Maternal vaccination and protective immunity against Zika virus vertical transmission

Authors
C Shan, X Xie, H Luo, AE Muruato, Y Liu, M Wakamiya

Lab
Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA

Journal
Nature Communications

Abstract
An important goal of the Zika virus (ZIKV) vaccine is to prevent a congenital syndrome in fetuses of pregnant women, but studies directly evaluating maternal vaccination for ZIKV are lacking. Here we report maternal vaccination using a live-attenuated ZIKV vaccine (3_UTR-delta10-LAV) in a pregnant mouse model. Maternal immunization with 3_UTR-delta10-LAV does not cause any adverse effects on pregnancy, fetal development, or offspring behavior. One maternal immunization fully protects dams against ZIKV infection and in utero transmission. Although neutralizing antibody alone is sufficient to prevent in utero transmission, a higher neutralizing titer is required to protect pregnant mice against in utero transmission than that required to protect non-pregnant mice against viral infection. The immunized dams transfer maternal antibodies to pups, which protect neonates against ZIKV infection. Notably, pregnancy weakens maternal T cell response to 3_UTR-delta10-LAV vaccination. Our results suggest that, besides vaccinating non-pregnant individuals, 3_UTR-delta10-LAV may also be considered for maternal vaccination.

BIOSEB Instruments Used:
Grip strength test (BIO-GS3)