FIG. 2.

Recombinant M. smegmatis elicited HIV-1-specific CD8⁺ T-cell responses in mice. BALB/c mice were inoculated via the intraperitoneal route with approximately 10⁶ CFU or 10⁸ CFU gp120-expressing recombinant M. smegmatis (rSmeg-gp120) organisms transformed with either the integrative pJH223-gp120 plasmid (A) or multicopy pJH222-gp120 (B). As a negative control, mice were inoculated with the same dose of mycobacteria transformed with the control pJH222- and pJH223-msp1 plasmids (rSmeg control). (C) Mice were inoculated twice (10 weeks apart) with the same dose of either the rSmeg-gp120 (integrative) construct or the rSmeg control. The mean (± SEM) percent HIV-1 HXBc2 gp120 P18 tetramer-positive CD8 T cells from PBMC collected at the indicated time points is shown for each group of mice (n = 4 per group).