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

Bats are hosts to diverse zoono c viruses which can cause high case fatality rates in humans. Since detec ng viruses in bats is difficult, an bodies are o en used for surveillance, though their significance remains unclear in the absence of in vivo immunological studies. To address this knowledge gap, we measured an body produc on and gene expression in bats following injec on 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 (puta ve reservoir of filoviruses). Using a Luminex-based mul plex microsphere immunoassay and a pseudotype virus neutralisa on assay, we observed an increase in an bodies against the Nipah glycoprotein in most bats that received the Nipah vaccine. In contrast, we could only detect an -Ebola glycoprotein an bodies in one bat species, Epomophorus gambianus, in response to the Ebola vaccine. Transcriptomic analysis in Eidolon helvum revealed that genes involved in ISGyla on and T-cell differen a on pathways were differen ally expressed in response to the Ebola, but not the Nipah, vaccine. These results demonstrate species-specific differences in responses to an gen exposure, offering insights into bat adap ve immune systems and providing calibra on for serological data from wild bats.