Abstract
Human adenoviruses (HAdVs) are prevalent in pediatric and adult patients with severe acute respiratory disease (ARD). To date, there have been no widely used HAdV vaccines available. In this report, we developed a cold-adapted attenuated influenza virus, termed rg HAdV-Flu ca, carrying epitopes from HAdV hexon protein in the backbone of the ca influenza vaccine neuraminidase (NA) gene using reverse genetics. Rg HAdV-Flu ca virus exhibited a cold-adapted (ca) phenotype, and its morphological characteristics were observed using electron microscopy. Moreover, BALB/c mice were immunized intranasally (i.n.) with 105, 106 or 107 TCID50 rg HAdV-Flu ca. Results showed a specific, robust antibody response against influenza and HAdV in a dose-dependent manner. More importantly, potent humoral, mucosal and cellular immune responses protected against subsequent wild-type HAdV-3 or HAdV-7 challenges, as determined by a significant decrease in viral titers and a noticeable alleviation of histopathological alterations in the lung tissue of challenged mice. These findings demonstrate that rg HAdV-Flu ca warrants attention as a potential vaccine candidate against HAdV infection.