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Updated: Jan 3, 2026

Immunization of Adult Zebrafish for the Preclinical Screening of DNA-based Vaccines
Published on: October 30, 2018
Carbon nanotube-based DNA vaccine against koi herpesvirus given by intramuscular injection
Feng Hu1, Yingying Li2, Qing Wang2
1Key Laboratory of Fishery Drug Development of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Key Laboratory of Aquatic Animal Immune Technology of Guangdong Province, Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong, PR China; College of Fisheries and Life Science, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, PR China.
Abstract:
Koi herpesvirus (KHV) also named Cyprinid Herpesvirus 3 (CyHV-3) is one of the most threatening pathogens affecting common carp production as well as the valued ornamental koi carp. The current commercial vaccines available are costly and potentially cause severe stress caused by live virus. KHV ORF149 gene has been proved encoding one of the main immunogenic proteins for KHV. In this study, we coupled a plasmid expression vector for ORF149 to single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) for an anti-KHV vaccine. The vaccine conferred an 81.9% protection against intraperitoneal challenge with KHV. Importantly, SWCNTs as a promising vehicle can enhanced the protective effects 33.9% over that of the naked DNA vaccine at the same dose. The protection was longer and serum antibody production, enzyme activities and immune-related gene expression were all induced in fish vaccinated with the nanotube-DNA vaccine compared with the DNA alone. Thereby, this study demonstrates that the ORF149 DNA vaccine loaded onto SWCNTs as a novel vaccine might provide an effective method of coping with KHV disease using intra-muscular vaccination.

