Abstract: Objective To study immunological property of chimeric BPVL1/HPV16 E7 virus-like particles (VLPs) in mice. Methods HPV16 E7 gene was cut into three fragments, ligated to BPVL1 sequence, respectively, and then expressed as chimeric VLPs. The ability of the chimeric VLPs to stimulate in vivo cytotoxic response was analysed with lymphocytes taken from mice C57BL/6J lymph nodes. Results A strong CTL response against C-2 cells (HPV16 E7 aa47-59 transfected EL-4 cell) was induced in mice immunised with chimeric VLPs BPVL1/HPV16 E7(b). Furthermore, no CTL response was detected against EL-4 cells in immunized mice. Conclusions Chimeric BPVL1/HPV16 E7 VLPs, serving as antigens, can activate mouse T lymphocytes and elicit a strong antigen-specific CTL response. Chimeric BPVL1/HPV16 E7 VLPs could be used as an efficient antigen delivery system, and might provide a novel strategy for HPV16 vaccine design.

Key words: Papillomavirus, human, Genes, viral, Virion, T-lymphocytes, cytotoxic