Recombinant Mycobacterium bovis BCG as an HIV Vaccine Vector

Abstract

HIV-1 has resulted in a devastating AIDS pandemic. An effective HIV/AIDS vaccine that can be used to either, prevent HIV infection, control infection or prevent progression of the disease to AIDS is needed. In this review we discuss the use of Mycobacterium bovis BCG, the tuberculosis vaccine, as a vaccine vector for an HIV vaccine. Numerous features make BCG an attractive vehicle to deliver HIV antigens. It has a good safety profile, elicits long-lasting cellular immune responses and in addition manufacturing costs are affordable, a necessary consideration for developing countries. In this review we discuss the numerous factors that influence generation of a genetically stable recombinant BCG vaccine for HIV.

Immunization with a Recombinant Bacillus Calmette–Guérin Strain Confers Protective Th1 Immunity against the Human Metapneumovirus

“…More importantly, as evidenced by adoptive transfer experiments, rBCG-P-hMPV was able to confer strong effector phenotypes to both CD4 + and CD8 + T cells, which were able to prevent disease in unimmunized BALB/cJ mice, which showed protective hMPV immunity equivalent to actively immunized animals. BCG has been applied for several decades as a vaccine against tuberculosis (31,32) and, more recently, it has been used successfully as a carrier to promote a Th1 immune response against Ags from other bacterial, parasitic, and viral pathogens, such as Bordetella pertussis (33), HIV (34), and Plasmodium falciparum (35). Also, the effect of the BCG itself at improving protection in respiratory virus infection has been observed (36).…”

Immunomodulatory effects of recombinant BCG expressing MSP-1C ofPlasmodium falciparumon LPS- or LPS+IFN-γ-stimulated J774A.1 cells

“…10,13,19,20 However, overproduction of inflammatory cytokines and NO leads to malarial anemia. [20][21][22] Development of recombinant DNA using live vectors from viruses 23,24 and bacteria [25][26][27][28] to deliver foreign antigens to the immune system has become a popular technique nowadays for developing new generation vaccines. Mycobacterium bovis bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), the only vaccine currently available for the prevention of tuberculosis, is among the most extensively used vector for developing recombinant vaccines for other diseases, including malaria.…”

Optimizing HIV‐1‐specific CD8+ T‐cell induction by recombinant BCG in prime‐boost regimens with heterologous viral vectors

“…Because of its many attractive features, BCG is explored as a vector for subunit vaccines against other illnesses particularly for developing countries [26]. In experimental models, recombinant BCG (rBCG) elicited protective immunity against a number of important human pathogens [27][28][29][30][31][32][33].…”

“…However, in the only efficacy trial in human volunteers to date, rBCG failed to demonstrate consistent protection against Lyme disease [34]. Nevertheless, effort continues to be invested into development of BCG-vectored vaccines [26].…”

“…However, in the only efficacy trial in human volunteers to date, rBCG failed to demonstrate consistent protection against Lyme disease [34]. Nevertheless, effort continues to be invested into development of BCG-vectored vaccines [26].Originally, virulent M. bovis was attenuated by growth on potato slices imbibed with glycerol, which after 198 passages resulted in non-virulent bacilli [35]. Further propagation of BCG in various laboratories around the world prior to the introduction of archival seed lots in 1960s [36] led to diversification of BCG into genotypically distinct daughter strains.…”