DETEC: SIV/HIV vaccines - detecting efficacy and explaining inefficacy

• Research unit: EU RFP
• Project number: 99.0755

Key words (English)

HIV; SIV; Chemokines;
Life Sciences; Medicine; Health; Safety; Scientific Research; Social Aspects

Alternative project number (English)

EU project number: QLK2-CT-1999-01215

Research programs (English)

EU-programme: 5. Frame Research Programme - 1.1.2 Control of infectious diseases

Short description (English)

See abstract

Partners and International Organizations (English)

Coordinator: Bernhard-Nocht-Insitut für Tropenmedizin, Hamburg (D)

Abstract (English)

It is well established that chemokines can regulate leukocyte traffic and intervention. We evaluate the expression of chemokines that are produced in the secondary lymphoid organs of rhesus monkeys before and after infection with pathogenic SIV, or upon different kind of vaccination.
cDNA from different human chemokines, constitutively expressed in the lymphoid organs or induced upon inflammation, have been subcloned in pBluescript IIKS (Stratagene). In this first part of the project we are focusing on BCA-1 (B Cell Attracting chemokine?1) and SLC (Secondary Lymphoid Chemokine) as we already shown their expression to be prominent in human secondary lymphoid organs: BCA-1 in expressed in primary follicle and in the mantle zone of secondary follicles, SLC is expressed in the T area of the lymph node. In addition we study the expression of MCP-1 and RANTES that are known to be important for dendritic cell recruitment and for the inhibition of cell viral entry via the usage of the co-receptor CCR5.
35S labelled RNA probes have been prepared to detect BCA-1, SLC, MCP-1, and RANTES mRNA in rhesus monkey lymph nodes before and after SIVmac239Dnef infection, in formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded samples.
The generated RNA probes detect human and monkey cells expressing BCA-1 and SLC. All secondary lymphoid organs tested up to now did not expresses MCP-1 or RANTES.
The distribution and the number of BCA-1 and SLC positive cells in normal rhesus monkeys lymph nodes is the same found in human secondary lymphoid organs.
Human tonsil samples have been used in order to assess the appropriate protocol for detection of BCA-1 and SLC proteins by immunohistochemistry using an anti-BCA?1 monoclonal antibody and anti-SLC polyclonal antibody. We could detect BCA-1 and SLC protein in the same cells that expressed both chemokine mRNA.

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 99.0755