Induction of broadly neutralizing antibodies using a secreted form of the hepatitis C virus E1E2 heterodimer as a vaccine candidate. Author Ruixue Wang, Saori Suzuki, Johnathan Guest, Brigitte Heller, Maricar Almeda, Alexander Andrianov, Alexander Marin, Roy Mariuzza, Zhen-Yong Keck, Steven Foung, Abdul Yunus, Brian Pierce, Eric Toth, Alexander Ploss, Thomas Fuerst Publication Year 2022 Type Journal Article Abstract SignificanceHepatitis C virus chronically infects approximately 1% of the world's population, making an effective vaccine for hepatitis C virus a major unmet public health need. The membrane-associated E1E2 envelope glycoprotein has been used in clinical studies as a vaccine candidate. However, limited neutralization breadth and difficulty in producing large amounts of homogeneous membrane-associated E1E2 have hampered efforts to develop an E1E2-based vaccine. Our previous work described the design and biochemical validation of a native-like soluble secreted form of E1E2 (sE1E2). Here, we describe the immunogenic characterization of the sE1E2 complex. sE1E2 elicited broadly neutralizing antibodies in immunized mice, with increased neutralization breadth relative to the membrane-associated E1E2, thereby validating this platform as a promising model system for vaccine development. Keywords Animals, Mice, Hepatitis C, Protein Multimerization, Hepatitis C Antibodies, Viral Envelope Proteins, Viral Hepatitis Vaccines, Immunogenicity, Vaccine, Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies Journal Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Volume 119 Issue 11 Pages e2112008119 Date Published 2022 Mar 15 ISSN Number 1091-6490 DOI 10.1073/pnas.2112008119 Alternate Journal Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A PMCID PMC8931252 PMID 35263223 PubMedPubMed CentralGoogle ScholarBibTeXEndNote X3 XML