title: Bioactive fragment of human IL-1beta [163-171] modulates the immune response to synthetic peptides of HIV.
abstract: The activation of T helper cells specific for viral antigens is critical for antibody production and the generation of cytotoxic T cells during retroviral infection. In this study, we examined the effect of linking HIV peptides with a bioactive fragment of human interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) (163-171) on the induction of immune response to the peptides. A panel of highly purified synthetic peptides representing defined regions of gp41, Gag and gp120 were used as antigens. Mouse spleen cells primed with the peptide conjugates produced greater proliferation on in vitro stimulation than spleen cells primed with peptide alone. In addition, antibody production as assessed by ELISA was observed after immunization with conjugated peptides but not with peptide alone, indicating B-cell activation. We also found that a high level of IgG2a antibody production correlated with a high level of IFN-gamma production. These findings favor the notion that IL-1beta plays an important role in immune responses. These observations support the formulation and design of synthetic vaccines against HIV using synthetic HIV peptides conjugated with immunomodulators. Such an approach may provide an effective vaccination against other infectious agents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gokulan
authors.forename: D N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Rao
mesh_terms: D016915:AIDS Vaccines / Q000276:immunology; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006678:HIV / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D015488:HIV Antigens / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization; D018796:Immunoconjugates / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000276:immunology*; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D016915:AIDS Vaccines; D016207:Cytokines; D015483:HIV Antibodies; D015488:HIV Antigens; D018796:Immunoconjugates; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007375:Interleukin-1; D007376:Interleukin-2; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic; D007371:Interferon-gamma