Development and immune evaluation of LAMP1 chimeric DNA vaccine against Singapore grouper iridovirus in orange-spotted grouper, Epinephelus coioides

Grouper is one of the most important and valuable mariculture fish in China, with a high economic value. As the production of grouper has increased, massive outbreaks of epidemic diseases have limited the development of the industry. Singapore grouper iridovirus (SGIV) is one of the most serious infectious viral pathogens and has caused huge economic losses to grouper farming worldwide due to its rapid spread and high lethality. To find new strategies for the effective prevention and control of SGIV, we constructed two chimeric DNA vaccines using Lysosome-associated membrane protein 1 (LAMP1) fused with major capsid proteins (MCP) against SGIV. In addition, we evaluated the immune protective effects of vaccines including pcDNA3.1-3HA, pcDNA3.1-MCP, pcDNA3.1-LAMP1, chimeric DNA vaccine pcDNA3.1-MLAMP and pcDNA3.1-LAMCP by intramuscular injection. Our results showed that compared with groups injected with PBS, pcDNA3.1-3HA, pcDNA3.1-LAMP1 or pcDNA3.1-MCP, the antibody titer significantly increased in the chimeric vaccine groups. Moreover, the mRNA levels of immune-related factors in groupers, including IRF3, MHC-I, TNF-α, and CD8, showed the same trend. However, MHC-II and CD4 were significantly increased only in the chimeric vaccine groups. After 28 days of vaccination, groupers were challenged with SGIV, and mortality was documented for each group within 14 days. The data showed that two chimeric DNA vaccines provided 87 % and 91 % immune protection for groupers which were significantly higher than the 52 % protection rate of pcDNA3.1-MCP group, indicating that both forms of LAMP1 chimeric vaccines possessed higher immune protection against SGIV, providing the theoretical foundation for the creation of novel DNA vaccines for fish.