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Updated: Aug 18, 2025
Isolation of Lymphocytes from Mouse Genital Tract Mucosa
Published on: September 3, 2012
Primary oral vaccination followed by a vaginal pull protects mice against genital HSV-2 infection
Peter B M Mulvey1, Logan K Trim1, John G Aaskov1
1Centre for Immunology and Infection Control and School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland, Australia.
Problem:
HSV-2 infected more than 491 million people aged 15-49 world-wide in 2016. The morbidity associated with recurrent infections and the increased risk of HIV infection make this a major health problem. To date there is no effective vaccine. Because HSV-2 ascends to the dorsal route ganglion within 12-18 h of infection, an effective vaccine will need to elicit a strong local resident CD8+ T cell response to prevent the infection from becoming life-long.
Method Of Study:
Using a mouse model we investigated the potential of oral immunization with a novel lipid adjuvant (LiporaleTM ) followed by local vaginal application of an inflammatory agents to protect against primary HSV-2 infections.
Results:
Oral vaccination of mice with live-attenuated HSV-2 in Liporale followed by vaginal application of DNFB or CXCL9/10 led to recruitment of tissue-resident CD8+ memory cells into the genital epithelia. This prime and pull vaccination strategy provided complete protection against wild-type HSV-2 challenge and prevented viral dissemination to the spinal cords.
Conclusions:
Activation of mucosal immunity by oral immunization, combined with induction of transient local genital inflammation can recruit long-lived tissue resident CD8+ T cells into the genital epithelium, providing significant protection against primary HSV-2 infection.
