title: Efficacy of an autophagy-targeted DNA vaccine against avian leukosis virus subgroup J.
abstract: Infection with the avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALV-J) can lead to neoplastic disease in chickens, inflicting significant economic losses to the poultry industry. Recent reports have identified inhibitory effects of ALV-J on autophagy, a process involving in innate and adaptive immunity. Inspired by this connection between autophagy and immunity, we developed a novel DNA vaccine against ALV-J which includes co-administration of rapamycin to stimulate autophagy. To measure the efficacy of the developed prototype vaccine, five experimental groups of seven-day-old chickens was immunized three times at three-week intervals respectively with vector, pVAX1-gp85, pVAX1-gp85-LC3, pVAX1-gp85+rapamycin and pVAX1-gp85-LC3+rapamycin through electroporation. We then tested their antibody titers, cytokine levels and cellular immune responses. The immunoprotective efficacy of the prototype vaccines against the challenge of the ALV-J GD1109 strain was also examined. The results showed that the combination of pVAX1-gp85-LC3 and rapamycin was able to induce the highest antibody titers, and enhance interleukin(IL)-2, IL-10 and interferon (IFN)-γ expression, and the chickens immunized with the combination of pVAX1-gp85-LC3 and rapamycin showed the highest percentage of CD3+CD8+T lymphocytes. Based on our results, we suggest that stimulating autophagy can improve the efficacy of DNA vaccines and that our DNA vaccine shows the potential of being a candidate vaccine against ALV-J. This study provides a novel strategy for developing vaccines against ALV-J.
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University & Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding & Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510642, PR China; Key Laboratory of Animal Health Aquaculture and Environmental Control, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhenkai
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University & Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding & Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510642, PR China; Key Laboratory of Animal Health Aquaculture and Environmental Control, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, PR China.
authors.forename: Jianfei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University & Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding & Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510642, PR China; Key Laboratory of Animal Health Aquaculture and Environmental Control, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaoya
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University & Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding & Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510642, PR China; Key Laboratory of Animal Health Aquaculture and Environmental Control, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, PR China.
authors.forename: Yiming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University & Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding & Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510642, PR China; Key Laboratory of Animal Health Aquaculture and Environmental Control, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, PR China.
authors.forename: Piaopiao
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: USDA, Agriculture Research Service, Avian Disease and Oncology Laboratory, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA.
authors.forename: Huanmin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University & Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding & Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510642, PR China; Key Laboratory of Animal Health Aquaculture and Environmental Control, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, PR China; South China Collaborative Innovation Center for Poultry Disease Control and Product Safety, Guangzhou 510642, PR China.
authors.forename: Wencheng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University & Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding & Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510642, PR China; Key Laboratory of Animal Health Aquaculture and Environmental Control, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, PR China; South China Collaborative Innovation Center for Poultry Disease Control and Product Safety, Guangzhou 510642, PR China.
authors.forename: Weiguo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University & Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding & Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510642, PR China; Key Laboratory of Animal Health Aquaculture and Environmental Control, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, PR China.
authors.forename: Jingyun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University & Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding & Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510642, PR China; Key Laboratory of Animal Health Aquaculture and Environmental Control, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, PR China; South China Collaborative Innovation Center for Poultry Disease Control and Product Safety, Guangzhou 510642, PR China. Electronic address: qmx@scau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Qingmei
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xie
mesh_terms: D056704:Adaptive Immunity / Q000187:drug effects; D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000096:biosynthesis; D001343:Autophagy / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D001353:Avian Leukosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000821:virology; D001354:Avian Leukosis Virus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D002645:Chickens; D018274:Electroporation; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000187:drug effects; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000821:virology; D020123:Sirolimus / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D014611:Vaccination; D019444:Vaccines, DNA / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007376:Interleukin-2; D019444:Vaccines, DNA; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D014765:Viral Vaccines; D016753:Interleukin-10; D007371:Interferon-gamma; D020123:Sirolimus
keywords: Autophagy; Avian leucosis virus; DNA vaccine; Rapamycin