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BIONÆR-Bionæringsprogram

ICRAD Nucleic NanoVaccines for Fish

Alternative title: Nano-RNA vaksiner til fisk

Awarded: NOK 3.2 mill.

Farmed fish are hit by a number of infectious diseases, and viral infections lead to compromised health and welfare and result in economic losses. Few vaccines are available against viral diseases and therefore new vaccines are needed to prevent against disease. Different vaccines have been developed, some suitable for larger fish but not for pre-injection size. mRNA vaccines represent a new technology, tested to a limited extent in fish, in contrast to mammals where they induce strong responses and good protection, These vaccines are fast to produce and safer than standard DNA vaccines. This project will establish a platform based on biodegradable nanoparticles for intra-muscular or by oral/bath delivery to different size fish, focusing on viral diseases affecting farmed fish species in Europe. Different disease entities will be studied and we will test DNA/mRNA vaccines using lipo-nano-particles (LNP). LNPs are based on Poly-Lactic/Glycolic Acid cores surrounded with a lipid corona. This will allow efficient uptake over mucosal surfaces and induction of protective immune responses. The project includes six partners with complementary expertise related to delivery of mRNA-LNP vaccines and four groups covering fish vaccinology and immunology. Three fish species will be studied, rainbow trout, common carp and Atlantic salmon, and altogether four viral diseases. The overarching aim is to develop novel, safe vaccines that will protect fish against defined viral diseases and increase health, welfare and profitability of the industry in Europe.

Aquaculture is the fastest growing food production sector, but it is significantly constrained by infectious diseases. Impact of viral infections on fish health and welfare is particularly strong, involving important economic losses, and only few vaccines are available. Therefore, it is important to develop new vaccines to prevent fish viral diseases for the development of a sustainable aquaculture. Experimental DNA vaccines against fish viral infections have been developed, some providing high protection but they are injected and cannot be administered to small fish. mRNA vaccines hold hope, but they are just beginning to be tested in fish. In mammals, they often induce strong responses and good protection, appear to be fast to produce and are safer than DNA vaccines. The NucNanoFish project wil establish a nucleic acid platform using biodegradable nanoparticles for efficient delivery of vaccines, intra-muscular (IM) or by oral/bath, against well-known viral diseases of European farmed fish species. Four different models will be studied and we will produce and test DNA/mRNA nucleic acid vaccines using safe-by-design LipoNanoParticles (LNP). LNP are based on a PLA/PLGA (Poly-Lactic/Glycolic Acid) core surrounded with a lipid corona. We hypothesize that efficient uptake by mucosa or recruitment of Antigen Presenting Cells (APC) at site of injection will favour a protective immune response. NucNanoFish consists of a consortium of six partners, with complementary expertise: one in nanodelivery of antigen and mRNA using LNP, four groups of fish immunovirologists / vaccinologists and a biotech company in DNA production. We have selected three fish species: rainbow trout, common carp and Atlantic salmon, and four important and well-studied viruses: the Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV), a rhabdovirus; the Infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV), a birnavirus; the Salmonid alphavirus (SAV) and the Cyprinid herpesvirus3 (CyHV3).

Funding scheme:

BIONÆR-Bionæringsprogram