title: Immunocontraception is induced in BALB/c mice inoculated with murine cytomegalovirus expressing mouse zona pellucida 3.
abstract: Immunocontraception, the prevention of oocyte fertilization through immunological means, could potentially be used to control plaguing mouse populations in Australia. This paper describes the construction of a mouse-specific betaherpesvirus, murine cytomegalovirus, which has been engineered to express the murine zona pellucida 3 (ZP3) gene. A single inoculation of this recombinant virus resulted in almost complete infertility, persistent anti-ZP3 antibody production, and profound changes to ovarian morphology in BALB/c mice in the absence of significant virus replication during the acute phase of infection. Murine cytomegalovirus may prove to be useful as a vector for the delivery of a mouse-specific immunocontraceptive agent to target populations of wild mice in the field.
authors.affiliation: Microbiology, School of Biomedical and Chemical Sciences, University of Western Australia, QEII Medical Centre, Nedlands, Western Australia, 6009 Australia.
authors.forename: Megan L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Lloyd
authors.forename: Geoffrey R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Shellam
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Papadimitriou
authors.forename: Malcolm A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lawson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000915:Antibody Affinity / Q000276:immunology; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D003269:Contraception, Immunologic; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D030762:Estrous Cycle / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D010053:Ovary / Q000473:pathology; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D011247:Pregnancy; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000235:genetics*; D012098:Reproduction / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014162:Transfection; D010948:Viral Plaque Assay
chemical_list: D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; C094480:sp56 protein, mouse