A novel platform for producing cell-free third generation Marek's disease virus vaccine

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Marek's disease virus (MDV) infects chickens and causes a deadly lymphoproliferative disease which is only controlled by mass vaccination. The most effective vaccine against MDV is an attenuated MDV (weaken form of virus) which infects chickens but does not cause the disease. In chickens, both MDV and the "gold standard" MDV vaccine remain within the infected cells (cell-associated) and cell-free form of virus (a virus which can stay infective outside of cell) is only produced by a specific cell type located in the feather follicles. Cell-free virus is shed from the feathers of infected or vaccinated birds and these cell-free viruses infect other birds after inhalation of the infected dust in the poultry farms. Currently, 22 billion doses of MDV vaccine are administered to chickens annually. Poultry vaccine manufacturers currently produce MDV vaccines in cells isolated from fertilized and embryonated eggs. Therefore, the cost of vaccination is very high as the vaccine has to be stored and transported in very low temperatures (liquid nitrogen) which requires expensive equipment, trained individuals, and special handling procedures. Another disadvantage of the current vaccine is that any error in storage and handling can reduce the effectiveness of the vaccine. We aim to produce a vaccine that is cell-free and thus it does not require very low temperatures for storage or transportation. In this project, we will develop a platform for the production of cell-free MDV vaccine by generating cells from feather follicles with the capability to produce the virus in a cell-free form. We will establish methods to increase the capacity of the cell lines to produce the cell-free MDV vaccine in the laboratory, and finally we will examine the immunogenicity and efficacy of the MDV cell-free vaccine in chickens.