Improvement of the immune response against plasmid DNA encoding OspC of Borrelia by an ER-targeting leader sequence.
The present study outlines the characterization of a DNA-based immune response against the OspC antigen, one of the most promising candidates for a Borrelia vaccine. Balb/c mice were injected intradermally with plasmid DNA encoding the OspC gene (lacking the natural leader sequence) under transcriptional control of the cytomegalovirus (CMV) promotor. Immunization with this construct elicited only a marginal response, which was drastically improved by a fusion construct containing the human tissue plasminogen activator (hTPA) signal sequence. The results indicate that for DNA-based immunization against OspC an ER-targeting signal may be necessary for both antibody production as well as cellular immune responses.
Weiss
R
R
Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstr. 34, A-5020, Salzburg, Austria.
Dürnberger
J
J
Mostböck
S
S
Scheiblhofer
S
S
Hartl
A
A
Breitenbach
M
M
Strasser
P
P
Dorner
F
F
Livey
I
I
Crowe
B
B
Thalhamer
J
J
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D001898:Borrelia / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology*; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals / Q000276:immunology*; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; C079616:OspC protein; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma