title: Combined vaccination against IL-5 and eotaxin blocks eosinophilia in mice.
abstract: Interleukin-5 (IL-5) is a cytokine which is essential for the maturation of eosinophils in bone marrow and for their release into the blood. Eotaxin is a CC type chemokine implicated in the recruitment of eosinophils in a variety of inflammatory disorders. Since eosinophil-activity is governed by these two pathways, we targeted both IL-5 and eotaxin by active vaccination to block eosinophilia. We produced two vaccines by chemically cross-linking IL-5 or eotaxin to a virus-like particle (VLP) derived from the bacteriophage Qbeta, yielding highly repetitive arrays of these cytokines on the VLP surface. Both vaccines overcame self-tolerance and induced high antibody titers against the corresponding self-molecules in mice. Immunization with either of the two vaccines reduced eosinophilic inflammation of the lung in an ovalbumin (OVA) based mouse model of allergic airway inflammation. Animals immunized with the two vaccines at the same time developed high antibody titers against both cytokines and also reduced eosinophil-infiltration of the lung. These data demonstrate that targeting either IL-5 or eotaxin may lower eosinophilia. Simultaneous immunization against IL-5 and eotaxin demonstrates that such a therapeutic approach may be used to treat complex disorders in which multiple mediators are involved.
authors.affiliation: Cytos Biotechnology AG, Wagistrasse 25, CH-8952 Zürich, Schlieren, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.forename: Ivo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sonderegger
authors.forename: Gerd
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lipowsky
authors.forename: Gary T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Jennings
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Schmitz
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Landi
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kopf
authors.forename: Martin F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Bachmann
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology; D017908:Allolevivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood; D054413:Chemokine CCL11 / Q000276:immunology*; D004802:Eosinophilia / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D015848:Interleukin-5 / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D010047:Ovalbumin / Q000276:immunology; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D014611:Vaccination / Q000379:methods*; D022721:Vaccines, Virosome / Q000276:immunology; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D001323:Autoantibodies; D054413:Chemokine CCL11; D015848:Interleukin-5; D022721:Vaccines, Virosome; D014764:Viral Proteins; D010047:Ovalbumin