Mucosal vaccination provides protection from HSV-2 infection and disease

• Published in: The Journal of immunology (1950) 2022-05, Vol.208 (Supplement_1), p.64-64.07
• Main Authors: Tucker, Kiersten, Dave, Veronica, Lund, Jennifer M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0022-1767; 1550-6606
• DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.208.Supp.64.07

Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) is a sexually transmitted pathogen that is estimated to infect around 23 million people per year. Despite high global prevalence, there are not any approved vaccines that are therapeutic or preventative. Most vaccines that we use today rely on injecting antigens intramuscularly in order to elicit an adaptive immune response. However, given that most pathogens gain entry to the host across barrier surfaces, a focus on eliciting mucosal immunity may enhance protection; vaccine-induced local immunity at the site of first pathogen exposure may have the best chance at preventing the spread of infection beyond the pathogen portal of entry. We hypothesized that a mucosal immunization would prime memory T cells to reside in vaginal tissues and provide better protection against vaginal HSV-2 exposure than other routes of immunization. Our initial data suggests that intranasal immunization is effective in protecting mice from vaginal HSV-2 infection. Ongoing work focuses on characterizing the role of vaccine-elicited mucosal CD8+ T cells in preventing infection to provide insight into the mechanisms of protection induced by mucosal immunization for HSV-2. These findings contribute to the efforts to generate an effective vaccine to prevent HSV-2 infection and disease. Supported by the Mary Gates Research Scholarship and the Art Levinson Award through the University of Washington.