TABLE 1.

WT and ΔV3 envelope vaccine-induced protection against challenge with rVV expressing homologous and heterologous gp160 proteins

Envelope vaccine	Immunization strategya	Virus titer (log10/ovaries)b
		vVK1	vPE16	vV1	vBD3
Control	Unprimed	8.90 ± 0.79	8.30 ± 0.84	8.92 ± 0.94	8.81 ± 0.55
WT-EnvIIIB	DNA/ΔE1/E3 Ad	9.21 ± 0.59	4.49 ± 0.42	6.89 ± 0.21	7.78 ± 0.18
ΔV3-EnvIIIB	DNA/ΔE1/E3 Ad	9.07 ± 0.64	4.21 ± 0.37	5.74 ± 0.48	7.20 ± 0.11
WT-Env89.6	DNA	8.61 ± 0.44	6.98 ± 0.32	7.49 ± 0.35	6.01 ± 0.39
ΔV3-Env89.6	DNA	8.73 ± 0.67	6.26 ± 0.23	6.48 ± 0.10	5.54 ± 0.71

^aThe HLA-A2/K^b transgenic mice were immunized with the WT or the ΔV3 mutant of HIV-1_IIIB gp160 and HIV-1_89.6 gp140. For immunization with the WT and ΔV3 mutant of HIV-1_IIIB gp160, the DNA prime-boost strategy was applied with plasmid DNA used for priming and ΔE1/E3 Ad recombinant delivered as the booster. DNA vaccine was used for immunization with the WT and ΔV3 mutant of HIV-1_89.6 gp140.

^bOn day 28 after immunization with the envelope-specific vaccine, mice were challenged i.p. with 2.5 × 10⁷ PFU of vVK1, vPE16, vV1, or vBD3. Five days later, mice were sacrificed and ovaries were removed, homogenized, sonicated, and assayed for vaccinia virus titer by plating serial 10-fold dilutions on human HuTK⁻ 143B indicator cells, staining with crystal violet, and counting plaques at each dilution. The values are presented as the mean log₁₀ ± standard deviation of PFU per ovaries of four mice per group.