title: Genetic immunisation by liver stage antigen 3 protects chimpanzees against malaria despite low immune responses.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The true interest of genetic immunisation might have been hastily underestimated based on overall immunogenicity data in humans and lack of parallelism with other, more classical immunisation methods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using malaria Liver Stage Antigen-3 (LSA-3), we report that genetic immunization induces in chimpanzees, the closest relative of humans, immune responses which are as scarce as those reported using other DNA vaccines in humans, but which nonetheless confer strong, sterile and reproducible protection. The pattern was consistent in 3/4 immunized apes against two high dose sporozoite challenges performed as late as 98 and 238 days post-immunization and by a heterologous strain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results should, in our opinion, lead to a revisiting of the value of this unusual means of immunisation, using as a model a disease, malaria, in which virulent challenges of volunteers are ethically acceptable.
authors.affiliation: Unité de Parasitologie Biomédicale, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Daubersies
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ollomo
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Sauzet
authors.forename: Karima
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Brahimi
authors.forename: Blanca-Liliana
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Perlaza
authors.forename: Wijnand
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Eling
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Moukana
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rouquet
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Taisne
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Druilhe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000378:metabolism*; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D000939:Epitopes / Q000737:chemistry; D007107:Immune System; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D007114:Immunization; D008288:Malaria / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017780:Malaria Vaccines / Q000737:chemistry; D008957:Models, Genetic; D002679:Pan troglodytes; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000378:metabolism; D010967:Plasmodium yoelii / Q000378:metabolism; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D019444:Vaccines, DNA
chemical_list: D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D000939:Epitopes; D017780:Malaria Vaccines; D019444:Vaccines, DNA; C067302:liver stage-specific antigen, Plasmodium; D004247:DNA