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BACKGROUND: Coxsackie virus A16 (CVA16) infections have become a serious public health problem in the Asia-Pacific region. It manifests most often in childhood exanthema, commonly known as hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD). There are currently no vaccine or effective medical treatments available. PRINCIPAL FINDING: In this study, we describe the production, purification and characterization of CVA16 virus produced from Vero cells grown on 5 g/L Cytodex 1 microcarrier beads in a five-liter serum-free bioreactor system. The viral titer was found to be >10(6) the tissue culture's infectious dose (TCID(50)) per mL within 7 days post-infection when a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 10(-5) was used for initial infection. Two CVA16 virus fractions were separated and detected when the harvested CVA16 viral concentrate was purified by a sucrose gradient zonal ultracentrifugation. The viral particles detected in the 24-28% sucrose fractions had low viral infectivity and RNA content. The viral particles obtained from 35-38% sucrose fractions were found to have high viral infectivity and RNA content, and composed of four viral proteins (VP1, VP2, VP3 and VP4), as shown by SDS-PAGE analyses. These two virus fractions were formalin-inactivated and only the infectious particle fraction was found to be capable of inducing CVA16-specific neutralizing antibody responses in both mouse and rabbit immunogenicity studies. But these antisera failed to neutralize enterovirus 71. In addition, rabbit antisera did not react with any peptides derived from CVA16 capsid proteins. Mouse antisera recognized a single linear immunodominant epitope of VP3 corresponding to residues 176-190. CONCLUSION: These results provide important information for cell-based CVA16 vaccine development. To eliminate HFMD, a bivalent EV71/CVA16 vaccine formulation is necessary.

BACKGROUND: Enterovirus 71 (EV71) infections manifest most commonly as a childhood exanthema known as hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) and can cause neurological disease during acute infection. PRINCIPAL FINDING: In this study, we describe the production, purification and characterization of EV71 virus produced from Vero cells grown in a five-liter serum-free bioreactor system containing 5 g/L Cytodex 1 microcarrier. The viral titer was >10(6) TCID(50)/mL by 6 days post infection when a MOI of 10(-5) was used at the initial infection. Two EV71 virus fractions were separated and detected when the harvested EV71 virus concentrate was purified by sucrose gradient zonal ultracentrifugation. The EV71 viral particles detected in the 24-28% sucrose fractions had an icosahedral structure 30-31 nm in diameter and had low viral infectivity and RNA content. Three major viral proteins (VP0, VP1 and VP3) were observed by SDS-PAGE. The EV71 viral particles detected in the fractions containing 35-38% sucrose were 33-35 nm in size, had high viral infectivity and RNA content, and were composed of four viral proteins (VP1, VP2, VP3 and VP4), as shown by SDS-PAGE analyses. The two virus fractions were formalin-inactivated and induced high virus neutralizing antibody responses in mouse immunogenicity studies. Both mouse antisera recognized the immunodominant linear neutralization epitope of VP1 (residues 211-225). CONCLUSION: These results provide important information for cell-based EV71 vaccine development, particularly for the preparation of working standards for viral antigen quantification.