Induction of active immune suppression by co-immunization with DNA- and protein-based vaccines

• Published in: Virology (New York, N.Y.) Vol. 337; no. 1; pp. 183 - 191
• Main Authors: Jin, Huali, Kang, Youmin, Zheng, Guoxing, Xie, Qifa, Xiao, Chong, Zhang, Xinyu, Yu, Yang, Zhu, Kaichun, Zhao, Gan, Zhang, Fuchun, Chen, Aoshuang, Wang, Bin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 20.06.2005
• Subjects: Adoptive transfer; Animals; Co-administration; DNA vaccination; FMDV; IL-10; Immunity, Cellular; Immunization; Immunosuppression; Interferon-gamma - genetics; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mix lymphocyte reaction; Recombinant Fusion Proteins - administration & dosage; Recombinant Fusion Proteins - genetics; Recombinant Fusion Proteins - immunology; Suppression; T cells; Vaccines, DNA - administration & dosage; Vaccines, DNA - immunology; Vaccines, Synthetic - administration & dosage; Vaccines, Synthetic - immunology; Co-administration; Suppression; Mix lymphocyte reaction; HPRT; MTT; T cells; Adoptive transfer; IL-10; DNA vaccination; 146S; FMDV; DTH; CSFV
• ISSN: 0042-6822; 1096-0341
• DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2005.03.029

Although immunization has been used for eliciting immune response, here we show that it can also induce immune suppression. When a DNA vaccine encoding a viral antigen such as the VP1 protein from the foot and mouth disease virus is administered together with its recombinant protein antigen or a viral preparation containing the same antigen, the immunized animals developed significantly reduced antigen-specific T cell-mediated responses and became impaired to subsequent rechallenge with the same antigen. The induction of immune suppression is mediated by suppressor T cells, as demonstrated by an adoptive transfer experiment and mixed lymphocyte reactions. The induction of immune suppression in immunized animals is also correlated with a shift of cytokine balance, as reflected by an elevated level of IL-10 and reduced level of IFN-γ or IL-2. Hence, co-immunization with DNA- and protein-based vaccines may represent a novel means for inducing active suppression against untoward immunity.