Abstract
The immune response elicited by a synthetic peptide derived from an immunodominant external envelope region (Env-5, amino acids 242-257) of human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-I) was tested in a rabbit model of HTLV-I infection. The synthetic peptide elicited a strong antibody response to the HTLV-I envelope protein gp46; however, these antibodies failed to inhibit HTLV-I-mediated cell fusion. Immunized rabbits were not protected from HTLV-I infection as determined by seroconversion to viral core proteins by immunoblot, HTLV-I p24 antigen detection in lymphocyte cultures and polymerase chain reaction for the HTLV-I provirus in lymphocyte DNA. Env-5 peptide immunization failed to induce T-cell lymphocyte proliferative responses in rabbits, but induced antibody responses in T-cell deficient Balb c nu/nu mice suggesting that the antigenic determinant represented by the Env-5 peptide is primarily a B-cell epitope. These results further define an immunodominant epitope of the HTLV-I envelope protein and suggest that potential synthetic peptide vaccines against HTLV-I infection must contain multiple antigens that induce both humoral and cellular immune reactivity.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 11-20 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Cancer Letters |
Volume | 66 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 14 1992 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- animal model
- human
- human T-lymphotropic virus type 1
- synthetic peptide
- vaccine
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cancer Research
- Molecular Biology
- Oncology