Construction, purification, and immunogenicity of recombinant cystein-cystein type chemokine receptor 5 vaccine

Cystein-Cystein type chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) is a seven-transmembrane, G-protein coupled receptor. It is a major coreceptor with CD4 glycoprotein mediating cellular entry of CCR5 strains of HIV-1. A lack of cell-surface expression of CCR5 found in the homozygous Δ32 CCR5 mutation, upregulation of CC chemokines and antibodies to CCR5 are associated with resistance to HIV infection. In addition, CCR5 can be blocked by three CC chemokines and antibodies to three extracellular domains of CCR5. Consequently, CCR5 is considered an attractive therapeutic target against HIV infection. In the current study, we constructed a recombinant vaccine by coupling a T helper epitope AKFVAAWTLKAA (PADRE) to the N terminus of CCR5 extracellular domains (PADRE-CCR5) and expressed this protein in Escherichia coli. We have developed an inexpensive and scalable purification process for the fusion protein from inclusion bodies and the final yields of 6 mg purified fusion protein per gram of cell paste was obtained. The immunogenicity of the recombinant vaccine generated was examined in BALB/c mice. Sera from the vaccinated mice demonstrated high-titer specific antibodies to the recombinant vaccine, suggesting that PADRE-rCCR5 may be used as a candidate of active CCR5 vaccine.