%0 Journal Article
%T In vitro analysis of expression vectors for DNA vaccination of horses: the effect of a Kozak sequence
%A Guebj£¿rg ¨®lafsd¨®ttir
%A Vilhj¨¢lmur Svansson
%A Sigureur Ingvarsson
%A Eliane Marti
%A Sigurbj£¿rg Torsteinsd¨®ttir
%J Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica
%D 2008
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1751-0147-50-44
%X We have analysed the ectopic expression of the human serum albumin gene in primary horse cells from different tissues. The vectors used are of pcDNA and pUC origin and include the cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter. The pUC vectors contain CMV intron A whereas the pcDNA vectors do not.Insertion of intron A diminished the expression from the pcDNA vectors whereas insertion of a Kozak sequence upstream of the gene in two types of pUC vectors increased significantly the in vitro expression in primary horse cells derived from skin, lung, duodenum and kidney.We report for the first time the significance of full consensus Kozak sequences for protein expression in horse cells in vitro.DNA vaccines have attracted great interest since they induce strong and lasting humoral and cellular immune response in experimental animals. Their ability to modulate the immune response and to shift it from Th2 to Th1 holds a promise for treatment of allergies and cancer [1,2]. In large animals and humans DNA vaccines have, however, not lived up to this expectation. Their major drawback is low and short lived immune response [3,4]. One of the reasons for this is thought to be due to limited expression of the gene product involved and few activated antigen presenting cells. It is therefore important to improve the efficacy of expression in the cells of the relevant animal [5,6].Virus-based vector vaccines have been quite effective in attaining protection against several viral diseases in horses such as influenza [7,8], West Nile fever [9-12] and equine viral arteritis [12,13]. Some of those vaccines have been licensed [7,9]. With plasmid based DNA vaccination of horses, protection has been achieved against West Nile virus with a single immunisation [14]. However, the potency of this type of genetic vaccines still needs to be improved for obtaining an adequate immune response without using extreme means of injection such as sensitive sites and too many boosts [9,15].In vectors used for DNA vaccin
%U http://www.actavetscand.com/content/50/1/44