| dc.description.abstract | The study of the immune system has provided insight in the
mechanism of protection induced by vaccination; primarily that most
clinically protective vaccines are potent in generating neutralizing antibody
responses. Nonetheless, vaccination fails to protect against a wide range of
acquired chronic infections caused by viruses, such as HIV and HCV, other
intracellular pathogens, and cancer. Attempts to combat these diseases are
thought to require the induction of the cellular arm of the immune response, in
which dendritic cells (DCs) play a key role. Thus, DCs are now considered a
promising target/tool when designing new-generation vaccines.
Although mature DCs have the capacity to induce effective primary
and secondary immune responses in vivo, their use in vaccination strategies is
associated with several difficulties; for example, there are limitations involved
in the loading of antigen, and in the appropriate maturation of DC in vitro.
In this study, we have explored the hypothesis that the use of ERenriched
microsomes isolated from professional antigen presenting cells, such
as DCs, can represent an alternative vaccination strategy to those using live
DCs.
Endoplasmic reticulum-enriched microsomal membranes
(microsomes) isolated from DCs contained high levels of peptide-receptive
major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and co-stimulatory molecules. After
loading with defined antigenic peptides, injected microsomes mediated MHC
class I- and MHC class II-restricted T cell responses.
The microsomal vaccine described and discussed in this thesis protects
from a viral infection and was shown to regress an established murine tumor.
Therefore, it could represent an exciting new alternative to currently available
vaccine strategies. | en_US |
