JVMS : Vol. 65 (2003) , No. 11 November pp.1201-1205

Protective Effects of Vaccination with Bovine Leukemia Virus (BLV) Tax DNA Against BLV Infection in Sheep

Tatsufumi USUI¹⁾, Satoru KONNAI¹⁾, Shigeru TAJIMA²⁾, Shinobu WATARAI³⁾, Yoko AIDA²⁾, Kazuhiko OHASHI¹⁾ and Misao ONUMA¹⁾

1) Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, Department of Disease Control, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University
2) Retrovirus Research Unit, RIKEN
3) Laboratory of Veterinary Immunology, Department of Veterinary Science, College of Agriculture, Osaka Prefecture University

(Received 24-Apr-2003)
(Accepted 22-Jul-2003)

ABSTRACT. A DNA vaccination trial was performed on sheep to determine whether vaccination with bovine leukemia virus (BLV) transactivator Tax DNA is effective against BLV infection. Immunization was carried out with cationic liposomes containing the Tax-expressing plasmid DNA and subsequently all sheep were challenged with BLV. BLV titers in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) determined by syncytium formation assay and BLV provirus load detected by genomic PCR analysis showed higher levels of virus titers in control sheep than those in Tax-vaccinated sheep. Higher levels of IFN-γ mRNA expression have been demonstrated in vaccinated sheep after the challenge. These results suggested that Th1 type immune response induced by Tax DNA vaccine inhibited BLV propagation in vaccinated sheep at the early phase of infection.

KEY WORDS: BLV tax, DNA vaccine, real time PCR

	To cite this article:
	Tatsufumi USUI, Satoru KONNAI, Shigeru TAJIMA, Shinobu WATARAI, Yoko AIDA, Kazuhiko OHASHI and Misao ONUMA “Protective Effects of Vaccination with Bovine Leukemia Virus (BLV) Tax DNA Against BLV Infection in Sheep”. J. Vet. Med. Sci.. Vol. 65: 1201-1205. (2003) .

	doi:10.1292/jvms.65.1201
	JOI JST.JSTAGE/jvms/65.1201