Dose–response studies for the elicitation of CD8 T cells by a DNA vaccine, used alone or as the prime for a modified vaccinia Ankara boost

Here, we conduct dose–response studies in mice for the elicitation of CD8 T cells by a DNA vaccine that expresses HIV Gag. For DNA doses ranging from 1 to 100 μg, the studies revealed greater than 10-fold increases in anti-Gag CD8 T cells following a DNA prime or a DNA prime and a constant modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) boost. These results are in contrast to dose–response studies for MVA vectors expressing Gag, where only 2–3-fold increases in anti-Gag CD8 T cells were elicited by 100-fold increases in dose.