Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects 3% of world population being responsible for nearly half a million deaths annually urging the need for a prophylactic vaccine. Retrovirus like particles are commonly used scaffolds for antigens presentation being the core of diverse vaccine candidates. The immunogenicity of host proteins naturally incorporated in retrovirus was hypothesized to impact the performance of retrovirus based vaccines. In this work, the capacity of engineered retrovirus like particles devoided of host protein CD81 to display HCV envelope antigens was compared to non-engineered particles. A persistent inability of CD81 negative VLPs to incorporate HCV E2 protein as a result from the inefficient transport of HCV E2 to the plasma membrane, was observed. This work enabled the identification of a CD81-mediated transport of HCV E2 while stressing the importance of host proteins for the development of recombinant vaccines.

Develop an engineered cell line containing two flexible gene expression systems enabling the continuous production of tailor-made recombinant gammaretrovirus with predictable productivities through targeted integration.

Transthyretin (TTR) is a transport protein of retinol and thyroxine in serum and CSF, which is mainly secreted by liver and choroid plexus, and in smaller amounts in other cells throughout the body. The exact role of TTR and its specific expression in Central Nervous System (CNS) remains understudied. We investigated TTR expression and metabolism in CNS, through the intranasal and intracerebroventricular delivery of a specific anti-TTR Nanobody to the brain, unveiling Nanobody pharmacokinetics to the CNS. In TTR deficient mice, we observed that anti-TTR Nanobody was successfully distributed throughout all brain areas, and also reaching the spinal cord. In wild-type mice, a similar distribution pattern was observed. However, in areas known to be rich in TTR, reduced levels of Nanobody were found, suggesting potential target-mediated effects. Indeed, in wild-type mice, the anti-TTR Nanobody was specifically internalized in a receptor-mediated process, by neuronal-like cells, which were identified as motor neurons. Whereas in KO TTR mice Nanobody was internalized by all cells, for late lysosomal degradation. Moreover, we demonstrate that in vivo motor neurons also actively synthesize TTR. Finally, in vitro cultured primary motor neurons were also found to synthesize and secrete TTR into culture media. Thus, through a novel intranasal CNS distribution study with an anti-TTR Nanobody, we disclose a new cell type capable of synthesizing TTR, which might be important for the understanding of the physiological role of TTR, as well as in pathological conditions where TTR levels are altered in CSF, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.