title: Construction and characterization of a novel DNA vaccine that is potent antigen-specific tolerizing therapy for experimental arthritis by increasing CD4+CD25+Treg cells and inducing Th1 to Th2 shift in both cells and cytokines.
abstract: Currently available treatments for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are often ineffective in ameliorating the progression of disease, particularly the invasive destruction of articular cartilage and bone, and RA remains incurable. Therefore, vaccinotherapy of RA with an antigen-specific tolerizing DNA vaccine may offer new promise for overcoming this difficulty. Using recombinant technology, the DNA sequences encoding chicken type II collagen (CCOL2A1) with deleted N-propeptides were obtained from the plasmid pPIC9K/pCalpha(1)(II), and then cloned into pcDNA3.1(+). The resulting recombinant plasmid pcDNA-CCOL2A1 was produced in Escherichia coli, purified, characterized and used as a tolerizing DNA vaccine for the treatment of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). Therapeutic efficacy and potential action mechanisms of pcDNA-CCOL2A1 tolerizing DNA vaccine against CIA were studied. Here we demonstrate that a single intravenous treatment with novel tolerizing DNA vaccine pcDNA-CCOL2A1 can induce potent immune tolerance against CIA. The efficacy of this therapy was verified by clinical visual scoring, radiographic X-ray, histopathological examination, and anti-CII IgG levels. Furthermore, the action mechanism behind this efficacy can be at least partially attributed to increased CD4(+)CD25(+) T regulatory cells, which specifically down-modulate the T lymphocyte proliferative response to CCII, induce a shift of Th1 to Th2 cells, as well as down-regulate Th1-cytokine TNF-alpha, while up-regulating both Th2-cytokine IL-10 and Th3-cytokine TGF-beta. More importantly, pcDNA-CCOL2A1 alone seems to be as effective as the current "golden standard" treatment, methotrexate (MTX). Taken together, these results suggest that we have successfully developed a novel tolerizing DNA vaccine encoding CCII, which is the first description of a tolerizing DNA vaccine encoding CCII for antigen-specific tolerizing therapy but not prophylactic against CIA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and National Center for Biomedicine Analysis, Beijing 307 Hospital Affiliated to Academy of Medical Sciences, No. 8 Dongda Ave., Fengtai District, Beijing 100071, PR China.
authors.forename: Xinqiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Liuxin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Yuying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Caixi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xi
authors.forename: Yongzhi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy*; D002645:Chickens; D024043:Collagen Type II / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis; D005260:Female; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D007249:Inflammation / Q000473:pathology; D007596:Joints / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology*; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D019444:Vaccines, DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D024043:Collagen Type II; D016207:Cytokines; D019444:Vaccines, DNA