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Updated: May 1, 2026
Intranasal Administration of Recombinant Influenza Vaccines in Chimeric Mouse Models to Study Mucosal Immunity
Published on: June 25, 2015
Exploring mucosal immunization with a recombinant influenza virus carrying an HIV-polyepitope in mice with
Bruno Garulli1, Giuseppina Di Mario2, Maria Giuseppina Stillitano2
1Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immune-Mediated Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy; Department of Biology and Biotechnology "Charles Darwin", Sapienza University of Rome 00185 Rome, Italy.
Abstract:
HIV-1 vaccines based on recombinant vectors have been developed to elicit immune responses; however, the failure of the STEP HIV-1 vaccine trial has caused concern regarding the impact on vaccine efficacy of pre-existing vector seropositivity in humans. By using a mouse model of infection, we evaluated the immune responses elicited by intranasal and vaginal immunization with the recombinant influenza virus WSN/CKG carrying the PCLUS3-P18 peptide and a Gag epitope in its hemagglutinin, and the impact of pre-existing vector immunity on protection against recombinant vaccinia virus challenge. We found that despite the protective immunity induced in naïve mice by the WSN/CKG virus via either route, the vaginal immunization of mice with pre-existing influenza immunity restricted vPE16 replication more significantly in the ovaries than intranasal immunization. Thus, successful vaccination strategies under limiting conditions, such as pre-existing vector immunity, require the local induction of mucosal immunity at the site of virus infection.
