Humans infected with H7N9 avian influenza viruses can result in severe pneumonia and acute respiratory syndrome with an approximately 40% mortality rate, and there is an urgent need to develop an effective vaccine to reduce its pandemic potential. In this study, we used a novel PELC/CpG adjuvant for recombinant H7HA (rH7HA) subunit vaccine development. After immunizing BALB/c mice intramuscularly, rH7HA proteins formulated in this adjuvant instead of an alum adjuvant elicited higher IgG, hemagglutination-inhibition, and virus neutralizing antibodies in sera; induced higher numbers of H7HA-specific IFN-γ-secreting T cells and antibody secreting cells in spleen; and provided improved protection against live virus challenges. Our results indicate that rH7HA proteins formulated in PELC/CpG adjuvant can induce potent anti-H7N9 immunity that may provide useful information for H7N9 subunit vaccine development.

感染了H7N9禽流感病毒的人类会导致严重的肺炎和急性呼吸系统综合症，死亡率大约为40％，因此迫切需要开发一种有效的疫苗来降低其大流行潜力。在这项研究中，我们使用了一种新型的PELC / CpG佐剂，用于重组H7HA（rH7HA）亚基疫苗的开发。肌肉内免疫BALB / c小鼠后，用这种佐剂代替明矾佐剂配制的rH7HA蛋白引起血清中更高的IgG，血凝抑制和病毒中和抗体。诱导脾脏中分泌H7HA特异性分泌IFN-γ的T细胞和抗体分泌细胞的数量增加; 并提供了针对活病毒挑战的改进防护。