viremia (the severity of the disease being related to the level of viremia (Vaughn et al., 2000) and an important inflammatory response with release of high levels of inflammatory mediators (Rothman and Ennis, 1999). There is no specific treatment against Dengue diseases. The management of DF is supportive with bed rest, control of fever and pain with antipyretics and analgesics, and adequate fluid intake. The treatment of DHF needs correction of fluid loss, replacement of coagulation factors, and infusion of heparin.

Preventive measures presently rely on vector control and personal protection measures, which are difficult to enforce and expensive. No vaccine against dengue is currently registered. Since the 4 serotypes of dengue are circulating worldwide and since they are reported to be involved in cases of DHF, vaccination should ideally confer protection against all 4 dengue virus serotypes.

Live attenuated vaccines (LAVs), which reproduce natural immunity, have been used for the development of vaccines against many diseases, including some viruses belonging to the same genus as dengue. The advantages of live- attenuated virus vaccines are their capacity of replication and induction of both humoral and cellular immune responses. In addition, the immune response induced by a whole virion vaccine against the different components of the virus (structural and non-structural proteins) reproduced those induced by natural infection.

A dengue vaccine project was initiated in Thailand at the Centre for Vaccine Development, Institute of Sciences and Technology for Development Mahidol University. Candidate live-attenuated vaccines were successfully developed, at a laboratory scale, for dengue serotype 1 (strain 16007, passage 13 = LAV1 ), serotype 2 (strain 16681 , passage 53 = LAV2), and serotype 4 (strain 1036, passage 48 = LAV4) viruses in Primary Dog Kidney (PDK) Cells, and for serotype 3 (strain 16562) in Primary Green Monkey Kidney (PGMK) cells (passage 30) and Fetal Rhesus Lung (FRhL) cells (passage 3)( =LAV3). These vaccines have been tested as monovalent (single serotype), bivalent (two serotypes), trivalent (three serotypes), and tetravalent (all four serotypes) vaccines in Thai volunteers. In 1997, Gubler described those vaccines as being safe and immunogenic in children and in adults (Gubler, 1997). These LAV 1-4 strains have been described in the patent application EP1159968, in the name of the Mahidol University, and were deposited before the Collection Nationale de Culture de Microorganismes (CNCM) on May 25, 2000, under deposit numbers I-2480, 1-2481 , I-2482, and I-2483, respectively. However, these LAV strains correspond to heterogeneous populations and thus represent a risk due to a potential in vitro or in vivo selection of one of the strain present in the composition.

Recent clinical trials with LAV3 had led to the conclusion that LAV3 was under-attenuated and too reactogenic. Previously, the Applicant successfully developped new live attenuated

Vero-Derived serotype 1 and 2 viruses (VDV1 and VDV2) through a complex isolation and transfection process of the above-mentioned LAV1 and LAV2 strains comprising especially the steps of transfecting Vero cells with the purified genomic RNA of these LAVs and plaque purifications. The thus obtained VDV 1 and 2 strains were characterized in particular by a satisfactory attenuation phenotype and a high genetic stability.

Therefore, a similar isolation and transfection process was performed on the LAV3 strain to produce an attenuated Vero-Derived serotype 3 virus (VDV3). The VDV3 strain tested in phase I clinical trial has been selected based on potential attenuation criteria such as: small plaque phenotype, temperature sensitivity, decreased growth and absence of transmission in mosquitoes, low viremia in monkeys, dramatically reduced secretion of TN Fa and IL12 proinflammatory cytokines upon infection of human dendritic cells. In the first phase I clinical trial, a monovalent VDV3 vaccine was evaluated in comparison with a yellow fever control vaccine in volunteers in Hong-Kong. The unexpected nature, number and severity of the secondary reactions observed led to discontinuation of subject recruitment and injections, as well as to the discontinuation of the development of the VDV3 vaccine.

In contrast, ongoing preclinical studies and phase I clinical trials with VDV1 and/or VDV2 led to satisfactory results in terms of safety and immunogenicity.

Hence the inventors propose to introduce by site-directed mutagenesis in a serotype 3 dengue strain, the mutations responsible for the high genetic stability and of attenuated phenotype of the VDV1 and VDV2 strains.

Definitions

"Dengue viruses" are positive-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses belonging to the Flavivirus genus of the flaviridae family. The RNA genome contains a type I cap at the 5'-end but lacks a 3'-end poly(A)-tail. The gene organization is 5'-noncoding region (NCR), structural protein (capsid (C), premembrane/membrane (prM/M), envelope (E)) and non structural protein (NS1- NS2A-NS2B-NS3-NS4A-NS4B-NS5) and 3' NCR. The viral RNA genome is associated with the C protein to form nucleocapsid (icosahedral symmetry). As with other flaviviruses, the DEN viral genome encodes the uninterrupted open reading frame (ORF) which is translated to a single polyprotein.

By "serotype 3 virus or strain" is meant any serotype 3 dengue strain. This definition thus includes wild type serotype 3, as well as serotype 3 strains obtained by serial passages on cell culture(s). As a matter of example, the LAV3 strain can be used in the present invention to construct an attenuated serotype strain 3. The LAV3 strain corresponds to the 16562/PGMK30/FRhl_3 strain established after 30 passages of Dengue serotype 3 (DEN-3) strain 16562 in Primary Green Monkey Kidney (PGMK) cells and 3 passages in Fetal Rhesus Lung (FRhL) cells. LAV3 nucleotide sequence is shown in SEQ ID No.3. LAV3 has been deposited before the CNCM (CNCM I-2482 - patent application EP1159968).

For sake of clarity the following description is limited to a LAV3 strain attenuated by the process of the invention. By "live attenuated strain" we mean, in the context of the present invention, a dengue strain which is infectious but not capable of causing disease, i.e. a strain or virus that cause mild (i.e. acceptable in terms of regulatory purposes as presenting a positive benefit/risk ratio) to low or no secondary effects (i.e. systemic events and/or biological abnormalities and/or local reactions) in the majority of the tested humans but still infect and induce an immune response.

According to the present invention, live attenuated serotype 3 strains can be obtained by site directed mutagenesis of a dengue 3 strain wherein the attenuation mutations leading to high genetic stability and to an attenuated phenotype of the VDV1 and/or VDV2 strains are introduced in the genome of the dengue 3 strain.

The term "mutation" means any detectable change in genetic material, e.g. DNA, RNA, cDNA, or any process, mechanism, or result of such a change. Mutations include substitution of one or more nucleotides. In the context of the instant application, mutations identified in dengue virus genomic sequence or polyprotein are designated pursuant to the nomenclature of Dunnen and Antonarakis (2000). As defined by Dunnen and Antonarakis at the nucleic acid level, substitutions are designated by ">", e.g. "31A>G" denotes that at nucleotide 31 of the reference sequence a A is changed to a G. Variations at the protein level describe the consequence of the mutation and are reported as follows. Stop codons are designated by X (e.g. R97X denotes a change of Arg97 to a termination codon). Amino acid substitutions a designated for instant by "S9G", which means that Ser in position 9 is replaced by GIy.

By "VDV1" we mean the strain characterized by a nucleotide sequence SEQ ID N° 9.

By "VDV2" we mean the strain characterized by a nucleotide sequence SEQ ID N⁰ 10.

By "LAV1" we mean here the attenuated strain established after 13 passages of Dengue serotype 1 (DEN-1 ) strain 16007 in Primary Dog Kidney (PDK). LAV1 nucleotide sequence is shown in SEQ ID No.1. LAV1 has been deposited before the CNCM (CNCM I-2480 - patent application EP1159968).

By "LAV2" we mean here the attenuated strain established after 53 passages of Dengue serotype 2 (DEN-2) strain 16681 in PDK cells. LAV2 nucleotide sequence is shown in SEQ ID No.2. LAV2 has been deposited before the Collection Nationale de Cultures de Microorganismes (CNCM) under deposit number 1-2481 - patent application EP1159968.

Mutations of VDV1 strains and VDV2 strains to be introduced in serotype 3 Dengue viruses

The mutations contemplated within the framework of the present invention are listed in Table 1 and Table 2 below.

Table 1 : Mutations of interest identified in the LAV1 and VDV1 strains.

The mutation in the NS1 coding region is silent at the amino acide level.

Table 2: Mutations of interest identified in the LAV2 and VDV2 strains.

A sequence alignement has been performed between LAV3, LAV1 , VDV1 , LAV2, and VDV2 nucleotide sequences. This alignement enabled to identify mutations to introduce in a serotype 3 dengue virus genome, in particular in the LAV3 genome by similarity with the mutations found in the LAV1 and VDV1 genomes, as well as in the LAV2 and VDV2 genomes. This alignement is partially displayed in Figure 1 , together with the mutations identified. These mutations are reported in Table 3 below.

Table 3: Mutations of interest found in LAV1 , VDV1 , LAV2 and VDV2, and corresponding mutations in LAV3 genome.

Nucleotides LAV1 VDV1 LAV2 VDV2 LAV3 Mutations in LAV3 sequence

1611 A A G A C A

1630 A A A G A G

2713 G A A A G A

5057 A A G C G C

5956 C A A A C A

7938 A G G G A G

9183 G G G A G A

9214 T T A G A G

10483 A A A G A G

1323 C C T T T C

1535 AAG AAG AAT AAT AAC G

1602 T T A A C T or A

2357 G G G G T G

5057 A A GAC GAC GAG GAG -> GAC or AAG

6800 G G G G T G

522 C C T T C TCT -> GCA or GTT

2571 G G A A G GGA -> GAC

4010 T T T T T TGC -> TTC

6594 G G C C G GGT -> GCA

The nucleotide positions are numbered according to LAV3 sequence (SEQ ID No.3)

Furthermore a structural analysis conducted on the ectodomain of a serotype 2 dengue virus Envelope, and more particularly on the hydrophobic pocket identified by Modis et al ( Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2003 Jun 10; 100 (12):6899-901 ), has shown that the V130A mutation has an attenuation effect that could be enhanced by the E203K mutation and also by the R204K mutation. According to one embodiment, the invention thus provides live attenuated dengue-3 virus strains that have been obtained from the LAV3 strain by introducing, by a standard site-directed mutagenesis procedure, at least two mutations matching those that are responsible for the attenuated phenotype in VDV1 and/or VDV2.

According to one embodiment, the invention relates to an isolated live attenuated dengue-3 virus strain which comprises, or consists of, the sequence of LAV3 strain (SEQ ID No.3) in which the nucleotides at positions 1323 and 1535 are mutated as defined in table 3 above. According to another embodiment the LAV 3 strain as defined above comprises at least one additional mutation at at least one position selected in the group consisting in nucleotide positions: 2713, 5956, 7938, 1602, 2357, 5057 and 6800. According to a specific embodiment, all these additional mutations are introduced in the LAV 3 genome. According to another embodiment, the LAV 3 strain in which the nucleotides at positions 1323 and 1535 are mutated as defined in table 3 above comprises at least one additional mutation at at least one position selected in the group consisting in nucleotide positions 1611 , 1630, 2713, 5057, 9183, 9214, 10483, 522, 2571 , 4010 and 6594. According to a specific embodiment, all these additional mutations are introduced in the LAV 3 genome.

According to an additional embodiment, the LAV 3 strain in which the nucleotides at positions 1323 and 1535 are mutated as defined in table 3 above comprises at least one additional mutation at at least one position selected in the group consisting in nucleotide positions 2713, 5956, 7938, 1602, 2357, 5057, 6800, 1611 , 1630, 2713, 5057, 9183, 9214, 10483, 522, 2571 , 4010 and 6594. According to a specific embodiment, all these additional mutations are introduced in the LAV 3 genome.

Preferably, the mutations are substitutions as defined in table 3 above.

Hence, according to one embodiment, the at least one additional mutation is preferably a substitution selected in the group consisting in: 1611 C > A, 1630 A >

G, 2713 G > A, 5057 G > C, 9183 G > A, 9214 A > G, 10483 A > G, 522

TCT>GCA or GTT, 2571 GGA>GAC, 4010 TGOTTC and 6594 GGT>GCA. According to another embodiment, the at least one additional mutation is preferably a substitution selected in the group consisting in: 2713 G > A, 5956 C > A, 7938 A > G, 1602 C>T or A, 2357 T>G, 5057GAG>GAC or AAG and 6800 T>G. According to a preferred embodiment, the isolated strain according to the invention contains a sequence SEQ ID No.3 which comprises the mutations 1323 T>C, 1535OG, 1611 C > A, 1630 A > G, 2713 G > A, 5057 G > C, 9183 G > A, 9214 A > G, 10483 A > G, 522 TCT>GCA or GTT, 2571 GGA>GAC, 4010 TGOTTC and 6594 GGT>GCA. According to another preferred embodiment, the isolated strain according to the invention contains a sequence SEQ ID No.3 which comprises the mutations 1323 T>C, 1535OG, 2713 G > A, 5956 O A, 7938 A > G, 1602 C>T or A, 2357 T>G, 5057GAG>GAC or AAG and 6800 T>G.

Additionally, a live attenuated dengue-3 virus strain according to the invention may comprise the sequence of LAV3 strain (SEQ ID No.3) wherein said sequence comprises at least the mutations 735 G > C, 1611 C > A, 1630 A > G,

2713 G > A, 5057 G > C, 5956 O A, 7938 A > G, 9183 G > A, 9214 A > G, and

10483 A > G. Preferably, the live attenuated dengue-3 virus strain of the invention contains the sequence SEQ ID No.7, i.e. the SEQ ID No.3 in which the following mutations are presents : 735 G > C, 1611 C > A, 1630 A > G, 2713 G > A, 5057 G

> C, 5956 O A, 7938 A > G, 9183 G > A, 9214 A > G, and 10483 A > G.

The live attenuated dengue-3 virus strains according to the invention encompass variant strains with a sequence SEQ ID No.3 that further comprises a substitution of one or more nucleotides in a given codon position which results in no alteration in the amino acid encoded at that position or in a conservation change at the amino acid level.

The mutated LAV3 strains of the invention can be easily reconstructed starting directly from the herein disclosed sequences.

The resulting attenuated serotype 3 strains can be amplified by cell culture, (e.g. on VERO cells) according to methods well known in the art. The VERO cell technology is a well-known technology which has been used for different commercial products (e.g. rabies vaccine). In the present invention qualified VERO cells can be advantageously used to guarantee the absence of any risks potentially linked to the presence of adventitious agents. By "qualified VERO cells" is meant cells or cell lines for which culture conditions are known and are such that the said cells are free from any adventitious agents. The thus amplified strains can therefore be isolated or purified by a classical plaque purification technique.

The thus isolated attenuated strains can be stored either in the form of a freezed composition or in the form of a lyophilised product. For that purpose, the strain of the invention can be mixed with a diluent such as a buffered aqueous solution comprising cryoprotective compounds such as sugar alcohol and stabilizer. The pH before freezing or lyophilisation is advantageously settled in the range of 6 to 9, e.g. around 7, as determined by a pH meter at room temperature..

The invention also relates to an isolated nucleic acid which comprises, or consists of, the DNA sequence encoding the attenuated serotype 3 dengue strain of the invention or its equivalent RNA sequence.

A "nucleic acid molecule" refers to the phosphate ester polymeric form of ribonucleosides (adenosine, guanosine, uridine or cytidine; "RNA molecules") or deoxyribonucleosides (deoxyadenosine, deoxyguanosine, deoxythymidine, or deoxycytidine; "DNA molecules"), or any phosphoester analogs thereof, such as phosphorothioates and thioesters, in either single stranded form, or a double- stranded helix.

As used herein, by RNA sequence "equivalent" to a reference DNA sequence is meant the reference DNA wherein deoxythymidines have been replaced by uridines. As the sequences given in the sequence listing constitute cDNA sequences, the equivalent RNA sequence thus corresponds to the positive strand RNA of the live attenuated dengue-3 virus strain.

The invention further relates to the polyprotein encoded by the nucleic acid sequences as defined above and to fragments thereof.

A "fragment" of a reference protein is meant a polypeptide which sequence comprises a chain of consecutive amino acids of the reference protein. A fragment may be at least 8, at least 12, at least 20, amino acid long. Said fragments of the polyprotein comprise at least one mutated amino acid as defined above as compared with the corresponding fragment of SEQ ID No.4, i.e. the corresponding fragment of LAV3 polyprotein sequence. According to a preferred embodiment, the fragment comprises the E 130 Val>Ala and E 203 Asn > Lys mutations.

Immunogenic and vaccine compositions

The invention also relates to an immunogenic composition, suitable to be used as a vaccine, which comprises a live attenuated dengue-3 virus strain according to the invention in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

The immunogenic compositions according to the invention elicit a specific humoral immune response toward the dengue virus, including neutralizing antibodies.

By "immune response" we mean here a response comprising a specific humoral immune response including neutralizing antibodies in primate especially in humans. The induction of a specific humoral immune response can be easily determined by an ELISA assay. The presence of neuralising antibody in the serum of a vaccine is evaluated by the plaque reduction neutralization test as described in Huang et al. (2000). A serum is considered to be positive for the presence of neutralizing antibodies when the neutralizing antibody titer thus determined is at least superior or equal to 1 :10.

According to one embodiment, the immunogenic composition is a vaccine.

According to an embodiment, the immunogenic composition is a monovalent composition, i.e. it elicits a specific immune response and/or confers protection against Dengue-3 virus only.

According to another embodiment, the invention relates to a multivalent dengue immunogenic composition, i.e. a composition which elicits a specific immune response against at least 2, such as 3 or 4 dengue serotypes. Such a multivalent immunogenic composition or vaccine may be obtained by combining individual monovalent dengue vaccines. The active component of a composition of the invention which induces a specific immune response against a second serotype may be a live attenuated dengue virus of another serotype. In particular, the immunogenic or vaccine composition may comprise a live attenuated dengue- 3 virus strain according to the invention in combination with at least a live attenuated dengue virus selected from the group consisting of serotype 1 , serotype 2, and serotype 4.

Advantageously, the immunogenic or vaccine composition may be a tetravalent dengue vaccine composition, i.e. a vaccine composition which elicits a specific immune response against the 4 dengue serotypes, e.g. a composition comprising a live attenuated dengue-3 virus strain according to the invention in combination with a live attenuated dengue-1 virus strain, a live attenuated dengue- 2 virus strain and a live attenuated dengue-4 virus strain.

Live attenuated dengue-1 , dengue-2 and dengue-4 virus strains have been described previously. Reference may be made to the live-attenuated vaccines that were developed by Mahidol University by passaging dengue serotype 1 (strain 16007, passage 13; LAV1 ), serotype 2 (strain 16681 , passage 53; LAV2), and serotype 4 (strain 1036, passage 48, LAV4) viruses in Primary Dog Kidney (PDK) Cells. The nucleotide sequences of LAV1 (SEQ ID No.1 ), LAV2 (SEQ ID No.2), and LAV4 (SEQ ID No.5) are shown in the annexed sequence listing. Advantageously, a live attenuated dengue-1 strain may correspond to a

VDV1 strain which has been obtained from the LAV1 strain by a complex isolation and transfection process on Vero cells. In particular a live attenuated dengue-1 strain (VDV1) may comprise, and advantageously consists of the sequence SEQ ID No.6. Advantageously, a live attenuated dengue-2 strain may correspond to a VDV2 strain which has been obtained from the LAV2 strain by a complex process of isolation and transfection on Vero cells. In particular a live attenuated dengue-2 strain (VDV2) may comprise, and advantageously consists of the sequence SEQ ID No.7.

The immunogenic compositions or vaccines according to the present invention may be prepared using any conventional method known to those skilled in the art. Conventionally the antigens according to the invention are mixed with a pharmaceutically acceptable diluent or excipient, such as water or phosphate buffered saline solution, wetting agents, fillers, emulsifier stabilizer. The excipient or diluent will be selected as a function of the pharmaceutical form chosen, of the method and route of administration and also of pharmaceutical practice. Suitable excipients or diluents and also the requirements in terms of pharmaceutical formulation, are described in Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences, which represents a reference book in this field.

Advantageously, the immunogenic compositions including vaccines may be prepared as injectable composition (e.g. liquid solutions, suspensions or emulsions) comprising an aqueous buffered solution to maintain e.g. a pH (as determined at room temperature with a pH meter ) in the range of 6 to 9 such as 7.

The composition according to the invention may further comprise an adjuvant, i.e. a substance which improves, or enhances, the immune response elicited by the live attenuated dengue strain. Any pharmaceutically acceptable adjuvant or mixture of adjuvants conventionally used in the field of human vaccines may be used for this purpose.

The immunogenic compositions or vaccines according to the invention may be administered by any conventional route usually used in the field of human vaccines, such as the parenteral (e.g. intradermal, subcutaneous, intramuscular) route In the context of the present invention immunogenic compositions or vaccines are preferably injectable compositions administered subcutaneously in the deltoid region.

Method for immunizing The invention further provides for a method of immunizing a host in need thereof against a dengue infection which comprises administering the host with an immunoeffective amount of an immunogenic composition or a vaccine according to the invention.

A "host in need thereof denotes a person at risk for dengue infection, i.e. individuals travelling to regions where dengue virus infection is present, and also inhabitants of those regions. The route of administration is any conventional route used in the vaccine field. The choice of administration route depends on the formulation that is selected. Preferably, the immunogenic composition or vaccine corresponds to an injectable composition administered via subcutaneous route, advantageously in the deltoid region.

The amount of live attenuated dengue-3 strain of the invention in the immunogenic compositions or vaccines may be conveniently expressed in viral plaque forming unit (PFU) unit or Cell Culture Infectious Dose 50% (CCID₅₀) dosage form and prepared by using conventional pharmaceutical techniques. For instance, the composition according to the invention may be prepared in dosage form containing 10 to 10⁶ CCID₅O, or from 10³ to 10⁵ CCID₅₀ Of virus, for instance 4 ±0.5 logio CCID₅₀ of live attenuated dengue-3 strain for a monovalent composition. Where the composition is multivalent, to reduce the possibility of viral interference and thus to achieve a balanced immune response (i.e. an immune response against all the serotype contained in the composition), the amounts of each of the different attenuated dengue serotypes present in the administered vaccines may not be equal.

An "immunoeffective amount" is an amount which is capable of inducing a specific humoral immune response comprising neutralising antibodies in the serum of a vaccinee. Methods for evaluating the presence of neutralizing antibodies are well known by the one skilled in the art.

The volume of administration may vary depending on the route of administration. Subcutaneous injections may range in volume from about 0.1 ml to 1.0 ml, preferably 0.5 ml. The optimal time for administration of the composition is about one to three months before the initial exposure to the dengue virus. The vaccines of the invention can be administered as prophylactic agents in adults or children at risk of Dengue infection. The targeted population thus encompasses persons which are naϊve as well as well as non-naϊve with regards to dengue virus. The vaccines of the invention can be administered in a single dose or, optionally, administration can involve the use of a priming dose followed by a booster dose that is administered, e.g. 2-6 months later, as determined to be appropriate by those of skill in the art.

The invention will be further described in view of the following figure and examples.

FIGURE

Figure 1 is a partial alignment of the nucleotide sequences of LAV3, LAV1 , VDV1 , LAV2, and VDV2. The mutations identified between LAV1 and VDV1 or between LAV2 and VDV2 and introduced in LAV3 genome are shown in shadowed characters. Mutations identified between LAV1 and VDV1 or between LAV2 and VDV2 that do not lead to mutation of LAV3 genome are shown in underlined characters.

EXAMPLES

EXAMPLE 1 : Site directed mutagenesis

A large number of site directed mutagenesis strategies are currently available, they are based on either polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or non-PCR methods, for a comprehensive review see: Ling and Robinson (1997).

For the introduction of single mutations within a sequence the Stratgene's

QuickChange site-directed mutagenesis kit can be used. This method can be applied directly to the plasmid containing the sequence of interest without the need of prior subcloning. Moreover, the DNA polymerase used (PfuTurbo) can replicate both strands of the original plasmid without displacing the mutant primers; the polymerase is further "high fidelity". The method contains a counter-selection step of the parental DNA. After primer extension the DNA is subjected to a Dpn I treatment, this endonuclease is specific for methylated and hemimethylated DNA, which is the case for almost plasmid DNA isolated from E. coli.

The basic steps of the procedure can be summarized as follows:

Denaturation of the plasmid, Annealing with mutagenic primers containing the mutations of interest,

Cyclic extension from the mutagenic primers and obtention of nicked circular strands,

Digestion of the parental DNA with the Dpn I endonuclease, - Transformation of competent cells with the double-stranded circular DNA, the nicks into the mutated plasmid being repaired after transformation by the recipient cells.

DNA preparation of individual clones and checking for the presence of the mutation by sequencing. - After selection of a good candidate the complete insert is sequenced to ensure the absence of additional mutations.

Such a procedure can be applied to the plasmid containing the genome of Dengue serotype 3 (LAV3, SEQ ID No.3). Mutations could theoretically be carried out directly on a plasmid containing the whole viral sequence but more conveniently on a shuttle vector containing only a fraction (for instance the envelope) in order to facilitate the control of the sequence after the site-directed muatgenesis step. Multiple mutations can be introduced in a sequential manner or simultaneously. The strategy is, in all cases, to sub-clone, the region of interest into a shuttle vector, prior the mutagenesis step. Ideally this region of interest is flanked by two unique restriction sites, which are used to re-clone the mutated segment into the parental plasmid containing the full size genome.

Upon completion of the site directed mutagenesis procedure, the mutated region is completely checked by sequencing in order to control the presence of the desired mutation as well as to ensure the absence of additional changes in the sequence.

EXAMPLE 2: Replacement of Dengue 3 Phe 475 to VaI 477 present in both Dengue 1 and 2.

Phe 475 in Dengue 3 envelope protein is substituted by VaI by introducing a mutation in the codon "ttt" encoding Phe 475 :

₄₆₉K N T S M S F S C I A I G I₄₈₂ (SEQ ID NOS) aaa aat act tct atg tea ttt tea tgc ate gcg ata gga ate (SEQ ID No.9)

46₉K N T S M S V S C I A I G I₄₈₂ (SEQ ID NO. 10) aaa aat act tct atg tea gtt tea tgc ate gcg ata gga ate (SEQ ID No.11). This mutation can be introduced using the following strategy:

A full length 10 Kb cDNA can be obtained by RT-PCR from the viral RNA of the Dengue 3 isolate using the following primers: Forward primer: 5' aat act tct atg tea gtt tea tgc ate gcg ata gga 3'. Reverse primer : 3' tta tga aga tac agt caa agt acg tag cgc tat cct 5'. Double stranded cDNA is cloned into the pCR Il TOPO cloning vector

(Invitrogen), according to the manufacturer's prescriptions, generating pDen2. pDen2 is digested by Seal and Narl unique restriction sites flanking the sequence encoding the envelope protein. The 2.5 Kb fragment is then sub-cloned into the EcorV and Narl sites of Litmus 38i vector (New England biolabs) generating a shuttle vector suitable for the site directed mutagenesis experiment.

The site directed mutagenesis is performed using the following conditions:

Plasmid DNA (50 ng/μl) 0,5 μl

10x Buffer 5 μl

Forward primer (125 ng/μl) 1 μl

Reverse primer (125 ng/μl) 1 μl dNTP 1 ,25 mM 8 μl

Nuclease-free water 34,£ > μl

Final volume 50 μl

+ 1 μl de Pfu Turbo

Program:

Initial denaturation 95 ⁰C 30"

Denaturation 95 ⁰C 30"

Hybridisation 57 ⁰C V 16 cycles

Elongation 68 ⁰C β-

Hybridisation temperature is variable according to oligonucleotide length and number of mismatches. After completion of the reaction 1 μl of Dpnl is added to the PCR mixture and incubated at 37° C for 2 hours. 4 μl of the reactional volume are used to transform electrocompetent XL-1 bacterial cells. After plating, overnight incubation at 37° C, individual colonies are picked and grown in small volume (4 ml). DNA minipreparations corresponding to each clone are directly analysed by sequencing.

1.1 Recovery of mutant recombinant viruses. Escherichia coli XL1-Blue cells are transfected by electroporation with the thus obtained recombinant plasmid containing the desired mutation. A positive clone selected on Knanmycin plates is grown at large scale (500 ml) and the plasmid is prepared using a standard protocol. 500 ng of plasmid are linearized by the Notl restriction endonuclease. Viral RNA is then obtained after in vitro transcription using T7 RNA polymerase and capped with the cap analog m⁷GpppA. and finally transfected into 3 x 10⁶ to 4 x 10⁶ LLC-MK₂ or BHK-21 cells by electroporation. Transfected cells are transferred to 75-cm² flasks in DMEM containing 10% FBS. The resulting mutated virus can then be isolated from the cells.

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Claims

1. A live attenuated dengue-3 strain which comprises the sequence SEQ ID No.3 in which the nucleotides at positions 1323 and 1535 are mutated.

2. A live attenuated dengue 3 strain according to claim 1 which comprises the mutations 1323 T>C and 1535C>G.

3. A live attenuated dengue 3 strain according to claim 1 or 2 comprising at least one additional mutation at at least one position selected from the group consisting of positions: 1611, 1630, 2713, 5057, 9183, 9214, 10483, 522, 2571, 4010 and 6594.

4. A live attenuated dengue 3 strain according to claim 3 which comprises at least one additional mutation selected in the group consisting in 1611 C > A, 1630 A > G, 2713 G > A, 5057 G > C, 9183 G > A, 9214 A > G, 10483 A > G, 522 TCT>GCA or GTT, 2571 GGA>GAC, 4010 TGC>TTC and 6594 GGT>GCA.

5. A live attenuated dengue 3 strain according to anyone of claims 1 to 4 comprising at least one additional mutation at at least one position selected from the group consisting of positions: 2713, 5956, 7938, 1602, 2357, 5057 and 6800.

6. A live attenuated dengue 3 strain according to claim 5 which comprises at least one additional mutation selected in the group consisting in 2713 G > A, 5956 C > A, 7938 A > G, 1602 C>T or A, 2357 T>G, 5057GAG>GAC or AAG and 6800 T>G.

7. An immunogenic composition comprising a live attenuated dengue-3 strain according any of claims 1 to 6, in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

8. A vaccine composition comprising a live attenuated dengue-3 strain according any of claims 1 to 6, in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

9. The composition according to claim 7 or 8, which is a monovalent composition.

10. The composition according to claim 7 or 8, which is a multivalent dengue composition.

11. The composition according to any of claims 7 to 10, which contains 10³ to 10⁶ CCID₅o live attenuated dengue-3 strain according any of claims 1 to 6.

12. An isolated nucleic acid which comprises the DNA sequence encoding the attenuated dengue strain according to anyone of claims 1 to 6, or its equivalent RNA sequence.

13. An isolated polyprotein encoded by nucleic acid of claim 12, or a fragment thereof which comprises at least the E 130 Val>Ala and E 203 Asn > Lys mutations as compared with the corresponding fragment of SEQ ID No.4.