title: All-trans retinoic acid biases immune response induced by DNA vaccine in a Th2 direction.
abstract: Vitamin A deficiency diminishes Th2-mediated Ab responses. Providing Vitamin A or its active metabolites reverses this defect. All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), an acid derivation of Vitamin A, regulates the balance of immune response induced by TR421-hCGbeta DNA vaccine. Compared to DNA vaccine alone or treatment with vehicle, significantly higher level of antibody against the protein encoded by DNA vaccine was observed in mice 6 weeks after the first immunization. The IgG2a/IgG1 ratio was lower in mice treated with ATRA. We also found that treatment with ATRA also diminishes specific cellular immune response induced by gene immunization by measuring the marker of cellular immune response. We conclude that ATRA biases the immune response to Th2 direction induced by DNA vaccine and acts as a candidate adjuvant and immunomodulatory molecule.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Sanhong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Mingcan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Yiwei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Sidong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xiong
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018997:Chorionic Gonadotropin, beta Subunit, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019444:Vaccines, DNA / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D018997:Chorionic Gonadotropin, beta Subunit, Human; D019444:Vaccines, DNA; D014212:Tretinoin