Nj. Leung et al., The kinetics of specific immune responses in rhesus monkeys inoculated with live recombinant BCG expressing SIV Gag, Pol, Env, and Nef proteins, VIROLOGY, 268(1), 2000, pp. 94-103
Development of an effective preventive or therapeutic vaccine against HIV-1
is an important goal in the fight against AIDS. Effective virus clearance
and inhibition of spread to target organs depends principally on the cellul
ar immune response. Therefore, a vaccine against HIV-1 should elicit virus-
specific cytotoxic lymphocyte (CTL) responses to eliminate the virus during
the cell-associated stages of its life cycle. The vaccine should also be c
apable of inducing Immunity at the mucosal surfaces, the primary route of t
ransmission. Recombinant Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) expressing viral pro
teins offers an excellent: candidate Vaccine in view of its safety and abil
ity to persist intracellularly, resulting in the induction of long-lasting
immunity and stimulation of the cellular immune response. BCG can be admini
stered orally to induce HIV-specific immunity at the mucosal surfaces. The
immunogenicity of four recombinant BCG constructs expressing simian immunod
eficiency virus (SIV) Gag, Pol, Env, and Nef proteins was tested in rhesus
macaques. A single simultaneous inoculation of all four recombinants elicit
ed SIV-specific IgA and IgG antibody, and cellular immune responses, includ
ing CTL and helper T cell proliferation. Our results demonstrate that BCG r
ecombinant vectors can induce concomitant humoral and cellular immune respo
nses to the major proteins of SIV. (C) 2000 Academic Press.