1. A DNA vaccine that encodes rabies virus glycoprotein lacking transmembrane domain enhances antibody response but not protection.
- Author
-
Gupta PK, Sharma S, Walunj SS, Patil AA, Rai A, and Saini M
- Subjects
- Animals, Antigens, Viral genetics, Disease Models, Animal, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Glycoproteins genetics, Immunoglobulin G blood, Mice, Mice, Inbred BALB C, Protein Structure, Tertiary, Survival Analysis, Vaccines, DNA genetics, Viral Envelope Proteins genetics, Antibodies, Viral blood, Antigens, Viral immunology, Glycoproteins immunology, Rabies prevention & control, Rabies Vaccines immunology, Rabies virus immunology, Vaccines, DNA immunology, Viral Envelope Proteins immunology
- Abstract
Rabies virus (RV) glycoprotein (gp) consists of three domains: cytoplasmic, transmembrane and ectodomain. It occurs in a complete, membrane-bound form within the infected cell, but it is released from them in a deleted, secreted form lacking the transmembrane domain. This study was performed to test the importance of the transmembrane domain for the capability of the RV gp gene, introduced into mice via a recombinant plasmid (DNA vaccine), to induce immune response and protection against challenge. Although the antibody response to the secreted form of gp was higher than that to complete gp, the protective efficacy of the respective DNA vaccine against challenge was not better than that of the DNA vaccine inducing complete gp. This indicates that the transmembrane domain of RV gp is important for generating protection against rabies and should be present in RV DNA vaccines.
- Published
- 2006