Human cytomegalovirus is an important pathogen which widely infects human. In this study, an eukaryotic expression vector containing human cytomegalovirus gB680 and pp65m genes was injected into BALB/c mice to explore the immune response. Firstly, the recombinant plasmid pVAX1/gB680+pp65m and plasmid pVAX1 were transfected into COS-7 cells respectively and the transiently expressed product was detected by RT-PCR and Western blot. The maxiprepared plasmid pVAX1/gB680 + pp65m and pVAX1 by alkaline lysis with SDS and purified by Sepharose 4FF column chromatography were then used to immunize BALB/c mice and the humoral and cellular immune responses were determined. Recombinant plasmid pVAX1/gB680+pp65m could be expressed in COS-7 cells, and could induce antibodies and cellular immune responses in BALB/c mice.
Animals ; Antibodies, Viral ; blood ; COS Cells ; Cercopithecus aethiops ; Cytomegalovirus Vaccines ; immunology ; Female ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Vaccines, DNA ; immunology

BACKGROUND: Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) appear to play an important role in the control and prevention of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection. The pp65 antigen is a structural protein, which has been defined as a potential target for effective immunity against HCMV infection. Incorporation of an 11 amino acid region of the HIV TAT protein transduction domain (Tat) into protein facilitates rapid, efficient entry into cells. METHODS: To establish a strategy for the generation of HCMV-specific CTLs in vitro, recombinant truncated N- and C-terminal pp65 protein (pp65 N&C) and N- and C-terminal pp65 protein fused with Tat (Tat/pp65 N&C) was produced in E.coli system. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were stimulated with dendritic cells (DCs) pulsed with pp65 N&C or Tat/pp65 N&C protein and immune responses induced was examined using IFN-gamma ELISPOT assay, cytotoxicity assay and tetramer staining. RESULTS: DCs pulsed with Tat/pp65N&C protein could induce higher T-cell responses in vitro compared with pp65N&C. Moreover, the DCs pulsed with Tat/pp65 N&C could stimulate both of CD8+ and CD4+ T-cell responses. The T cells induced by DCs pulsed with Tat/pp65 N&C showed higher cytotoxicity than that of pp65-pulsed DCs against autologous lymphoblastoid B-cell line (LCL) expressing the HCMV-pp65 antigen. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that DCs pulsed with Tat/pp65 N&C protein effectively induced pp65-specific CTL in vitro. Tat fusion recombinant protein may be useful for the development of adoptive T-cell immunotherapy and DC-based vaccines.
B-Lymphocytes ; Cytomegalovirus ; Dendritic Cells ; Enzyme-Linked Immunospot Assay ; HIV ; Humans ; Immunotherapy ; T-Lymphocytes ; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic ; tat Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus ; Vaccines

OBJECTIVETo provide experimental evidence for development of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) nucleic acid vaccine, HCMV surface protein (gB), membrane protein (pp150), and gB-pp150 fused gene eukaryotic expression vector were constructed.

METHODSgB and pp150 genes were amplified and fused into gB-pp150, then were cloned into pcDNA 3.1 (+) to obtain recombinant expression plasmids pcDNA 3.1 (+) -gB, pcDNA 3.1 (+) -pp150 and pcDNA 3.1 (+) -gB-pp150, which were encapsulated with chitosan. Mouse were vaccinated and the humoral and cell immune response were determined by ELISA, specific proliferative response of plenic lymphocytes.

RESULTSThe gB, pp150 and gB-pp150 fusion gene eukaryotic expression vector were successfully constructed. The antibodies A value induced by pcDNA3.1(+) -gB or pcDNA3.1 (+) -gB-pp150 were much higher than that of pcDNA3.1 (+) (P < 0.01). The IFN-gamma levels induced by pcDNA3.1 (+) -pp150 and pcDNA3.1 (+) -gB-pp150 were significantly higher than that of pcDNA3.1 (+). There are significant diference between the stimulating indexes of pcDNA3.1(+) -pp150 or pcDNA3.1 (+) -gB-pp150 immunized and normal mice.

CONCLUSIONThe DNA vaccine pcDNA3.1 (+) -gB can induce significant humoral immunity response, and pcDNA3.1 (+) -pp150 can induce high cellular immune response, whereas pcDNA3.1 (+) -gB-pp150 can induce both humoral and cellar immune responses in BALB/c mice.

Animals ; Cytomegalovirus ; genetics ; immunology ; Humans ; Immunity, Cellular ; immunology ; Immunization ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; immunology ; Vaccination ; Vaccines, DNA ; immunology ; Viral Envelope Proteins ; immunology

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients are a high-risk population for opportunistic infections. The IBD group of the Chinese Society of Gastroenterology of the Chinese Medical Association organized an expert group to discuss and develop this consensus opinion. This consensus opinion referenced clinical study results from China and other countries to provide guidance for clinical practices. Eight major topics, including cytomegalovirus infection, Epstein-Barr virus infection, viral hepatitis, bacterial infection, Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, fungal infection, parasitic infection, and vaccines were introduced in this article.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Bacterial Infections ; China ; Clinical Study ; Consensus* ; Cytomegalovirus Infections ; Gastroenterology ; Hepatitis ; Herpesvirus 4, Human ; Humans ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases* ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; Opportunistic Infections* ; Vaccines

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) gB is known to play important roles in cell surface attachment, virion penetration, spread of infection from cell to cell, and provocation of neutralizing antibody. This study was performed to determine the role of anti-HCMV gB antibody in overall neutralizing response in patients with HCMV infection and healthy control with past infection. HCMV gB was stably expressed in 293 cells. With the stable cell line expressing gB as a specific immunosorbent, anti-gB antibody was removed from the current and past HCMV-infected sera and the remaining neutralizing activity was measured by plaque assay. It was shown that 19-50% of the total virus-neutralizing activity of sera with past HCMV infections was derived from anti-gB antibody, but anti-gB antibody had little effect on the total serum virus-neutralizing activity in patients currently infected with HCMV. This result suggests that neutralizing antibody to HCMV gB may reflect disease status.
Adult ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; Antibodies, Viral/immunology* ; Antibodies, Viral/blood ; Antigens, Viral/immunology ; Antigens, Viral/genetics ; Cells, Cultured ; Cytomegalovirus/immunology* ; Cytomegalovirus Infections/prevention & control ; Cytomegalovirus Infections/immunology* ; Female ; Fetus/cytology ; Fibroblasts/cytology ; Gene Expression Regulation, Viral/immunology ; Human ; Immunosorbents ; Lung/cytology ; Male ; Middle Age ; Neutralization Tests ; Recombinant Proteins/genetics ; Viral Envelope Proteins/immunology* ; Viral Vaccines

OBJECTIVETo construct an eukaryotic coexpression vector containing Mycobacterium tuberculosis heat shock protein 70 (mtHSP70) and enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) controlled by cytomegalovirus promoter using pIRES-EGFP vector.

METHODSThe mtHSP70 gene fragment was amplified by PCR from pVAX-mtHSP70-HSV2gD using specific primers. The PCR product was cloned into the vector pMD 18-T vector, and the correct clone was selected according to DNA sequence analysis. The interested mtHSP70 gene fragment was subcloned into pCMV-IRES-EGFP vector with XhoI and EcoR I digestion. The recombinant plasmid was transfected into mouse melanoma B16 cell line, and the green fluorescent cells were detected by fluorescence microscopy and mtHSP70 expression was detected by Western blotting.

RESULTSThe recombinant plasmid obtained was confirmed by enzyme digestion. The transfected mouse melanoma B16 cells exhibited green fluorescence under fluorescence microscopy and expressed mtHSP70 protein as demonstrated by Western blotting.

CONCLUSIONThe eukaryotic coexpression vector PCMV-mtHSP70-IRES-EGFP has been established to allow further investigation of the role of mtHSP70 gene in tumor immunotherapy.

Animals ; Base Sequence ; Cancer Vaccines ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cytomegalovirus ; genetics ; metabolism ; Genetic Vectors ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Green Fluorescent Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Mice ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; metabolism ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Sequence Analysis, DNA