Tat-mediated protein delivery can facilitate MHC class I presentation of antigens.
We have previously shown that the tat protein of HIV-1 can be used as a carrier to promote the intracellular delivery of heterologous proteins. Here we have tested if the tat-delivery technology can be used to direct MHC class I presentation of native protein, using ovalbumin (OVA) as a model system. We show that a tat-ovalbumin conjugate (tatOVA) can be delivered into cells and that subsequent processing and presentation occurs, resulting in effective and specific killing of these target cells by an OVA specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) line. Comparison with the E.G7 line that expresses the OVA gene indicates that tat-mediated delivery is as efficient as endogenous expression in this system. Tat-mediated antigenic protein delivery may be useful both as a research technique and, potentially, as a therapeutic or prophylactic vaccine.
Moy
P
P
Biogen Inc., Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
Daikh
Y
Y
Pepinsky
B
B
Thomas
D
D
Fawell
S
S
Barsoum
J
J
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D004337:Drug Carriers; D005260:Female; D015696:Gene Products, tat / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010047:Ovalbumin / Q000276:immunology; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology
D004337:Drug Carriers; D015696:Gene Products, tat; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I; D010047:Ovalbumin