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This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, grant number AGL2013-48550-C2-2-R, http://www.mineco.gob.es, to JB, EG, and JME and the Alternative Gene Expression S.L. Collaborative project with INIA, www.algenex.com, to JLV, SGS, MCN, DMA, and BD. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Gomez-Sebastian, SilviaAuthor

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June 9, 2019
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Improved Production Efficiency of Virus-Like Particles by the Baculovirus Expression Vector System

Publicated to:PLoS ONE. 10 (10): e0140039- - 2015-10-12 10(10), DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0140039

Authors: Lopez-Vidal, Javier; Gomez-Sebastian, Silvia; Barcena, Juan; del Carmen Nunez, Maria; Martinez-Alonso, Diego; Dudognon, Benoit; Guijarro, Eva; Escribano, Jose M

Affiliations

INIA, CISA, Madrid, Spain - Author
Inst Nacl Invest & Tecnol Agr & Alimentaria INIA, Dept Biotecnol, Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, Alternat Gene Express SL ALGENEX, Madrid, Spain - Author

Abstract

Vaccines based on virus-like particles (VLPs) have proven effective in humans and animals. In this regard, the baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) is one of the technologies of choice to generate such highly immunogenic vaccines. The extended use of these vaccines for human and animal populations is constrained because of high production costs, therefore a significant improvement in productivity is crucial to ensure their commercial viability. Here we describe the use of the previously described baculovirus expression cassette, called TB, to model the production of two VLP-forming vaccine antigens in insect cells. Capsid proteins from porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2 Cap) and from the calicivirus that causes rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHDV VP60) were expressed in insect cells using baculoviruses genetically engineered with the TB expression cassette. Productivity was compared to that obtained using standard counterpart vectors expressing the same proteins under the control of the polyhedrin promoter. Our results demonstrate that the use of the TB expression cassette increased the production yields of these vaccine antigens by around 300% with respect to the standard vectors. The recombinant proteins produced by TB-modified vectors were fully functional, forming VLPs identical in size and shape to those generated by the standard baculoviruses, as determined by electron microscopy analysis. The use of the TB expression cassette implies a simple modification of the baculovirus vectors that significantly improves the cost efficiency of VLP-based vaccine production, thereby facilitating the commercial viability and broad application of these vaccines for human and animal health.

Keywords

AnimalsBaculoviridaeCalicivirusCell lineCost-benefit analysisGenetic vectorsInsect cellsInsect proteinsLarvaeMajor capsid proteinPigsPorcine circovirus type-2Promoter regions, geneticRabbit-hemorrhagic-diseaseRabbitsRecombinant proteinsSpodopteraSwineVaccine designVaccines, virus-like particleVp60

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal PLoS ONE due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2015, it was in position 11/62, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Multidisciplinary Sciences.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations from Scopus Elsevier, it yields a value for the Field-Weighted Citation Impact from the Scopus agency: 1.7, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 6.87 (source consulted: Dimensions Jul 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-07-18, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 29
  • Scopus: 33
  • Europe PMC: 12

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-18:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 97.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 97 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 10.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 3 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.