The wild-type hepatitis C virus core inhibits initiation of antigen-specific T- and B-cell immune responses in BALB/c mice.
In this study, the effects of wild-type and deletion mutant hepatitis C virus (HCV) core proteins on the induction of immune responses in BALB/c mice were assessed. p2HA-C145-S23, encoding a core protein with the C-terminal 46 amino acids truncated, significantly produced stronger antibody and cellular responses than p2HA-C191-S23. The induction of immune responses by p2HA-C145-S23 was dose dependent. However, increasing the doses or repeated administration did not enhance immune responses by the wild-type core protein. In addition, p2HA-C191-S23 was apparently able to interfere with the priming of specific immune responses by p2HA-C145-S23 when the two were coadministered. These results demonstrated that the wild-type HCV core protein itself could inhibit the priming of immune responses in the course of a DNA vaccination, whereas the truncated HCV core protein could provide potential applications for the development of DNA- and peptide-based HCV vaccines.
State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, People's Republic of China.
Wenbo
W
Zhu
Yanzi
Y
Chang
Chunchen
C
Wu
Qingxia
Q
Han
Rongjuan
R
Pei
Mengji
M
Lu
Xinwen
X
Chen
D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D007109:Immunity; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D019444:Vaccines, DNA; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014765:Viral Vaccines
D000956:Antigens, Viral; D019444:Vaccines, DNA; D014758:Viral Core Proteins; D014765:Viral Vaccines; C069130:nucleocapsid protein, Hepatitis C virus