FIGURE 2.

Recombinant AAV vector capsid impacts the activation of IFN-γ-producing T cells following i.m. injection. C57BL/6 mice were injected with 10¹¹ GC of AAV2/8 or AAV2/rh32.33 expressing the classical reporter molecules nLacZ, GFP, or ffLuc. At 28 days postinjection, mice were sacrificed and lymphocytes harvested from spleen. IFN-γ secretion in response to Ag stimulation was determined by IFN-γ ELISPOT. A, Lymphocytes were stimulated with the H-2K^b-ICPMYARV dominant epitope of nLacZ (C57BL/6 mice), the H-2L^d-TPHPARIGL dominant epitope of nLacZ (BALB/c mice), or the complete peptide libraries of GFP or luciferase to determine the transgene response. B, Cells were stimulated with the capsid peptide libraries of AAV8 and AAVrh32.33 to determine the capsid response. Data are mean ± SD for four mice per group. Statistical analysis compared AAV2/rh32.33 to AAV2/8 vectors for each transgene product. *, p < 0.001, by Mann-Whitney rank sum U test (A) or unpaired Student’s t test (B).