Channarong, SuneeMitrevej, AmpolSinchaipanid, NuttananUsuwantim, KanchanaKulkeaw, KasemChaicumpa, Wanpen2009-05-272009-05-272007-12-12Channarong S, Mitrevej A, Sinchaipanid N, Usuwantim K, Kulkeaw K, Chaicumpa W. Cloning, protein expression and immunogenicity of HBs-murine IL-18 fusion DNA vaccine. Asian Pacific Journal of Allergy and Immunology. 2007 Dec; 25(4): 233-42http://imsear.searo.who.int/handle/123456789/36563Published by the Allergy and Immunology Society of Thailand.Hepatitis B is a global serious disease caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV). There is no known cure for hepatitis B. The best way to deal with the disease is by preventing with hepatitis B vaccine. However, the current protein-based vaccines made up of recombinant hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) are ineffective in chronic HBV carriers and a significant number of the vaccinees do not mount the protective immune response. Novel DNA-based immunization may overcome the deficits of the protein-based immunization and may provide more effective prophylactic and therapeutic outcomes. In this study, we constructed a recombinant plasmid carrying gene encoding the HBV surface antigen (HBs) linked to DNA segment encoding full-length murine interleukin-18, i.e. pcDNA-HBs-IL-18. Immunogenicity of the DNA construct was carried out in BALB/c mice in comparison with mock, i.e. pcDNA3.1+ and vaccines comprised of pRc/CMV-HBs and pRc/CMV-HBs plus pcDNA-IL-18. All vaccinated mice revealed significant serum anti-HBs IgG response after two intramuscular injections of the vaccines at 28 day interval as compared to the level of mock. Co-administration of pRc/CMV-HBs and pcDNA-IL-18 elicited arbitrarily higher levels of anti-HBs IgG than the levels in mice immunized with pRc/CMV-HBs alone and mice that received pcDNA-HBs-IL-18 although not statistically different. Further experiments are needed to investigate the subisotypes of the IgG antibody, the kinetics of cytokine and the cell-mediated immune response. For this communication, the prototype HBs-IL-18 DNA vaccine was successfully constructed and the gene encoding murine IL-18 was successfully cloned. The latter can be co-injected with the antigen coding DNA or used as a fusion partner to the DNA for priming the immune response. The recombinant HBs and full-length IL-18 proteins have potential for other research purposes. They may be used also as standard proteins in the protein quantification assay.engAnimalsAntibodies, Viral --immunologyHepatitis B --geneticsHepatitis B Surface Antigens --geneticsHepatitis B Vaccines --geneticsHepatitis B virus --geneticsHumansImmunity, CellularImmunoglobulin G --immunologyInterleukin-18 --geneticsMiceMice, Inbred BALB CRecombinant Fusion Proteins --geneticsVaccines, DNA --geneticsJournal Article