Due to the increasing amount of people afflicted worldwide with Chagas disease and\nan increasing prevalence in the United States, there is a greater need to develop a safe and effective\nvaccine for this neglected disease. Adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5) is the most common adenovirus\nvector used for gene therapy and vaccine approaches, but its efficacy is limited by preexisting\nvector immunity in humans resulting from natural infections. Therefore, we have employed rare\nserotype adenovirus 48 (Ad48) as an alternative choice for adenovirus/Chagas vaccine therapy.\nIn this study, we modified Ad5 and Ad48 vectors to contain T. cruziââ?¬â?¢s amastigote surface protein\n2 (ASP-2) in the adenoviral early gene. We also modified Ad5 and Ad48 vectors to utilize the\nââ?¬Å?Antigen Capsid-Incorporationââ?¬Â strategy by adding T. cruzi epitopes to protein IX (pIX). Mice that\nwere immunized with the modified vectors were able to elicit T. cruzi-specific humoral and cellular\nresponses. This study indicates that Ad48-modified vectors function comparable to or even premium\nto Ad5-modified vectors. This study provides novel data demonstrating that Ad48 can be used as\na potential adenovirus vaccine vector against Chagas disease.
Loading....