TY - JOUR
T1 - Immunogenic properties of a lettuce-derived C4(V3)6 multiepitopic HIV protein
AU - Govea-Alonso, Dania O.
AU - Rubio-Infante, Néstor
AU - García-Hernández, Ana Lilia
AU - Varona-Santos, Javier T.
AU - Korban, Schuyler S.
AU - Moreno-Fierros, Leticia
AU - Rosales-Mendoza, Sergio
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2013 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2013/10
Y1 - 2013/10
N2 - Elicitation of broad humoral immune responses is a critical factor in the development of effective HIV vaccines. In an effort to develop low-cost candidate vaccines based on multiepitopic recombinant proteins, this study has been undertaken to assess and characterize the immunogenic properties of a lettuce-derived C4(V3)6 multiepitopic protein. This protein consists of V3 loops corresponding to five different HIV isolates, including MN, IIIB, RF, CC, and RU. In this study, both Escherichia coli and lettuce-derived C4(V3)6 have elicited local and systemic immune responses when orally administered to BALB/c mice. More importantly, lettuce-derived C4(V3)6 has shown a higher immunogenic potential than that of E. coli-derived C4(V3)6. Moreover, when reactivity of sera from mice immunized with C4(V3)6 are compared with those elicited by a chimeric protein carrying a single V3 sequence, broader responses have been observed. The lettuce-derived C4(V3)6 has elicited antibodies with positive reactivity against V3 loops from isolates MN, RF, and CC. In addition, splenocyte proliferation assays indicate that significant T-helper responses are induced by the C4(V3)6 immunogen. Taken together, these findings account for the observed elicitation of broader humoral responses by the C4(V3)6 multiepitopic protein. Moreover, they provide further validation for the production of multiepitopic vaccines in plant cells as this serves not only as a low-cost expression system, but also as an effective delivery vehicle for orally administered immunogens.
AB - Elicitation of broad humoral immune responses is a critical factor in the development of effective HIV vaccines. In an effort to develop low-cost candidate vaccines based on multiepitopic recombinant proteins, this study has been undertaken to assess and characterize the immunogenic properties of a lettuce-derived C4(V3)6 multiepitopic protein. This protein consists of V3 loops corresponding to five different HIV isolates, including MN, IIIB, RF, CC, and RU. In this study, both Escherichia coli and lettuce-derived C4(V3)6 have elicited local and systemic immune responses when orally administered to BALB/c mice. More importantly, lettuce-derived C4(V3)6 has shown a higher immunogenic potential than that of E. coli-derived C4(V3)6. Moreover, when reactivity of sera from mice immunized with C4(V3)6 are compared with those elicited by a chimeric protein carrying a single V3 sequence, broader responses have been observed. The lettuce-derived C4(V3)6 has elicited antibodies with positive reactivity against V3 loops from isolates MN, RF, and CC. In addition, splenocyte proliferation assays indicate that significant T-helper responses are induced by the C4(V3)6 immunogen. Taken together, these findings account for the observed elicitation of broader humoral responses by the C4(V3)6 multiepitopic protein. Moreover, they provide further validation for the production of multiepitopic vaccines in plant cells as this serves not only as a low-cost expression system, but also as an effective delivery vehicle for orally administered immunogens.
KW - Broader immune response
KW - HIV immunogen
KW - Low-cost vaccine
KW - Oral immunization
KW - Plant-based vaccine
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84884671007&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84884671007&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00425-013-1932-y
DO - 10.1007/s00425-013-1932-y
M3 - Article
C2 - 23897297
AN - SCOPUS:84884671007
VL - 238
SP - 785
EP - 792
JO - Planta
JF - Planta
SN - 0032-0935
IS - 4
ER -