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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Royal Society Open Science

Serological and transcriptomic response of African fruit bats to immune challenge with recombinant vaccines expressing Ebola or Nipah virus antigens

  • Elinor Jax1
  • Romain Garnier1
  • Georgia Tsagkogeorga2
  • Hubert Buczkowski3
  • Louise Gibson4
  • Pius Benia5
  • Richard Suu-Ire5
  • Vera M. Warmuth6
  • Sylvester Languon7
  • Osbourne Quaye6
  • Lianying Yan8
  • Christopher C. Broder9
7 more authors
  • Stephen J. Rossiter2
  • Edward Wright3
  • Sarah C. Gilbert10,11
  • Teresa Lambe10,11,12
  • James L. N. Wood1
  • Andrew A. Cunningham4
  • Olivier Restif1
12 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge 1 , Cambridge, UK
  2. 2School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London 2 , London, UK
  3. 3Viral Pseudotype Unit, University of Sussex 3 , Brighton, UK
  4. 4Institute of Zoology of the Zoological Society of London 4 , London, UK
  5. 5School of Veterinary Medicine, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana 5 , Accra, Ghana
  6. 6Biozentrum Martinsried, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München 7 , Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
  7. 7Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology, West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens, University of Ghana 6 , Accra, Ghana
  8. 8Henry M Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine Inc 9 , Rockville, MD, USA
  9. 9Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University 8 , Bethesda, MD, USA
  10. 10University of Oxford Pandemic Sciences Institute 10 , Oxford, UK
  11. 11Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAM) Oxford Institute, University of Oxford 11 , Oxford, UK
  12. 12Oxford Vaccine Group, University of Oxford 12 , Oxford, UK
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Abstract

Bats are hosts to diverse zoonotic viruses which can cause high case fatality rates in humans. Since detecting viruses in bats is difficult, antibodies are often used for surveillance, though their significance remains unclear in the absence of in vivo immunological studies. To address this knowledge gap, we measured antibody production and gene expression in bats following injection with vaccines encoding either a Nipah virus G glycoprotein or an Ebola virus GP glycoprotein. We selected two African bat species with overlapping ranges, Eidolon helvum (confirmed reservoir of henipaviruses) and Epomophorus gambianus (putative reservoir of filoviruses). Using a Luminex-based multiplex microsphere immunoassay and a pseudotype virus neutralization assay, we observed an increase in antibodies against the Nipah glycoprotein in most bats that received the Nipah vaccine. In contrast, we could only detect anti-Ebola glycoprotein antibodies in one bat species, Ep. gambianus, in response to the Ebola vaccine. Transcriptomic analysis in Ei. helvum revealed that genes involved in ISGylation and T-cell differentiation pathways were differentially expressed in response to the Ebola, but not the Nipah, vaccine. These results demonstrate species-specific differences in responses to antigen exposure, offering insights into bat adaptive immune systems and providing calibration for serological data from wild bats.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{jax2026serological,
  title = {{Serological and transcriptomic response of African fruit bats to immune challenge with recombinant vaccines expressing Ebola or Nipah virus antigens}},
  author = {Elinor Jax and Romain Garnier and Georgia Tsagkogeorga and Hubert Buczkowski and Louise Gibson and Pius Benia and Richard Suu-Ire and Vera M. Warmuth and Sylvester Languon and Osbourne Quaye and Lianying Yan and Christopher C. Broder and Stephen J. Rossiter and Edward Wright and Sarah C. Gilbert and Teresa Lambe and James L. N. Wood and Andrew A. Cunningham and Olivier Restif},
  journal = {Royal Society Open Science},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1098/rsos.252189},
  url = {https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/13/10/252189/483489/Serological-and-transcriptomic-response-of-African},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Serological and transcriptomic response of African fruit bats to immune challenge with recombinant vaccines expressing Ebola or Nipah virus antigens
AU  - Elinor Jax
AU  - Romain Garnier
AU  - Georgia Tsagkogeorga
AU  - Hubert Buczkowski
AU  - Louise Gibson
AU  - Pius Benia
AU  - Richard Suu-Ire
AU  - Vera M. Warmuth
AU  - Sylvester Languon
AU  - Osbourne Quaye
AU  - Lianying Yan
AU  - Christopher C. Broder
AU  - Stephen J. Rossiter
AU  - Edward Wright
AU  - Sarah C. Gilbert
AU  - Teresa Lambe
AU  - James L. N. Wood
AU  - Andrew A. Cunningham
AU  - Olivier Restif
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/07
JO  - Royal Society Open Science
DO  - 10.1098/rsos.252189
UR  - https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/13/10/252189/483489/Serological-and-transcriptomic-response-of-African
AB  - Bats are hosts to diverse zoonotic viruses which can cause high case fatality rates in humans. Since detecting viruses in bats is difficult, antibodies are often used for surveillance, though their significance remains unclear in the absence of in vivo immunological studies. To address this knowledge gap, we measured antibody production and gene expression in bats following injection with vaccines encoding either a Nipah virus G glycoprotein or an Ebola virus GP glycoprotein. We selected two African bat species with overlapping ranges, Eidolon helvum (confirmed reservoir of henipaviruses) and Epomophorus gambianus (putative reservoir of filoviruses). Using a Luminex-based multiplex microsphere immunoassay and a pseudotype virus neutralization assay, we observed an increase in antibodies against the Nipah glycoprotein in most bats that received the Nipah vaccine. In contrast, we could only detect anti-Ebola glycoprotein antibodies in one bat species, Ep. gambianus, in response to the Ebola vaccine. Transcriptomic analysis in Ei. helvum revealed that genes involved in ISGylation and T-cell differentiation pathways were differentially expressed in response to the Ebola, but not the Nipah, vaccine. These results demonstrate species-specific differences in responses to antigen exposure, offering insights into bat adaptive immune systems and providing calibration for serological data from wild bats.
SN  - 2054-5703
ER  -