Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is an ubiquitous pathogen which can cause severe opportunistic infection in immune compromised or suppressed patients. Current vaccine strategies use recombinant glycoprotein gB subunits; however, little is known about the immunogenicity of this glycoprotein and the possible induction of autoimmunity. Using established ELISA assays and immunoblotting, anti-viral and autoantibody responses were detected following intraperitoneal injection of a recombinant Adenovirus-gB construct. The immune response to gB was studied in MRL/mpj (H-2k), BALB/c (H-2d), C3H (H-2 k) and BALB.k (H-2k) mice. A significant IgG anti-viral response was induced in all four strains. IgG autoantibodies, including Rheumatoid Factor (RF), anti-DNA, and anti-U1 70K were also induced. Antibodies to U1 70K are typical of patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (MCTD). The most significant antibody responses were to gB and to U1 70K, with higher levels detected in the autoimmune prone mice. Since multiple genetic factors influence the immune response, immunization of this construct in genetically predisposed individuals could trigger the onset of an autoimmune disease state such as SLE.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.20951 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Curtis, Heather. |
| Contributors | Newkirk, M. M. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Microbiology and Immunology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001630983, proquestno: MQ50745, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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