The AIDS-causing lentiviruses HIV and SIV effectively evade host immunity, and once established, infections with these viruses are only rarely controlled by immunologic mechanisms1-3. However, the initial establishment of infection in the first few days after mucosal exposure, prior to viral dissemination and massive replication, may be more vulnerable to immune control4. Here, we report that SIV vaccines that include rhesus cytomegalovirus (RhCMV) vectors5 establish indefinitely persistent, high frequency, SIV-specific effector-memory T cell (TEM) responses at potential sites of SIV replication in rhesus macaques (RM) and stringently control highly pathogenic SIVmac239 infection early after mucosal challenge. Thirteen of 24 RM receiving either RhCMV vectors alone or RhCMV vectors followed by adenovirus 5 (Ad5) vectors (vs. 0 of 9 DNA/Ad5-vaccinated RM) manifested early complete control of SIV (undetectable plasma virus), and in 12/13 of these RM, we observed long-term (≥1 year) protection characterized by: 1) occasional blips of plasma viremia that ultimately waned; 2) predominantly undetectable cell-associated viral load in blood and lymph node mononuclear cells; 3) no depletion of effector site CD4+ memory T cells; 4) no induction or boosting of SIVenv-specific antibodies (Abs); and 5) induction and then loss of T cell responses to an SIV protein (vif) not included in the RhCMV vectors. Protection correlated with the magnitude of the peak SIV-specific CD8+ T cell responses in the vaccine phase, and occurred without anamnestic T cell responses. Remarkably, long-term RhCMV vector-associated SIV control was insensitive to either CD8+ or CD4+ lymphocyte depletion, and at necropsy, cell-associated SIV was only occasionally measurable at the limit of detection with ultrasensitive assays, observations suggesting the possibility of eventual viral clearance. Thus, persistent vectors such as CMV and their associated TEM responses might significantly contribute to an efficacious HIV/AIDS vaccine.

Microcin J25 (MccJ25) is the single representative of the immunity group J of the microcin group of peptide antibiotics produced by Enterobacteriaceae. It induces bacterial filamentation in susceptible cells in a non-SOSdependent pathway [R. A. Salomon and R. Farias (1992) J. Bacteriol. 174, 7428±7435]. MccJ25 was purified to homogeneity from the growth medium of a microcin-overproducing Escherichia coli strain by reverse-phase HPLC. Based on amino acid composition and absolute configuration determination, liquid secondary ion and electrospray mass spectrometry, extensive two-dimensional NMR, enzymatic and chemical degradations studies, the structure of MccJ25 was elucidated as a 21-residue peptide, cyclo(-Val 1 -Gly-Ile-Gly-Thr-Pro-Ile-Ser-Phe-Tyr-Gly-Gly-Gly-AlaGly-His-Val-Pro-Glu-Tyr-Phe 21 -). Although MccJ25 showed high resistance to most of endoproteases, linearization by thermolysin occurred from cleavage at the Phe 21 -Val 1 bond and led to a single peptide, MccJ25-L. While MccJ25 exhibited remarkable antibiotic activity towards Salmonella newport and several E. coli strains (minimal inhibitory concentrations ranging between 0.01 and 0.2 mg´mL ±1 ), the thermolysin-linearized microcin showed a dramatic decrease of the activity, indicating that the cyclic structure is essential for the MccJ25 biological properties. As MccJ25 is ribosomally synthesized as a larger peptide precursor endowed with an N-terminal extremity, the present study shows that removal of this extension and head±tail cyclization of the resulting propeptide are the only posttranslational modifications involved in the maturation of MccJ25, that appears as the first cyclic microcin.Keywords: antibiotic peptide; microcin; NMR.Microcins form a miscellaneous group of low molecular mass peptide antibiotics produced by diverse strains of Enterobacteriaceae, mostly Escherichia coli. They are mainly active against bacterial genera or species phylogenetically related to the producing strains [1,2]. Wild-type bacterial strains producing microcins are resistant to the microcin they produce, i.e. they are self-immune. This feature has been used to classify them into immunity groups [2], the number of which is growing [3,4]. Underlying this classification is the assumption that each immunity group represents a unique structure with an unique mode of action. Microcins, which are supposed to play a part in the stability of intestinal ecosystem [1,2,5,6], could be used as therapeutic agents or for the design of new useful drugs by means of DNA and protein engineering. To develop this research in a rational way, the knowledge of their chemical structures and of the enzymes involved in the biosyntheses appears to be required.Beside ColV, formerly classified as a colicin [7], the other best known microcins are MccB17 and MccC7. Their structures, modes of action and genes involved in their biosynthesis, export and immunity have been described. These microcins are plasmidencoded, ribosomally synthesized small peptides, whose production is induced when cells ...

DNA priming has previously been shown to elicit augmented immune responses when administered by electroporation (EP) or codelivered with a plasmid encoding interleukin-12 (pIL-12). We hypothesized that the efficacy of a DNA prime and recombinant adenovirus 5 boost vaccination regimen (DNA/rAd5) would be improved when incorporating these vaccination strategies into the DNA priming phase, as determined by pathogenic simian immunodeficiency virus SIVmac239 challenge outcome. The whole SIVmac239 proteome was delivered in 5 separate DNA plasmids (pDNA-SIV) by EP with or without pIL-12, followed by boosting 4 months later with corresponding rAd5-SIV vaccine vectors. Remarkably, after repeated low-dose SIVmac239 mucosal challenge, we demonstrate 2.6 and 4.4 log reductions of the median SIV peak and set point viral loads in rhesus macaques (RMs) that received pDNA-SIV by EP with pIL-12 compared to the median peak and set point viral loads in mock-immunized controls (P < 0.01). In 5 out of 6 infected RMs, strong suppression of viremia was observed, with intermittent "blips" in virus replication. In 2 RMs, we could not detect the presence of SIV RNA in tissue and lymph nodes, even after 13 viral challenges. RMs immunized without pIL-12 demonstrated a typical maximum of 1.5 log reduction in virus load. There was no significant difference in the overall magnitude of SIV-specific antibodies or CD8 T-cell responses between groups; however, pDNA delivery by EP with pIL-12 induced a greater magnitude of SIV-specific CD4 T cells that produced multiple cytokines. This vaccine strategy is relevant for existing vaccine candidates entering clinical evaluation, and this model may provide insights into control of retrovirus replication.

These data have confirmed that the in situ administration of G, M, and T induces postinfarct ventricular functional improvement and that GMT polycistronic vectors enhance the efficacy of this strategy.