title: Vaccination with Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Creates an Antigen-Specific Immune Response Against HIV-1 gp160.
abstract: Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are artificially derived from somatic cells that have been transduced with defined reprogramming factors. A previous report has indicated the possibility of using iPSCs as an immune stimulator to generate antigen-specific immunity. In our current study, we have investigated whether human iPSCs (hiPSCs) have the ability to enhance specific immune response against a human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) antigen in a xenogenic mouse model. Our results show that BALB/c mice immunized with hiPSCs transduced with an adenoviral vector encoding HIV-1 gp160 exhibited prominent antigen-specific cellular immune responses. We further found that pre-treatment of hiPSCs with ionizing radiation promotes the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1α), IL-12, and IL-18. These cytokines might promote the activation of antigen-presenting cells and the effective induction of cellular immunity. Our present findings thus demonstrate that a hiPSCs-based vaccine has the potential to generate cellular immunity against viral antigens such as HIV-1 gp160 in a xenogenic condition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoshizaki
authors.forename: Mayuko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nishi
authors.forename: Asami
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.forename: Yoshitsugu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Akihide
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ryo