Abstract
A vaccine-induced cellular immune response to simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) in the gut mucosal tissue may prevent the establishment or severity of new SIV infection. An oral Clostridium perfringens expressing SIV p27 (Cpp27) vaccine that delivers SIV p27 to the gut was evaluated for its ability to prime multifunctional cellular immunity in the gut mucosa. Gut Peyers patches dendritic cells matured in response to in vitro exposure to Cp-p27 and stimulated production of p27-specific IFN-γ. In mice, the oral vaccination with the Cp-p27 vaccine and systemic immunization with adenovirus expressing SIV p27 (Ad-p27) induced robust systemic and mucosal immune responses. Furthermore, the prime-boost regimen induced p27-specific multifunctional CD8+ T cells in the gut. These results indicate that priming gut tissue with Cp-p27 can enhance the gut mucosal cellular immune response generated via systemic immunization with Adp27.
Keywords: Mucosal vaccine, SIV, gut, T cell response, adenovirus