Immunization of Mice with a DNA Vaccine Based on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Spike Protein Fragment 1

According to data in GenBank, a gene encoding SARS spike protein fragment 1 (S1) was synthesized. After recombination with an immunostimulatory sequence (ISS), the gene was cloned into the plasmid pIRES to produce pIRES-ISS-S1. On confirmation of the expression of S1 protein by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA), after the transfection of pIRES-ISS-S1 into BHK-21 cells, the DNA vaccine was repeatedly administrated to BALB/c mice. CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ spleen T lymphocytes were analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM) to evaluate T cell-mediated immune responses, the antigen-specific responses of T cells were evaluated by cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) assay, and the level of IgG in antisera from immunized mice was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results showed that the counts of spleen CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T lymphocytes were increased, that the T cell-mediated immune responses showed antigen specificity, and that IgG was significantly induced with DNA vaccines pIRES-ISS-S1 and pIRES-S1 at titers of 1:320 and 1:160, respectively. These results are promising for the protective immunization of humans.