Nervous Necrosis Virus (NNV) is a formidable threat to both wild and domestic fish, particularly impacting aquaculture and fish biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea. Its genomic versatility enables antigenic drifts, complicating vaccine development and immunisation strategies.
In out study we utilised multi-omics machine learning to create an immune knowledge graph following the vaccination of European sea bass. We divided 300 fish into control and experimental groups, with the letter receiving a formalin-inactivated NNV vaccine. Over 15 months, we regularly sampled brain, head kidney, and blood to evaluate the immune responses the focus has been put on the key immune biomarkers including IgM, IL-4, MDA5, IFN I, IL-12, CD4, CD8, Granzymes, and IL-7R (Fig.1)
Our results demonstrated a late and short immune response by significantly increasing all biomarkers levels especially anti Nodavirus IgM. Immunohistochemistry assessement further validated these findings. The knowledge graph revealed intricate interactions among biomarkers, highlighting IFN I as a promising therapeutic target for enhancing protection against NNV. Our research leads the way towards precision immunology, combining prior knowledge of immunology with the efficacy of artificial intelligence.