Long-standing protection of macaques against cell-free HIV-2 with a HIV-2 iscom vaccine
Putkonen, P.; Björling, E.; Akerblom, L.; Thorstensson, R.; Lövgren, K.; Benthin, L.; Chiodi, F.; Morein, B.; Biberfeld, G.; Norrby, E.
Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes 7(6): 551-559
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0894-9255 PMID: 8176640 Document Number: 424991
We investigated the capacity of two immunostimulating-complex (iscom) formulations including inactivated native HIV-2 viral proteins and selected peptides to induce protective immunity against HIV-2 in a nonhuman primate. Four cynomolgus monkeys were first immunized with five i.m. injections of purified detergent-disrupted HIV-2 virions (total dose, 0.7 mg) in iscoms over a period of 16 months. At months 18 and 20, all four macaques were given booster immunizations with iscom-coupled V3-derived synthetic peptides representing a dominating neutralizing region of HIV-2 gp125. Two weeks after the final dose of vaccine, the four vaccinated animals, together with four controls, were challenged i.v. with 10 monkey infectious doses (MID-50) of monkey-cell-grown homologous cell-free virus, HIV-2-SBL-6669/H5. After the challenge, the four control animals became readily infected; however, three of four vaccinated animals were protected as shown by repeated negative virus isolations and negative polymerase chain reaction for viral DNA and by failure to transmit HIV-2 infection with whole blood and lymph node cells into naive cynomolgus macaques. One of three protected animals showed an anamnestic antibody response to a dominating antigenic site, indicating possible limited virus replication. The vaccine-protected monkeys were subsequently resistant to rechallenge infection at 12, 15, and 18 months after the first challenge, suggesting that a reasonable duration of protective immunity had been induced by the vaccine.