Abstract
Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is a potent immunomodulatory cytokine. Here we generated a novel codon-optimized murine GM-CSF gene as an adjuvant. The codon-optimized GM-CSF gene significantly increased protein expression levels in all cells tested. Although injection of the wild-type GM-CSF plasmids adjuvanted HIV-1 Gag DNA vaccine induced detectable immune responses, co-administration of plasmids encoding the codon-optimized GM-CSF sequence with the DNA vaccine resulted in a strong antibody and CTL responses and a protective immune response against infection with recombinant vaccinia virus expressing HIV-1 Gag. This novel codon-optimized GM-CSF gene offers a practical molecular strategy for potentiating immune responses to vaccines as well as other immunotherapeutic strategies.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 253-263 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Vaccine |
Volume | 25 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 04 01 2007 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- DNA vaccine
- GM-CSF
- HIV-1
- Immunity
- T-lymphocytes