Evaluation of feline monocyte-derived dendritic cells loaded with internally inactivated virus as a vaccine against feline immunodeficiency virus.

Dendritic cells are the only antigen-presenting cells that can present exogenous antigens to both helper and cytolytic T cells and prime Th1-type or Th2-type cellular immune responses. Given their unique immune functions, dendritic cells are considered attractive "live adjuvants" for vaccination and immunotherapy against cancer and infectious diseases. The present study was carried out to assess whether the reinjection of autologous monocyte-derived dendritic cells loaded with an aldithriol-2-inactivated primary isolate of feline immune deficiency virus (FIV) was able to elicit protective immune responses against the homologous virus in naive cats.