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Infection and Immunity, July 1999, p. 3290-3296, Vol. 67, No. 7
Department of Microbiology and Molecular
Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
02115,1 and Emory Vaccine Center and
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University,
Atlanta, Georgia 303222
Received 23 December 1998/Returned for modification 17 March
1999/Accepted 8 April 1999
We have investigated the use of the protective antigen (PA) and
lethal factor (LF) components of anthrax toxin as a system for in vivo
delivery of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes. During intoxication,
PA directs the translocation of LF into the cytoplasm of mammalian
cells. Here we demonstrate that antiviral immunity can be induced in
BALB/c mice immunized with PA plus a fusion protein containing the
N-terminal 255 amino acids of LF (LFn) and an epitope from the
nucleoprotein (NP) of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus. We also
demonstrate that BALB/c mice immunized with a single LFn fusion protein
containing NP and listeriolysin O protein epitopes in tandem mount a
CTL response against both pathogens. Furthermore, we show that
NP-specific CTL are primed in both BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice when the
mice are immunized with a single fusion containing two epitopes, one
presented by Ld and one presented by Db. The
data presented here demonstrate the versatility of the anthrax toxin
delivery system and indicate that this system may be used as a general
approach to vaccinate outbred populations against a variety of pathogens.
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Epitopes Fused to Anthrax
Toxin Induce Protective Antiviral Immunity


*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115. Phone: (617) 432-1873. Fax: (617)
738-7664. E-mail: starnbach{at}hms.harvard.edu.
Present address: The University of Oklahoma, Department of Botany
and Microbiology, Norman, OK 73019.
Present address: University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine,
Department of Microbiology, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6076.
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