Targeting improves the efficacy of a DNA vaccine against Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis in sheep

Abstract

A large-scale DNA vaccination trial was performed with sheep to investigate whether an antigen targeted by CTLA-4 enhanced and accelerated the humoral immune response. Vaccination with genetically detoxified phospholipase D (APLD) has been shown to be effective, at least partially, against Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, the causal agent of caseous lymphadenitis in sheep. CTLA-4 binds to B7 on antigen-presenting cells and thus was used to direct the fusion antigens to sites of immune induction. Here we demonstrated that targeting APLD as a CTLA-4 fusion protein significantly enhanced the speed, magnitude, and longevity of the antibody response compared to that obtained with DNA encoding ..