title: A recombinant plasmid containing CpG motifs as a novel vaccine adjuvant for immune protection against herpes simplex virus 2.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of a herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) DNA vaccine co‑immunized with a plasmid adjuvant containing CpG motifs. A novel eukaryotic expression plasmid vector containing kanamycin resistance gene (pcDNA3Kan) was acquired from pET‑28a(+) and pcDNA3 plasmids. A gene encoding full length HSV‑2 glycoprotein D (gD) was amplified from the pcDNA3‑gD plasmid, which was cloned into pcDNA3Kan resulting in the construction of the recombinant plasmid pcDNA3Kan‑gD (pgD). A DNA segment containing 8 CpG motifs was synthesized, and cloned into pcDNA3Kan, resulting in the recombinant plasmid pcDNA3Kan‑CpG (pCpG). Mice were co‑inoculated with pgD (used as a DNA vaccine) and pCpG (used as an adjuvant) by bilateral intramuscular injection. Mice inoculated with pgD+pCpG showed higher titers of antibodies than those inoculated with the DNA vaccine alone (P<0.05). In addition, mice inoculated with pgD+pCpG showed the highest percentage of CD4+ T cells in the blood of all the groups (P﹤0.05). Thus, the present study demonstrated that pCpG could stimulate the HSV‑2 DNA vaccine to induce a stronger cell‑mediated immune response than the DNA vaccine alone. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of a HSV‑2 DNA vaccine (pgD) co‑immunized with a plasmid adjuvant containing CpG motifs (pCpG). Whether the pCpG would be able to stimulate the pgD to induce a stronger immune response compared with pgD alone.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioengineering, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310013, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhuojing
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hygiene, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310013, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioengineering, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310013, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioengineering, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310013, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioengineering, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310013, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioengineering, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310013, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ruxi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioengineering, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310013, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioengineering, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310013, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hong
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D002460:Cell Line; D015226:Dinucleoside Phosphates; D005260:Female; D023061:Gene Order; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control; D018258:Herpesvirus 2, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization; D051379:Mice; D059372:Nucleotide Motifs; D010957:Plasmids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D019444:Vaccines, DNA / Q000276:immunology; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D015226:Dinucleoside Phosphates; D019444:Vaccines, DNA; D014765:Viral Vaccines; C015772:CpG dinucleotide