title: Immunogenicity of CTLA4 fusion anti-caries DNA vaccine in rabbits and monkeys.
abstract: Enhancement of mucosal and systemic immune responses is still a challenge for the application of DNA vaccine. Here, we show anti-caries DNA vaccines, pGJA-P and pGJA-P/VAX, encoding Streptococcus mutans antigens fused to cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA4), which binds to B7 molecule expressed on the surfaces of antigen-presenting cells. Rabbits and monkeys were immunized via intranasal or intramuscular routes. The fusion vaccine induced accelerated and increased specific antibody responses in serum and saliva compared with non-fusion DNA vaccine in rabbits. Significant specific serum IgG and salivary IgA levels could be detected in fusion vaccine-immunized monkeys. Therefore, this study demonstrates that fusing antigens to CTLA4 results in enhancing immune efficacy and strongly suggests that it may represent a promising approach to prevent dental caries or other mucosal infectious diseases. These findings also suggest that CTLA4 fusion anti-caries DNA vaccine may be effective immunogen in primates.
authors: Key Laboratory for Oral Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, School & Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, 237 Luoyu Road, Wuhan 430079, PR China.
authors: Rong
authors: R
authors: Jia
authors: Ji Hua
authors: JH
authors: Guo
authors: Ming Wen
authors: MW
authors: Fan
authors: Zhuan
authors: Z
authors: Bian
authors: Zhi
authors: Z
authors: Chen
authors: Bing
authors: B
authors: Fan
authors: Fei
authors: F
authors: Yu
authors: Qing An
authors: QA
authors: Xu