Figure 3. Influence of the modified constructs on Gag- and Pol-specific CD8⁺ T cell immune responses.

BALB/c mice (n = 6 per group) were i.m. inoculated with equimolar amounts of the indicated plasmid DNA constructs (80 µg of ^ΔMGPN, ^MGPN, ^ΔMG^FSPN, ^MG^FSPN; 57 µg of ^MGag; 68 µg of PN). After 12 days, spleen cells were isolated and tested for specific cellular immune responses by measuring IFNγ production after stimulation with Gag (black) or Pol (grey) specific peptides. IFNγ production was determined by FACS analysis after intracellular staining of IFNγ. Cell culture medium served as a negative control. (A) Influence of budding competence and the functional frameshift on Gag- and Pol-specific CD8⁺ T cell immune responses. (B) Impact of separating the Gag and PolNef reading frames on Gag- and Pol-specific CD8⁺ T cell responses. Data shown are representative of two experiments.