Breaking immune tolerance to the prion protein using prion protein peptides plus oligodeoxynucleotide-CpG in mice

The absence of a detectable immune response during transmissible spongiform encephalopathies is likely due to the fact that the essential component of infectious agents, the prion protein (PrP), is a self Ag expressed on the surface of many cells of the host. To overcome self-tolerance to PrP, we used 30-mer PrP peptides previously shown to be immunogenic in Prnp(-/-) mice, together with CFA or CpG-oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG) in IFA. Generation of anti-PrP T and B cell responses was analyzed in the spleen, lymph nodes, and serum of immunized C57BL/6 wild-type mice. Immunization with PrP peptides emulsified in CFA did not trigger an immune response to PrP. When CpG were used, vaccination with peptides P143-172 and P158-187 generated IFN-gamma-secreting splenic T cells, and only P158-187 significantly stimulated IL-4-secreting T cells. Both peptides induced few Ab-producing B cells, and low and variable serum Ab titers. In contrast, immunization with peptide P98-127 did not induce significant levels of T cell responses but elicited specific peptide Abs. T cell epitope mapping, performed using 15-mer peptides covering PrP segment 142-182, revealed that an immunogenic motif lies between positions 156 and 172. These results demonstrate that T and B cell repertoires against PrP can be stimulated in C57BL/6 when adjuvant of the innate immunity such as CpG, but not CFA, is added to PrP peptides, and that the pattern of immune responses varies according to the epitope.