The crucial stimulation of a T cell response is dependent on the presentation of the antigen by host dendritic cells (DCs). As part of earlier strategies, the antigen of interest has been transferred to host DCs (by a process called "transduction") outside the body and the DCs then reintroduced into the host. Unfortunately, this is a costly and labor-intensive process.
In the June 2 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Christopher Esslinger and colleagues describe their use of a third generation lentivector capable of transducing DCs in vivo in mice and inducing a very strong antigen-specific immune response. The immune response was shown to be superior to methods using DCs transduced outside the body in terms of both amplitude and persistence.
"Our results demonstrate that the time-consuming and costly steps currently used to elicit tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses through the transfer of ex-vivo manipulated DCs could be replaced by the much simpler direct in vivo administration of antigen recombinant lentivectors" states Dr. Esslinger.
TITLE: In vivo administration of a lentiviral vaccine targets DCs and induces efficient CD8+ T cell responses
Journal
Journal of Clinical Investigation