Porcine parvovirus capsid protein expressed in Escherichia coli self-assembles into virus-like particles with high immunogenicity in mice and guinea pigs

•Porcine parvovirus VP2 protein expressed in E.coli cells self-assembled into VLPs.•PPV VLPs showed hemagglutination activity with high titer.•Vaccination with PPV VLPs could protect guinea pigs from virus challenge.

Porcine parvovirus (PPV) is a causative agent of reproductive failure in pregnant sows. Classical inactivated vaccine is extensively used to control PPV infection, but problems concerning safety, such as incomplete inactivation may occur. In this study, a novel subunit vaccine against PPV based on virus-like particles (VLPs) formed from the complete PPV VP2 protein expressed in a prokaryotic system with co-expressed chaperones is reported. The VLPs have a similar size, shape, and hemagglutination property to the PPV. Immunization with these VLPs stimulated the neutralization antibody and hemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibody responses in mice and guinea pigs. The lymphocyte proliferation response and cytokine secretion was also induced in immunized guinea pigs comparable to those immunized with PPV inactivated vaccine. In addition, immunization with VLPs also significantly reduced the PPV content in the spleen of guinea pigs 14 days after the challenge with intact virus. These studies suggest that PPV VLPs created as described here could be a potential candidate for vaccine development.