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Journal of Virology, November 2008, p. 11023-11044, Vol. 82, No. 22
0022-538X/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.00777-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Complete DNA Sequences of Two Oka Strain Varicella-Zoster Virus Genomes{triangledown}

Sueli L. Tillieux,1 Wendy S. Halsey,2 Elizabeth S. Thomas,2 John J. Voycik,2,{ddagger} Ganesh M. Sathe,2 and Ventzislav Vassilev1*

GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, Research and Development, Viral Vaccines, B-1330 Rixensart, Belgium,1 GlaxoSmithKline, Discovery Technology Group, 1250 South Collegeville Road, Collegeville, Pennsylvania 194262

Received 10 April 2008/ Accepted 3 September 2008

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is a herpesvirus and is the causative agent of chicken pox (varicella) and shingles (herpes zoster). Active immunization against varicella became possible with the development of live attenuated varicella vaccine. The Oka vaccine strain was isolated in Japan from a child who had typical varicella, and it was then attenuated by serial passages in cell culture. Several manufacturers have obtained this attenuated Oka strain and, following additional passages, have developed their own vaccine strains. Notably, the vaccines Varilrix and Varivax are produced by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals and Merck & Co., Inc., respectively. Both vaccines have been well studied in terms of safety and immunogenicity. In this study, we report the complete nucleotide sequence of the Varilrix (Oka-VGSK) and Varivax (Oka-VMerck) vaccine strain genomes. Their genomes are composed of 124,821 and 124,815 bp, respectively. Full genome annotations covering the features of Oka-derived vaccine genomes have been established for the first time. Sequence analysis indicates 36 nucleotide differences between the two vaccine strains throughout the entire genome, among which only 14 are involved in unique amino acid substitutions. These results demonstrate that, although Oka-VGSK and Oka-VMerck vaccine strains are not identical, they are very similar, which supports the clinical data showing that both vaccines are well tolerated and elicit strong immune responses against varicella.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Viral Vaccines Research and Development, GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, Rue de l'Institut, 89 (P31-005), B-1330 Rixensart, Belgium. Phone: 32-2-656-6422. Fax: 32-2-656-8113. E-mail: ventzislav.vassilev{at}gskbio.com

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 10 September 2008.

{ddagger} Present address: PerkinElmer Life and Analytical Sciences, 710 Bridgeport Ave, Shelton, CT 06484-4794.

Journal of Virology, November 2008, p. 11023-11044, Vol. 82, No. 22
0022-538X/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.00777-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Takahashi, M.-N., Jackson, W., Laird, D. T., Culp, T. D., Grose, C., Haynes, J. I. II, Benetti, L. (2009). Varicella-Zoster Virus Infection Induces Autophagy in both Cultured Cells and Human Skin Vesicles. J. Virol. 83: 5466-5476 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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