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Published on: May 6, 2015
Evaluating Antigen- and Vector-Specific Immune Responses of a Recombinant Pichinde Virus-Based Vaccine Expressing the
Michaela Cain1, Qinfeng Huang1, Shania Sanchez1
1Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA.
Background:
Live viral vector-based vaccines are known to elicit strong immune responses, but their use can be limited by anti-vector immunity. Here, we analyzed the immunological responses of a live-attenuated recombinant Pichinde virus (PICV) vector platform (rP18tri).
Methods:
To evaluate anti-PICV immunity in the development of vaccine antigen-specific immune responses, we generated a rP18tri-based vaccine expressing the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) nucleoprotein (NP) and administered four doses of this rP18tri-NPLCMV vaccine to mice. Using MHC-I tetramers to detect PICV NP38-45 and LCMV NP396-404 epitope-specific CD8+ T cells, we monitored vector- and vaccine-antigen-specific immune responses after each vaccination dose.
Results:
LCMV NP396-404-specific effector and memory CD8+ T cells were detected after the first dose and peaked after the second dose, whereas PICV NP38-45-specific memory CD8+ T cells increased with each dose. PICV-binding IgG antibodies peaked after the second dose, while anti-PICV neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) remained low even after the fourth dose. Immunization with the rP18tri-NPLCMV vaccine significantly reduced LCMV viral titers in a chronic LCMV Clone 13 infection model, demonstrating the protective role of LCMV NP-specific T cells.
Conclusion:
These findings provide important insights into the antigen- and vector-specific immunity of the rP18tri-NPLCMV vaccine and support the development of NP-based vaccines against arenavirus pathogens.
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