3 research outputs found
Additives and Protein-DNA Combinations Modulate the Humoral Immune Response Elicited by a Hepatitis C Virus Core-encoding Plasmid in Mice
Additives and Protein-DNA Combinations Modulate the Humoral Immune Response Elicited by a Hepatitis C Virus Core-encoding Plasmid in Mice
Humoral and cellular immune responses are currently induced against
hepatitis C virus (HCV) core following vaccination with core-encoding
plasmids. However, the anti-core antibody response is frequently weak
or transient. In this paper, we evaluated the effect of different
additives and DNA-protein combinations on the anti-core antibody
response. BALB/c mice were intramuscularly injected with an expression
plasmid (pIDKCo), encoding a C-terminal truncated variant of the HCV
core protein, alone or combined with CaCl2, PEG 6000, Freund's
adjuvant, sonicated calf thymus DNA and a recombinant core protein
(Co.120). Mixture of pIDKCo with PEG 6000 and Freund's adjuvant
accelerated the development of the anti-core Ab response. Combination
with PEG 6000 also induced a bias to IgG2a subclass predominance among
anti-core antibodies. The kinetics, IgG2a/IgG1 ratio and epitope
specificity of the anti-core antibody response elicited by Co.120 alone
or combined with pIDKCo was different regarding that induced by the
pIDKCo alone. Our data indicate that the antibody response induced
following DNA immunization can be modified by formulation strategies