Intramuscular immunization with a plasmid DNA vaccine encoding prM-E protein from Japanese encephalitis virus: enhanced immunogenicity by co-administration of GM-CSF gene and genetic fusions of prM-E protein and GM-CSF.

Objective: To investigate the immune responses elicited by pJME with or without various forms of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) gene.

Methods: The changes of the T lymphocyte subsets and the levels of Th cell intracellular cytokines IFN-gamma and IL-4 were evaluated by flow cytometric analysis. The cytotoxic T lymphocyte kill activity was assessed by lactate dehydrogenase activity release test. An 80% plaque reduction neutralization test was performed to titrate the neutralization antibody before and after viral challenge.

Results: We demonstrated that simultaneous administration of pJME plus plasmid-ecoded GM-CSF (pGM-CSF) activated Th1 immune responses similar to those found by injecting pGM-CSF i.m. into mice 3 days before pJME vaccination, and enhancement of Th2 immunity predominated when the pGM-CSF was injected 3 days after pJME vaccination. Furthermore, the immunization with DNA vaccine encoding precursor membrane envelope/GM-CSF fusion protein was more effective in generating immune responses than that induced by immunization with pJME alone or in combination with pGM-CSF.

Conclusions: These observations support the potential of GM-CSF DNA adjuvant for the Th1/Th2 balance and the enhancement of immune responses by showing that the timing of the administration of pGM-CSF and the application of different forms of GM-CSF gene influence the outcome of the resultant immune responses.