Codon optimization of antigen coding sequences improves the immune potential of DNA vaccines…

Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses are a serious threat to domestic poultry and can be a source of new human pandemic and annual influenza strains. Vaccination is the main strategy of protection against influenza, thus new generation vaccines, including DNA vaccines, are needed. One promising approach for enhancing the immunogenicity of a DNA vaccine is to maximize its expression in the immunized host. Results: The variant of the DNA vaccine containing almost 100 % of the GC content in the third position of codons stimulated strongest immune response in two animal models, mice and chickens. These results indicate that such modification can improve not only gene expression but also immunogenicity of DNA vaccine. Conclusion: Enhancement of the GC content in the third position of the codon might be a good strategy for development of a variant of a DNA vaccine against influenza that could be highly effective in distant hosts, such as birds and mammals, including humans. See it on Scoop.it, via Virology and Bioinformatics from Virology.ca
Codon optimization of antigen coding sequences improves the immune potential of DNA vaccines…
Source: Viral Bioinformatics