Abstract
Potent and broad cellular immune responses against the nonstructural (NS) proteins of hepatitis C virus (HCV) are associated with spontaneous viral clearance. In this study, we have improved the immunogenicity of an adenovirus (Ad)-based HCV vaccine by fusing NS3 from HCV (Strain J4; Genotype 1b) to the MHC class II chaperone protein invariant chain (Ii). We found that, after a single vaccination of C57BL/6 or BALB/c mice with Ad-IiNS3, the HCV NS3-specific CD8+ T cell responses were significantly enhanced, accelerated, and prolonged compared with the vaccine encoding NS3 alone. The AdIiNS3 vaccination induced polyfunctional CD8+ T cells characterized by coproduction of IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-2, and this cell phenotype is associated with good viral control. The memory CD8+ T cells also expressed high levels of CD27 and CD127, which are markers of long-term survival and maintenance of T cell memory. Functionally, the AdIiNS3-vaccinated mice had a significantly increased cytotoxic capacity compared with the AdNS3 group. The AdIiNS3-induced CD8+ T cells protected mice from infection with recombinant vaccinia virus expressing HCV NS3 of heterologous 1b strains, and studies in knockout mice demonstrated that this protection was mediated primarily through IFN-γ production. On the basis of these promising results, we suggest that this vaccination technology should be evaluated further in the chimpanzee HCV challenge model.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Journal of Immunology |
Volume | 186 |
Issue number | 4 |
Pages (from-to) | 2355-64 |
Number of pages | 10 |
ISSN | 0022-1767 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 15 Feb 2011 |
Keywords
- Adenoviridae
- Animals
- Antigens, CD27
- Antigens, Differentiation, B-Lymphocyte
- CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes
- Cell Survival
- Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic
- Disease Models, Animal
- Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte
- Female
- Genetic Vectors
- Hepacivirus
- Hepatitis C
- Histocompatibility Antigens Class II
- Immunologic Memory
- Immunophenotyping
- Interleukin-7 Receptor alpha Subunit
- Mice
- Mice, Inbred BALB C
- Mice, Inbred C57BL
- Mice, Knockout
- Recombinant Fusion Proteins
- Vaccinia virus
- Viral Hepatitis Vaccines
- Viral Nonstructural Proteins