Generation and characterization of an H5N1 avian influenza virus hemagglutinin glycoprotein pseudotyped lentivirus

An H5N1 avian influenza virus (AIV) hemagglutinin (HA) protein pseudotyped lentivirus, HIV/H5-HA, was generated, characterized in vitro and evaluated for its ability to induce protective immunity against virulent wild type AIV in mice. The HIV/H5-HA virus was able to infect 293T, BHK, Vero, PK-15, MDCK cells but not IBRS-2 cells and therefore demonstrated cell tropism similar to the wild type AIV. HIV/H5-HA agglutinated chicken erythrocytes and cell entry was blocked by ammonium chloride, indicating that the process is pH-dependent. In mice, HIV/H5-HA immunization resulted in low levels of virus in the lungs, elicited high levels of AIV HA-specific antibody as indicated by the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test, and the antibody induction was both earlier and with a higher titer than that induced by the inactivated AIV vaccine. These results confirmed the roles played by HA in AIV infection and immunogenicity and suggested that the pseudotyped lentivirus is a good model for studying the functions of AIV HA.