A novel dendritic-cell-targeting DNA vaccine for hepatitis B induces T cell and humoral immune responses and potentiates the antivirus activity in HBV transgenic mice

Strategies for inducing an effective immune response following vaccination have focused on targeting antigens to dendritic cells (DCs) through the DC-specific surface molecule DEC-205. The immunogenicity and efficacy of DNA vaccination can also be enhanced by fusing the encoded antigen to single-chain antibodies directed against DEC-205. Here, we investigated this promising approach for its enhancement of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-specific cellular and humoral immune responses and its antiviral effects in HBV transgenic mice. A plasmid DNA vaccine encoding mouse DEC-205 single-chain fragment variable (mDEC-205-scFv) linked with the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was constructed. Vaccination with this fusion DNA vaccine in HBV transgenic mice induced robust antiviral T cell and antibody immunity against HBsAg. The levels of serum-circulating HBsAg and the HBV DNA copy number were downregulated by the induction of a higher HBsAg-specific response. Thus, in this study, we demonstrated the therapeutic efficacy of the novel mDEC-205-scFv-fused DNA vaccine in a mouse model of immune-tolerant, chronic HBV infection.