title: Immunostimulatory activities of dendritic cells loaded with adenovirus vector carrying HBcAg/HBsAg.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study is to investigate the immunostimulatory activities of dendritic cells (DCs) transfected with HBcAg and/or HBsAg recombinant adenovirus (rAd).
  
  
  METHODS
  DCs were transfected with rAd (DC/Ad-C+Ad-S, DC/Ad-C, and DC/Ad-S), or pulsed with HBcAg antigen (DC/HBcAg). Flow cytometry was used to detect the phenotype of DCs and the cytokine production of T lymphocytes. Mice were vaccinated with DCs transfected with rAd or pulsed with antigen, and DNA vaccine. Mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) was used to evaluate the T-cell stimulatory capacity, and HBcAg-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) activity was assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Phenotypic analysis showed that DCs transfected with rAd or pulsed with HBcAg antigen exhibited mature phenotypes. MLR indicated no significant differences in stimulating T-cell proliferation between the DC/rAd and DC/HBcAg groups. When mixed with DCs, Th and Tc cells mainly secreted IFN-γ, indicating type I immune responses. In vaccinated mice, DCs transduced with rAd and pulsed with HBcAg induced significantly more IFN-γ secretion from Th cells, compared with DNA vaccine, indicating stronger Th1 response. Moreover, DCs transduced with rAd stimulated Tc cells to produce more IFN-γ, indicating stronger Tc1 response. In vaccinated mice, HBcAg-specific CTL activities were decreased in the following order: the DC/Ad-C+Ad-S, DC/Ad-C, DC/Ad-S, DC/HBcAg, and DNA vaccine groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  DCs transfected with rAd induce stronger Th1/Tc1 (type I) cell immune responses and specific CTL response than HBcAg-pulsed DCs or DNA vaccine. Our findings suggest that DCs transfected with rAd-C/rAd-S might provide an effective approach in the treatment of persistent hepatitis B virus infection.
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Hongyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: ICU of Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital Chengdu 610072, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Chunling
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Yimin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Dairong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University Jinan 250013, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Fengzhe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Jinan 250355, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Xiaochun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Han
keywords: Hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg); adenovirus; cytotoxic T lymphocytes; dendritic cells (DCs); hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)