Establishment of a Pseudovirus-Based Golden Hamster Model for the Attachment and Entry Stages of Hendra Virus Infection and Evaluation of Protective Immunity.

Abstract

Objective: Establish an in vivo evaluation model focused on the attachment and entry stages of Hendra virus infection for protective immunity assessment.

Methods: A golden hamster infection model based on recombinant Hendra-F/G pseudovirus was developed, and a luciferase luminescence assay was used to assess the optimal pseudoviral challenge in terms of route of infection, dose and detection time. The biodistribution of the pseudovirus in infected organs was evaluated using the IVIS spectral CT system. The protective effect of antibody prophylaxis was evaluated by measuring the luminescence intensity of pseudoviruses.

Results: Intraperitoneal injection was identified as the optimal route of infection, and the optimal time of detection was 6 h post-challenge. Our model simulates the infection of the brain and lungs by live viruses, with the strongest infection occurring in the abdomen, especially in the intestinal organs. The dose of pseudovirus was linearly correlated with luminescence intensity. The infection model was able to differentiate the protective effect of monoclonal antibodies, with complete protection in the high-dose group.

Conclusions: The recombinant Hendra-F/G pseudovirus hamster model allows the effective evaluation of prophylactic monoclonal antibodies, providing a crucial tool for studying Hendra virus infection and control strategies.