A fusion protein of HCMV IE1 exon4 and IE2 exon5 stimulates potent cellular immunity in an MVA vaccine vector

A therapeutic CMV vaccine incorporating an antigenic repertoire capable of eliciting a cellular immune response has yet to be successfully implemented for patients who already have acquired an infection. To address this problem, we have developed a vaccine candidate derived from modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) that expresses three immunodominant antigens (pp65, IE1, IE2) from CMV. The novelty of this vaccine is the fusion of two adjacent exons from the immediate-early region of CMV, their successful expression in MVA, and robust immunogenicity in both primary and memory response models. Evaluation of the immunogenicity of the viral vaccine in mouse models shows that it can stimulate primary immunity against all three antigens in both the CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell subsets. Evaluation of human PBMC from healthy CMV-positive donors or patients within 6 months of receiving hematopoietic cell transplant shows robust stimulation of existing CMV-specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell subsets. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.