title: Fusion protein encoded by a CTLA-4 targeted DNA construct binds to human dendritic cells.
abstract: Fusing antigens to cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) represents an effective approach to enhance DNA vaccine efficacy. It has been speculated that the direct targeting of CTLA-4 fusion antigens to antigen-presenting cells (APCs) causes antigens to be processed and presented to T cells more efficiently, leading to a stronger immune response. In the present study, dendritic cells (DCs), the most potent APCs, were generated from human monocytes. The specific binding of CTLA-4 fusion protein to DCs was investigated by flow cytometry. The results showed that the CTLA-4 fusion protein was capable of binding to the B7 molecules on human DCs with specificity.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Oral Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Q A
authors.initials: QA
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Y H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Q W
authors.initials: QW
authors.lastname: Tian