Attenuated Viruses Useful for Vaccines Für Impfstoffe Geeignete Abgeschwächte Viren Virus Attenues Utiles Pour Des Vaccins
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(19) TZZ _¥__T (11) EP 2 139 515 B1 (12) EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION (45) Date of publication and mention (51) Int Cl.: of the grant of the patent: A61K 39/13 (2006.01) 13.06.2018 Bulletin 2018/24 (86) International application number: (21) Application number: 08799746.6 PCT/US2008/058952 (22) Date of filing: 31.03.2008 (87) International publication number: WO 2008/121992 (09.10.2008 Gazette 2008/41) (54) ATTENUATED VIRUSES USEFUL FOR VACCINES FÜR IMPFSTOFFE GEEIGNETE ABGESCHWÄCHTE VIREN VIRUS ATTENUES UTILES POUR DES VACCINS (84) Designated Contracting States: (74) Representative: Pohlman, Sandra M. et al AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR df-mp Dörries Frank-Molnia & Pohlman HR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC MT NL NO PL PT Patentanwälte Rechtsanwälte PartG mbB RO SE SI SK TR Theatinerstrasse 16 Designated Extension States: 80333 München (DE) AL BA MK RS (56) References cited: (30) Priority: 30.03.2007 US 909389 P WO-A2-02/095363 US-A1- 2004 209 241 07.03.2008 US 68666 US-A9- 2004 097 439 US-B1- 6 696 289 (43) Date of publication of application: • BURNS CARA CARTHEL ET AL: "Modulation of 06.01.2010 Bulletin 2010/01 poliovirus replicative fitness in HeLa cells by deoptimization of synonymous codon usage in (73) Proprietor: The Research Foundation of the State thecapsid region", JOURNAL OF VIROLOGY, vol. University of 80, no. 7, April 2006 (2006-04), pages 3259-3272, New York XP002633525, -& WO 2006/042156 A2 (US GOV Albany, NY 12207 (US) HEALTH & HUMAN SERV [US]; KEW OLEN M [US]; BURNS CARA C [US]; S) 20 April 2006 (72) Inventors: (2006-04-20) • WIMMER, Eckard • MUELLER STEFFEN ET AL: "Reduction of the East Setauket, NY 11733 (US) rate of poliovirus protein synthesis through • SKIENA, Steve large-scale codon deoptimization causes Setauket, NY 11733 (US) attenuation of viral virulence by lowering specific • MUELLER, Steffen infectivity.", JOURNAL OF VIROLOGY, vol. 80, Kings Point, NY 11024 (US) no. 19, October 2006 (2006-10), pages 9687-9696, • FUTCHER, Bruce XP002633526, ISSN: 0022-538X Stony Brook, NY 11790 (US) • DATABASE EMBL [Online] 10 September 2007 • PAPAMICHAIL, Dimitris (2007-09-10), "Synthetic construct capsid protein Port Jefferson Station, NY 17776 (US) P1-Min gene, partial cds.", XP002633527, • COLEMAN, John, Robert retrieved from EBI accession no. Port Jefferson, NY 11777 (US) EM_SY:EU095953 Database accession no. • CELLO, Jeronimo EU095953 Port Jefferson, NY 11777 (US) Note: Within nine months of the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent in the European Patent Bulletin, any person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to that patent, in accordance with the Implementing Regulations. Notice of opposition shall not be deemed to have been filed until the opposition fee has been paid. (Art. 99(1) European Patent Convention). EP 2 139 515 B1 Printed by Jouve, 75001 PARIS (FR) (Cont. next page) EP 2 139 515 B1 • COLEMAN J ROBERT ET AL: "Virus attenuation • ZHOU T ET AL: "Analysis of synonymous codon by genome-scale changes in codon pair bias.", usage in H5N1 virus and other influenza A SCIENCE, vol. 320, no. 5884, 27 June 2008 viruses", BIOSYSTEMS, vol. 81, no. 1, 1 July 2005 (2008-06-27), pages 1784-1787, XP002633528, (2005-07-01), pages 77-86, XP004905562, ISSN: 1095-9203 NORTH-HOLLAND, AMSTERDAM, NL ISSN: • TOYODA HIDEMI ET AL: "Oncolytic treatment 0303-2647, DOI: and cure of neuroblastoma by a novel attenuated 10.1016/J.BIOSYSTEMS.2005.03.002 poliovirus in a novel poliovirus-susceptible • WIMMER ECKARD ET AL: "Synthetic viruses: a animalmodel.", CANCER RESEARCH, vol. 67,no. new opportunity to understand and prevent viral 6, 15 March 2007 (2007-03-15) , pages 2857-2864, disease", NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY, vol. 27, XP002633529, ISSN: 0008-5472 no. 12, December 2009 (2009-12), pages • GU WANJUN ET AL: "Analysis of synonymous 1163-1172, XP002633531, ISSN: 1087-0156 codon usage in SARS Coronavirus and other viruses in the Nidovirales.", VIRUS RESEARCH, vol.101, no. 2,May 2004 (2004-05),pages 155-161, XP002633530, ISSN: 0168-1702 2 EP 2 139 515 B1 Description CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 5 FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The presentinvention relates tothe creation of an attenuated virus comprisinga modified viral genomecontaining a plurality of nucleotide substitutions. The nucleotide substitutions result in codon rearrangement and variation of codon pair bias. 10 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Rapid improvements in DNA synthesis technology promise to revolutionize traditional methods employed in virology. One of the approaches traditionally used to eliminate the functions of different regions of the viral genome 15 makes extensive but laborious use of site-directed mutagenesis to explore the impact of small sequence variations in the genomes of virus strains. However, viral genomes, especially of RNA viruses, are relatively short, often less than 10,000 bases long, making them amenable to whole genome synthesis using currently available technology. Recently developed microfluidic chip-based technologies can perform de novo synthesis of new genomes designed to specification for only a few hundred dollars each. This permits the generation of entirely novel coding sequences or the modulation 20 of existing sequences to a degree practically impossible with traditional cloning methods. [0003] Such freedom of design provides tremendous power to perform large-scale redesign of DNA/RNA coding sequences to: (1) study the impact of changes in parameters such as codon bias, codon-pair bias, and RNA secondary structure on viral translation and replication efficiency; (2) perform efficient full genome scans for unknown regulatory elements and other signals necessary for successful viral reproduction; and (3) develop new biotechnologies for genetic 25 engineering of viral strains and design of anti-viral vaccines. [0004] As a result of the degeneracy of the genetic code, all but two amino acids in the protein coding sequence can be encoded by more than one codon. The frequencies with which such synonymous codons are used are unequal and have coevolved with the cell’s translation machinery to avoid excessive use of suboptimal codons that often correspond to rare or otherwise disadvantaged tRNAs (Gustafsson et al., 2004). This results in a phenomenon termed "synonymous 30 codon bias," which varies greatly between evolutionarily distant species and possibly even between different tissues in the same species (Plotkin et al., 2004). [0005] Codon optimization by recombinant methods (that is, to bring a gene’s synonymous codon use into correspond- ence with the host cell’s codon bias) has been widely used to improve cross-species expression ( see, e.g., Gustafsson et al., 2004). Though the opposite objective of reducing expression by intentional introduction of suboptimal synonymous 35 codons has not been extensively investigated, isolated reports indicate that replacement of natural codons by rare codons can reduce the level of gene expression in different organisms. See, e.g., Robinson et al., 1984; Hoekema et al., 1987; Carlini and Stephan, 2003; Zhou et al., 1999. Accordingly, the introduction of deoptimized synonymous codons into a viral genome may adversely affect protein translation and thereby provide a method for producing attenuated viruses that would be useful for making vaccines against viral diseases. 40 Viral disease and vaccines [0006] Viruses have always been one of the main causes of death and disease in man. Unlike bacterial diseases, viral diseases are not susceptible to antibiotics and are thus difficult to treat. Accordingly, vaccination has been humankind’s 45 main and most robust defense against viruses. Today, some of the oldest and most serious viral diseases such as smallpox and poliomyelitis (polio) have been eradicated (or nearly so) by world-wide programs of immunization. However, many other old viruses such as rhinovirus and influenza virus are poorly controlled, and still create substantial problems, though these problems vary from year to year and country to country. In addition, new viruses, such as Human Immu- nodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus, regularly appear in human populations 50 and often cause deadly pandemics. There is also potential for lethal man-made or man-altered viruses for intentional introduction as a means of warfare or terrorism. [0007] Effective manufacture of vaccines remains an unpredictable undertaking. There are three major kinds of vac- cines: subunit vaccines, inactivated (killed) vaccines, and attenuated live vaccines. For a subunit vaccine, one or several proteins from the virus (e.g., a capsid protein made using recombinant DNA technology) are used as the vaccine. Subunit 55 vaccines produced in Escherichia coli or yeast are very safe and pose no threat of viral disease. Their efficacy, however, can be low because not all of the immunogenic viral proteins are present, and those that are present may not exist in their native conformations. [0008] Inactivated (killed) vaccines are made by growing more-or-less wild type (wt) virus and then inactivating it, for 3 EP 2 139 515 B1 instance, with formaldehyde (as in the Salk polio vaccine). A great deal of experimentation is required to find an inactivation treatment that kills all of the virus and yet does not damage the immunogenicity of the particle. In addition, residual safety issues remain in that the facility for growing the virus may allow virulent virus to escape or the inactivation may fail. [0009] An attenuated live vaccine comprises a virus that has been subjected to mutations rendering it less virulent 5 and usable for immunization. Live, attenuated viruses have many advantages as vaccines: they are often easy, fast, and cheap to manufacture; they are often easy to administer (the Sabin polio vaccine, for instance, was administered orally on sugar cubes); and sometimes the residual growth of the attenuated virus allows "herd" immunization (immu- nization of people in close contact with the primary patient).