title: Enhancement of immune responses to the hepatitis B virus core protein through DNA vaccines with a DNA fragment encoding human IL-1beta 163-171 peptide.
abstract: DNA vaccines have been widely used as effective means of eradicating a variety of viruses, parasites, bacteria as well as means of alleviating allergic and autoimmune diseases and tumors. As interleukin 1 (IL-1) plays an essential role in augmenting both cellular and humoral immune responses to foreign antigens, it may represent a good candidate for an adjuvant to DNA vaccines. Since the inflammatory activity of IL-1 may have a restricted application to DNA vaccines, we explored the possibility of augmenting immune response without unwanted inflammatory effect using IL-1beta 163-171 peptide, which is essential for IL-1 receptor 1 binding. A DNA fragment encoding the human IL-1beta 163-171 peptide of concern was fused to the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) core DNA vaccine, and injected into mice to analyze its immune responses. Compared with the control mice which received hepatitis B virus core antigen (HBcAg) alone, significant increase in not only the HBcAg-specific antibody response but also in T cell proliferation was observed in mice which received IL-1beta 163-171-HBcAg. These results suggest that the DNA fragment encoding the IL-1beta polypeptide of aa 163-171 might represent a good candidate for an adjuvant of DNA vaccines.
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory of Cell Biology and Tumor Cell Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, PR China.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004274:DNA, Recombinant / Q000235:genetics; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D053583:Interleukin-1beta; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000235:genetics*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D019444:Vaccines, DNA / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D004274:DNA, Recombinant; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines; D007375:Interleukin-1; D053583:Interleukin-1beta; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D019444:Vaccines, DNA; C052994:interleukin-1beta (163-171)