Myristoylation increases the CD8 T+-cell response to a GFP prototype antigen delivered by modified vaccinia virus Ankara

Marr, Lisa; Lülf, Anna-Theresa; Freudenstein, Astrid; Sutter, Gerd and Volz, Asisa (2016): Myristoylation increases the CD8 T+-cell response to a GFP prototype antigen delivered by modified vaccinia virus Ankara. In: Journal of General Virology, Vol. 97: pp. 934-940

Abstract

Activation of CD8 T+-cells is an essential part of immune responses elicited by recombinant modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA). Strategies to enhance T-cell responses to antigens may be particularly necessary for broadly protective immunization against influenza A virus infections or for candidate vaccines targeting chronic infections and cancer. Here, we tested recombinant MVAs that targeted a model antigen, GFP, to different localizations in infected cells. In vitro characterization demonstrated that GFP accumulated in the nucleus (MVA-nls-GFP), associated with cellular membranes (MVA-myr-GFP) or was equally distributed throughout the cell (MVA-GFP). On vaccination, we found significantly higher levels of GFP-specific CD8 (+)ZT-cells in MVA-myr-GFP-vaccinated BALB/c mice than in those immunized with MVA-GFP or MVA-nls-GFP. Thus, myristoyl modification may be a useful strategy to enhance CD8 T+-cell responses to MVA-delivered target antigens.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Veterinary Medicine
• Subjects: 600 Technology > 610 Medicine and health
• ISSN: 0022-1317
• Language: English