Chemokine CXCL10 (IP-10) is sufficient to trigger an immune response to injected antigens in a mouse model.
The induction of chemokines by interferons might represent a link between innate and adaptive immunity. Whether these induced chemokines might be useful by themselves to induce an immune response is not known. We hypothesized that the interferon-inducible chemokine CXCL10 could stimulate dendritic cells (DC) to mature and cross-present exogenous antigen to T cells, resulting in a Th1-type immune response. We found that injecting mice with CXCL10 together with ovalbumin (OVA) as a test antigen was sufficient to produce functional OVA-specific T cells in 7 of 10 mice. Further, using only CXCL10 and a peptide antigen derived from vaccinia virus, we were able to induce peptide-specific cytotoxic T cells in 4 of 4 mice tested. These cytotoxic T cells protected 9 of 10 mice from subsequent infectious challenge with vaccinia virus. Unlike traditional adjuvants, no side effects were observed in any of the injected mice. We conclude that CXCL10 co-administration with a variety of antigens may represent a unique strategy of inducing a protective T cell response to a number of pathogens that merits further study.
Krathwohl
Mitchell D
MD
Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. mitch@rosettastonelabs.com
Anderson
Jodi L
JL
D000818:Animals; D054357:Chemokine CXCL10; D019743:Chemokines, CXC / Q000276:immunology*; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D010047:Ovalbumin / Q000276:immunology; D012883:Skin Ulcer / Q000517:prevention & control; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology; D014615:Vaccinia / Q000517:prevention & control; D014616:Vaccinia virus / Q000276:immunology; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000276:immunology
D054357:Chemokine CXCL10; D019743:Chemokines, CXC; D014764:Viral Proteins; D010047:Ovalbumin