Enhancement of humoral immune responses to a human cytomegalovirus DNA vaccine: adjuvant effects of aluminum phosphate and CpG oligodeoxynucleotides

Temperton, Nigel J., Quenelle, Debra C., Lawson, Keirissa M., Zuckerman, Jane M., Kern, Earl R., Griffiths, Paul D. and Emery, Vincent C. (2003) Enhancement of humoral immune responses to a human cytomegalovirus DNA vaccine: adjuvant effects of aluminum phosphate and CpG oligodeoxynucleotides. Journal of Medical Virology, 70 (1). pp. 86-90. ISSN 1096-9071 (on-line)

Abstract

A human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) glycoprotein B (gpUL55) DNA vaccine has been evaluated in BALB/c mice. Intramuscular immunization of these mice with pRc/CMV2-gB resulted in the
generation of high levels of gpUL55-specific antibody (geometric mean titer [GMT] 1:8900) and neutralizing antibody (GMT 1:74) after 2 booster doses given 5 and 10 weeks after primary inoculation. Emulsifying the construct with the aluminum phosphate gel adjuvant Adju-Phos
before immunization enhanced gpUL55-specific antibody responses (GMT 1:17800, P¼0.04). Coimmunization with CpG oligodeoxynucleotides was shown to enhance levels of neutralizing antibodies generated by immunization of mice with a pRc/CMV2-gB/Adju-Phos emulsion (P¼0.04). The results provide a rationale for evaluating combinations of other HCMV proteins for incorporation into a multi-target DNA vaccine, and for the optimization of adjuvant usage, to elicit enhanced levels of neutralizing antibodies.

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