Comparison of viral glycosylation using lectin blotting with Vero cell-derived and mouse brain-derived Japanese encephalitis vaccines

We produced a Vero cell-derived inactivated Japanese encephalitis vaccine using a serum-free medium, as a substitute for the conventional mouse brain-derived Japanese encephalitis vaccine. The immunogenicity of this cell-derived vaccine was higher than that of the conventional mouse brain-derived vaccine. The results of a clinical study in humans also demonstrated higher immunogenicity of this cell-derived vaccine. No gene mutation was found in the viral structural proteins derived from Vero cells and mouse brain. So, we conducted a lectin blot analysis, assuming differing glycosylation as a cause of the higher immunogenicity in humans. The results demonstrated that vaccine reactivity varied with lectins, particularly with WGA, DBA, MAM, SSA, SBA, and GS-II. Thus, glycosylation differed with the vaccines, suggesting a possible cause of the differing immunogenicity between mice and humans.